My Early Tinkering & Hacking Days
I started tinkering with computers at a young age thanks to a good friend who taught me how to build my own. These were the days before broadband internet, and you had to still rely on books for learning the details on how computers worked.
From there I was hooked. I built several of my own computers, explored the Linux operating system because I was fascinated by the idea of open source software.
Thanks to my buddy, I also became involved in the original Xbox modding scene. I learned how to soft modify Xboxes, backup and restore games via FTP, and this was far before digital downloadable games were a thing.
This lead to a lot of fun online, where my friends and I would modify our Halo games to change the game in ridiculous ways. This frustrated other gamers online beyond belief, and got us kicked off Xbox Live several times. It was so worth it.
I also learned how to transcode & stream video in-network with Xbox Media Center (XBMC, now known as Kodi). This was before streaming services like Netflix were even a blip on the radar.
Startups & Building Web Applications
In college, I continued to tinker but took my interest far more seriously. I completed a major that was a mix between business & computer science. I knew that I was interested in computing, but not as just an intellectual excercise. I wanted to build systems that provided value to other people.
I started my first startup with a co-founder in college and spent several years working on the project, even after I graduated and found a full time job to pay the bills.
This experience taught me full stack development & well more. I was responsible for everything - front & back end development, server management, product, QA, security, documentation, organizing cross functional developers with Agile/Scrum methodologies.
This was the hardest and most challenging point in my carrer. Giving a real try at startups calls for all of your attention, and while the first did not work out for me, the lessons have continued to pay in dividends.
Freelancing
After the startup experience, I realized I knew enough to begin a small business consulting. This lead to a multitude of projects, most noteable was BuzzReport which was a social media alerting and management tool tailored for large institutions.
Since then I’ve worked with a dozen clients - ranging from STEM toy design companies, marketing agencies, escape rooms, and apparel design/retail firms. My bread & butter is building SaaS applications, but these include IoT projects.
My engineering philosophy is business pragmatism. I have the experience to understand the “right way” to complete projects, but I also understand business needs are paramount thanks to my experience running my own small business & startup.
If you have a SaaS business or an internal component of your company needs a technical evalutation, please contact me.