“Every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don’t intend to waste any of mine.” — Neil Armstrong I was talking to a friend recently about our holiday breaks. I took two weeks off without any issue, but after just a few days off, things in his business had…

​I used to speak regularly at many of the Chicago-area coding bootcamps and one of the common questions that students posed to me was, “How can I become a ‘senior software engineer’?” I’ve seen versions of this question countless times on forums and Reddit threads as well, and I suspect…

The term “API” gets thrown around a lot these days, but what does it mean? What can you use an API for? Do you have to have a developer on your team to build or use an API? In this guide, we’ll explore all those questions and more, including a…

I’ve always liked trying new software tools, but the more experienced I get, the more solid my business operating system has gotten. As I refine the toolset I use for running my startup, I like to keep a running list of the tools that I use and recommend. While I’m…

=== I remember the first time I was put in charge of a team at a startup. I had been in leadership roles in college, but that was nothing compared to managing software engineers who were 5 to 15 years more experienced than myself. It was scary and it stretched…

There is so much to consider when making a basic website. You have to think about how to get a domain name and where to get it. You need to work out the general costs of building and maintaining it, where you can host your content, and how much the…

We recently started supporting our clients at Draft.dev with keyword research which, given our unique position, has generated some exciting opportunities. We work with an array of clients, targeting different kinds of customers, in a hyper-defined niche: software development. Developer marketing is unique. It moves fast, and new terms are…

JAMStack, which stands for JavaScript, API, and Markup, is the latest buzzword in the world of web development. It aims to drop the complexity of your system, and helps you to deliver better apps in less time. As with any new innovation in tech, there is a plethora of companies…

=== Earlier this year, I decided to get an iPad as a more portable work device. …