William R. Robins

Problem

William R. Robins spent a lifetime building companies and distilled it into a book, From Smaller to Larger, a plain-language argument that a smaller company's first job is avoiding the loss that would end it. His 86th birthday and a family book signing were on the calendar. The site was not ready to carry any of it: a previous team had left it unfinished, the social profiles had never launched, and his old domain had ended up behind an accessibility-compliance block, unreachable to the readers the book was for.

Approach

Six weeks, three deliverables. A new site with the editorial calm of a hardcover: oversized serif pull quotes, drop caps, his letters published on a schedule, and WCAG 2.1 AA built in from the first line, because a book written for everyone should have a site everyone can read.

Build

The Writing Companion is an AI workspace configured around William's book, his voice, and his content plan. He opens it, it greets him, he talks or types whatever is on his mind, and it organizes that into clean, on-voice drafts. Nothing publishes without his review, and nothing is cloned or faked. At 86, he writes by thinking out loud. The Reactions Wall logs every letter, photo, and message about the book, his family reviews each one before it publishes, and a bound printed edition of those reactions was made to be placed in his hands at the signing.

Result

The site went live in time for his 86th. The book is selling, his recent letters publish alongside it, and the wall is collecting responses one moderated card at a time.

Taught

Credentials, guides, and a walkthrough library went to the family with the keys. They run it. A legacy project that needs its builders is not a legacy.