About

About
Photo by "My Life Through A Lens" / Unsplash

Hi, I'm Lukas Moers, co-founder of PoolThis AB based in Stockholm.

When our startup was selected for the KTH Innovation Launch incubator, we were tasked to put in place our workflows and internal infrastructure. Instead of going the easy route, we decided to lay the ground work for profitable scaling by self-hosting. For our two person team at the time our monthly bill for everything was 50€, but here is the kicker add a third or a fifth person: still 50€. A comparable SaaS stack would go from ~70€ to ~200€ in the same time.

Did it cost a few sleepless nights? Yes it did, but this was more than offset by the certainty that we control our IP and the efficiency gains by tailoring the tools exactly to our workflow.

Our Stack

We have been running 100% self-hosted since Day 1:

  • Gitlab CE instead of Github
  • Nextcloud instead of OneDrive
  • Nextcloud Talk instead of Teams
  • Mailcow instead of Outlook
  • Penpot instead of Figma
  • Bitwarden instead of 1Password

What You Get Here

Real configs. Real mistakes. Real numbers.

Articles cover:

  • What I used, what broke, what I'd choose again
  • Cost comparisons showing true cost
  • Security hardening without becoming a sysadmin
  • Honest trade-offs: when self-hosting makes sense and when it doesn't

Every article comes with something practical you can use right away:

  • Docker configs and compose templates
  • Security checklists
  • DNS record templates (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
  • Cost comparison spreadsheets

Free to download for members. No credit card required.

Work With Me

I help founders and small teams set up self-hosted infrastructure that actually works for your team, without an IT department.

If you're starting from scratch or just evaluating whether self-hosting makes sense for your situation, I can help you:

  • Map out the right tool stack for your needs
  • Get Docker and core services running securely
  • Avoid the 2am headaches I already had

I'm available for consulting on a project basis. Drop me a message and let's discuss your situation.

Contact

You made it this far? Let's chat! Whether you have some inquiry, insights, or fun anecdotes. I'm a curious person and usually respond fairly quickly.

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