Work With Me
Work with me on an ambitious but real project. Learn 200–400 things, have lots of fun, and shape something that could be cool.
Throughout my entire career I’ve been eager to teach people how to do what I do. Several of them have taken themselves far! In this era I can assign people much bigger challenges than before. But despite what is sometimes said, it’s still an era when knowing how things are made is a powerful stance.
How It Works
I’ll get you up to speed and suggest a handful of options. I’ll tell you which are the most fun and make sure every day or two brings a fresh workflow.
You'll contribute to a variety of projects, learning how they're built and why we make the decisions we do. In return for your time, you'll develop detailed knowledge of the tools, techniques, and workflows involved, with the possibility of growing into a paid role.
No experience is needed. A can-do attitude is great; it’s also something I can teach. You likely have some skills or niche knowledge I’d like to acquire as well.
Skills That Travel
- Taking an idea that's been bouncing around in your head and making it into something people can actually use.
- Getting to know the tools and tricks of software development, and understanding how all the pieces work together.
- Finding out what people really think of what we've made. Sometimes they'll surprise us, and sometimes they'll have ideas that are better than ours!
- Figuring out how to get our work in front of people. There are so many ways to do this, and we'll get to experiment with them.
The Fine Print
- Your time
- You set your hours. A few hours a week is plenty. Tell me what you can give and we’ll shape the work around it.
- A beginning and an end
- Legally this is an internship, so we'll agree on an end date, with some goals for what you'll explore along the way. When we get there, we'll look at what we've accomplished and what might make sense next.
- Bootstrapping
- Bootstrapping means no paycheck at the beginning. It’s a little cringe, but this actually unlocks some powerful ways of working together, and of serving our products to more people. Making money is urgent, though, and I’ll be glad to add your urgency into the flow.
- Growing into an opportunity
- When a project can pay someone, or needs someone to lead a part of it, the volunteer who engaged is the obvious option. Attitude counts for a lot, and it beats doing a bunch of interviews!
- When we go, it goes fast
- Your salary will change every week and you will be paid every day.
- It should be fun
- My career has been so fun it’s almost ridiculous. I really want to share this feeling! The frustrations of software engineering are real, but when you’re not alone they tend to transmute into chuckles.
Ready?