Frog Stone Media
Sacramento born and built
I'm Michael Kahn. I run Frog Stone Media out of Sacramento, where I've been building websites and web tools since 2012. I started with WordPress projects for local businesses, and over the years expanded into full-stack applications, APIs, IoT systems, and content platforms.
I live here, and a lot of what I build is for people who live here too. PaddleConditions pulls live water conditions for paddlers at Lake Natoma. SacGroceries lets people compare grocery prices at local stores so they can save money. BestTreesToPlant helps homeowners pick trees that survive Central Valley summers. These exist because I wanted them, and it turned out other people did too.
20+
Years in Digital
1,400+
Campaigns Delivered
2,000+
Articles Published
What a typical week looks like
Managing content at scale
The Weekly Driver has 1,800+ articles. MK Library has 460+. I built tools to track which articles need updating, find broken internal links, and catch duplicate tags across thousands of entries. That tooling became ContentMK, a desktop app I'm turning into a commercial product.
Using the right tool for the job
Not everything needs the same stack. The Weekly Driver runs on WordPress because it needs complex taxonomies and editor access for 1,800+ articles. Van Briggle's pottery catalog is built with Astro because it's image-heavy and loads in under two seconds. PaddleConditions loads instantly as a static site. I pick the technology that fits the problem, not the one I feel like using that week.
Connecting the physical world
My house runs on Home Assistant with 50+ devices, 7 custom dashboards, and automations that catch things like the garage door left open. I've built energy monitoring with SMUD data, irrigation control with visual zone maps, and presence tracking. If it connects to a network, I can put it on a dashboard.
Building tools that solve real problems
SacGroceries started because I wanted to compare prices without visiting three stores. Home Inventory started because I couldn't find a warranty receipt. The Amazon Creators API exists because the official one was painful to work with. Every project in my portfolio started with a real problem I ran into.
See what I build
From local business sites to full-stack applications and open-source tools.
View ProjectsBackground
I started Frog Stone Media in 2012, mostly doing WordPress sites for Sacramento small businesses. Over the years the work got more technical: custom themes turned into full web applications, basic hosting turned into automated deployment pipelines, and one-off scripts turned into published APIs.
These days I work across the full stack. On any given week I might be writing TypeScript for a Cloudflare Workers API, building an Astro site, configuring Home Assistant automations, or working on ContentMK. I like variety, and I like going deep on the tools I use. You can see the full range of web development services I offer.
Outside of client work, I publish two content sites (The Weekly Driver for automotive journalism and MK Library for lifestyle content), maintain an open-source Home Assistant integration for paddle sports, and run a smart home setup that doubles as a testing ground for IoT projects.
Sacramento through and through
I paddle at Lake Natoma, eat at the restaurants on R Street, and spend Sunday mornings at the midtown farmer's market. Sacramento is home, and it shapes the work I do.
This city has a way of turning people into builders. The farm-to-fork movement started here because people cared about where their food came from. That same energy runs through the local business community, the maker spaces, the people launching coffee shops and breweries and restaurants. I build tools for that world. Water conditions so paddlers know before they load up the car. Grocery prices so families can stretch their budget. Tree guides written for our actual climate, not some generic zone map.
When I sit down with a Sacramento business owner, I already know the neighborhood, the competition, and what their customers expect. That context makes the work better.
Want to work together?
Drop me a line. I'll tell you honestly whether I'm the right fit for your project.
Get In Touch