Hello Workforce!
This put up is my utility for the open Workers Software program Engineer place.
A Bit About Me
I am a software program engineer from Omaha, NE (USA) with BS levels in Electrical Engineering and Pc Engineering from College of Nebraska and an MS in Pc Engineering from Carnegie Mellon. For the final 9 years, I have been self-employed operating a bootstrapped software program firm, Unstack Software program. My objective has been to construct, purchase, and run a portfolio of small SaaS and content material companies (extra on that later!).
I’ve 3 youngsters (ages 6, 4, and a couple of) and a 4th on the way in which. As a solo-founder of 9 years with a younger and rising household, I am very used to (and get pleasure from) having a busy way of life with plenty of transferring components. Our favourite factor to do collectively is take lengthy highway journeys to the mountains to go mountaineering. We have executed journeys of 37 days and 41 days, youngsters in tow, and all whereas I managed my enterprise and crew.
Mountaineering Medication Bow Peak in Wyoming
Sure, my timezone (Central) is off by 1 hour of your most well-liked timezone, however having managed a world crew (ranging wherever from Brazil to Serbia to Japan) for the final 9 years, I’ve no drawback accomodating for and dealing with folks from vastly completely different timezones.
I am additionally snug with the contractor standing, as I already pay for my very own medical health insurance and retirement plans.
However Why Rent Me?
I’ve packed a complete profession value of expertise within the final 12 years or so. A couple of highlights:
- Throughout my masters diploma at Carnegie Mellon, I labored on their lunar rover challenge for the Google X Prize, which spun off into Astrobotic and simply made their first launch try to the moon just a few weeks in the past.
- Additionally in my masters, I co-created Pixy and efficiently raised nearly $275k on Kickstarter. Pixy is now offered at most main on-line electronics retailers.
- Throughout my time at Sandia Nationwide Labs, I shifted extra in direction of a software program focus and labored on a wide range of initiatives, together with satellites, communication techniques, and extra.
- After leaving Sandia in 2015, I began and bootstrapped Unstack Software program the place I have been beginning, buying, and operating software program merchandise, each solo and with a crew.
- I began Stack Abuse (the positioning you are on now!) in the course of the launch of Pixy in 2013 and have been actively rising it since 2015. At our peak, SA had over 1.5 million month-to-month guests, 5 full time workers, and we managed dozens of contract writers.
- I acquired Block Sender, rewrote all the things, and grew it from just a few hundred customers to over 60,000 customers immediately. It is one of the technically difficult merchandise I’ve labored on and may very well be a case examine for studying how one can take care of edge circumstances and conflicting buyer wants.
The factor I am most trying ahead to on this position is the problem of studying new expertise and contributing to a product that I actually love. I really consider that your greatest work is completed whenever you’re straddling the road of consolation and discomfort, which this position would do for me. I could not verify all of the packing containers (i.e. lack of expertise in Rust and Accessibility), however my total profession has been about studying no matter ability it’s that I have to get issues executed – whether or not it is studying new languages, frameworks, how one can handle a crew, how one can handle prospects, or something in between.
As I tweeted just a few months in the past, Tailwind has been an unbelievable instructing device for me. It has taught me extra about CSS in the previous couple of years than I discovered within the first 10. I consider that I can use my distinctive expertise and perspective to assist make Tailwind extra accessible to a broader vary of builders.
Technical Abilities
I contemplate myself a full-stack developer and nearly solely use JavaScript for all of my initiatives. My most well-liked stack is AWS, Node.js, Subsequent/React, Tailwind, and PostgreSQL. In a earlier life I wrote quite a lot of Python, Java, and C/C++, however I’ve primarily used JavaScript for the final 8 years. I have been desperately on the lookout for an excuse to be taught Rust, however I promise I am making use of to this job for extra than simply that 😉
A couple of issues I am happy with:
- Stack Abuse’s Course Platform: Along with the customized CMS, I additionally constructed a full course platform for Stack Abuse that has been utilized by 1000’s of scholars. It is constructed with Subsequent.js, Tailwind, and PostgreSQL. That is the place I acquired my first style of Tailwind and have been migrating my initiatives to it ever since. At its peak, this platform was serving over 100,000 customers per day.
- Block Sender’s Backend: This was a small app I acquired in 2016 and utterly rewrote from scratch. Thus far, it is processed over 750M emails, which taught me an incredible deal about engaged on techniques that have to scale. I additionally constructed a easy dashboard and Chrome extension for our 60,000+ customers.
- Camo, my open supply challenge: What began as a enjoyable challenge to be taught Node and Doc DBs 9 years in the past become a semi-popular ODM with over 550 GitHub stars. Whereas I am unable to say I am tremendous happy with the technical facets (in spite of everything, it was my first Node challenge), it did educate me rather a lot about managing open supply software program and dealing with customers and contributors.
The customized CMS I am scripting this on. You may most likely discover some early Tailwind UI elements in there!
Observe: I ought to level out that my GitHub profile’s exercise is just not consultant of the quantity of programming I do. Whereas nearly all of my initiatives use git model management, I do not host most of them on GitHub.
Management
I have been main groups for the final 6 years, along with the code I write. The roles ranged from digital assistants to editors/writers to builders. Take a look at Stack Abuse’s About Us web page to see a few of the superb folks I started working with! Of the 120 workers displayed on that web page, I personally employed over half of them.
Writing
Since founding Stack Abuse, I’ve written/edited over 450 articles and edited 6 books. Listed here are just a few of my favorites:
Enjoyable and Ineffective Info
- My spouse and I’ve been avid CrossFitters for the final 9 years. Health is my third ardour after household and work.
- I share Adam’s love of steel – all of my productiveness might be attributed to bands like Soilwork, Darkest Hour, Instrument, and Korn.
- My workplace is on a farm. Our household has run an organization within the ag area for the final 130+ years. I am lucky to have the ability to hire workplace area from them and escape the noise at house.
- My private greatest Rubick’s dice remedy is 42 seconds 🤓
