A company for people
who write software.
Black Lab Studios is a developer education and software company, founded by Gui Ferreira and based in Porto. We're small on purpose, and we'd rather ship four good things a year than forty forgettable ones.
- Shipping since
- 2006
- Courses published
- 7
- Engineers trained
- 500+
Why we exist.
Mission & visionChange lives by simplifying them through technology. We teach, we make, and we create.
To simplify people's lives through technology, and empower them to adapt, create and evolve in a world that never stops changing.
Black. Lab. Studios.
The story behind the nameThree words, each one chosen. Then a fourth meaning we didn't plan.
Black
More than a colour. It stands for simplicity, confidence and a quiet sense of luxury. A minimalist philosophy, where clarity comes before decoration.
Lab
Short for laboratory. A place to explore, build and test. It stands for curiosity, iteration and the will to keep learning.
Studios
A place that teaches and makes. The way a yoga studio holds classes. The way a game studio ships products. It's where education, software and future ideas take shape, and where people grow.
Black Lab
A tribute to Gui's Black Labrador Retriever. He's the companion who taught Gui how to teach. He learned to educate by noticing and by reading the signals. Black Labs are smart and eager to help. That spirit is the foundation of everything Black Lab Studios builds.
The symbol is his profile, drawn down to the fewest lines that still read as him.
What we believe.
Values · 5Five of them. Each one is a decision filter, not a poster.
Simplicity above all
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Remove until only what matters remains. If it doesn't make someone's life simpler, it isn't done.
Craft over volume
Ship fewer things, made well. We show the real moves that survive production, not theory and not hype.
Honesty earns trust
Say what's true, teach what works, and admit what doesn't. Trust is the whole asset, so we never trade it for a sale.
Teach to empower
Show what the technology can do, then show exactly how to do it, so people leave more capable and more free than before.
Better every day
We're never finished. We refine the work, question what worked, and learn faster than the field changes. The same principle we teach, we live.
The founder.
Who's behind it
I started writing software in 2006, and I made most of my mistakes in public. Startups first, then tech giants. Engineer, architect, CTO, developer advocate.
Every one of those hats taught me the same thing. The hard part was never the technology. It was the complexity we added on top of it, and most of that complexity was ours.
That's why this company exists. You can't hand someone simplicity in a checklist. A workshop that ends with a list of rules is already over. The ones that work send you home curious. Arguing about what to try on Monday. Looking at paths you couldn't see on Friday.
I record the videos, write the courses and stand in the room at the workshops. Hire Black Lab Studios and I'm the one who shows up.
Gui
- Since
- 2006
- Recognition
- Microsoft MVP
- On stage
- NDC, DevFest
- Courses
- Dometrain
- Founded 2026
- Based in Porto
Black Lab Studios
It holds the contracts, the invoices and the work. Everything you buy from us, whether it's a course, a seat in a cohort or a workshop for your team, is sold by this company. The registration details are on the terms page.
One address, and it reaches us.
We reply within two working days.
