Bjarne Christiansen
I write about building software for regulated industries, database architecture, and lessons from founding technology companies.
Currently building Cohera, an enterprise compliance platform for pharma and life sciences. Previously co-founded Realm (YC S11, acquired by MongoDB). What I'm doing now →
Writing
Why I Built Cohera: The Problem with Disconnected Quality Systems
Pharmaceutical companies run dozens of quality systems that don't talk to each other. After building a mobile database used by billions, I saw an opportunity to solve this problem with modern technology. Here's the story of why I started Cohera.
Building for Regulated Industries: Lessons from Pharma Tech
Regulated industries like pharmaceutical, medical devices, and life sciences present unique challenges for software builders. Here's what I've learned about building enterprise software where compliance isn't optional.
AI in Compliance: Automation Without Breaking Audit Trails
Everyone's talking about AI transforming industries. But in regulated environments like pharma, the question isn't whether AI can help—it's whether AI can help while maintaining the audit trails and human oversight that regulators require.
The Integration Layer Approach: Why Rip-and-Replace Fails in Regulated Industries
The conventional wisdom in enterprise software is to consolidate systems. In regulated industries, this approach consistently fails. Here's why an integration layer strategy works better, and how we designed Cohera around this principle.
From YC to Series A: Building Enterprise Software for Pharma
My first startup went through Y Combinator and raised $40M. My second is building for pharmaceutical companies. The fundraising playbooks couldn't be more different. Here's what I learned about raising for enterprise software in regulated industries.
Ontology-Driven Architecture for Compliance Software
When building software that connects multiple enterprise systems, the data model becomes your most important architectural decision. Here's how we use ontology-driven design at Cohera to create a unified layer across disparate quality systems.
Lessons from Building Developer Tools: What I Learned at Realm
Building tools for developers is a unique challenge. They're your harshest critics and your best advocates. Here are the lessons I learned co-founding Realm, a mobile database that reached millions of developers.
Technical Due Diligence: What Investors Actually Look For
Having been on both sides of the table—as a founder being evaluated and as an advisor helping investors assess startups—here's what technical due diligence actually examines and how to prepare for it.
What a Fractional CTO Actually Does: A Practical Guide
The fractional CTO role is often misunderstood. It's not about part-time leadership—it's about bringing full-time expertise to companies that need strategic technical guidance without the overhead of a full-time executive. Here's what the role actually entails.
Building High-Performing Engineering Teams: Lessons from a Product Leader
Creating a high-performing engineering team requires more than just technical skills. This post shares insights from my experience as a product leader, discussing key leadership principles, best practices for team building, and strategies for fostering innovation and collaboration.
Data at the Edge: The Rise of Edge Computing in Industrial IoT
Edge computing is transforming the industrial IoT landscape by bringing data processing closer to the source. This post examines the benefits of edge computing, including improved performance, reduced latency, and enhanced security, and discusses how businesses can leverage edge computing strategies to optimize their industrial IoT operations.
Unlocking Scalability: Building Databases for the Industrial IoT Revolution
In today's connected world, industrial IoT applications generate vast amounts of data. Building a scalable database solution is essential to manage, analyze, and leverage this data effectively. This post explores key considerations for building a scalable database for industrial IoT applications.
The Art of Product Management: Bridging the Gap Between Vision and Execution
Product management is a challenging yet rewarding role that requires a unique blend of technical, business, and communication skills. This post explores the essential elements of product management, including defining product strategy, managing product lifecycles, and collaborating with cross-functional teams.
Unlocking the Power of Data: How Database Technology Fuels Innovation
Data is the lifeblood of modern businesses. This post explores the key role that database technology plays in powering innovation and growth, discussing how companies can choose the right database solutions to manage their data effectively, and how to leverage data insights to drive decision-making.
Why Product Managers and Engineers Should Write Business Narratives
Managers and marketers have more say on the software that you write than you do, but why? It’s easy to shrug and move on to the next incremental improvement. They are easy and gratifying to complete, but you won’t influence and you won’t innovate. Making an argument about a bigger, better idea is risky. Although you and I both know that you have a great idea in there somewhere (not good, but great) it’s hard to prove it, heck it’s hard to explain it, even to yourself.