Connecting the right ideas with the right people, with Christopher Chedeau, creator of Excalidraw, co-creator of React Native
Aug 31, 2021
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Christopher Chedeau discusses the creation of Excalidraw, a popular virtual whiteboard app, and his journey from modding video games to joining Facebook. He also shares insights on the early days of React, time management in project management, and the lasting impact of React in the front end community.
Excalidraw, originally a side project, gained popularity as an open-source virtual whiteboard during the pandemic.
Christopher focuses on scaling his influence by finding the right people to work on projects and empowering them to take ownership.
Christopher believes in solving problems completely, aiming to build comprehensive projects that don't require constant rework.
Deep dives
Creating Excalidraw
Christopher Shado created Excalidraw as a side project while procrastinating on writing feedback. It started with drawing simple shapes using code sandbox and rough jazz and quickly gained attention on Twitter. Building on that momentum, Christopher turned it into an open-source project on GitHub, where people started contributing to its development. The project grew and became popular for its collaborative drawing capabilities. COVID-19 caused an increased demand for online whiteboard replacements, leading to Excalidraw being recognized as a suitable tool. Eventually, David and Milos joined the project, and a company was formed around Excalidraw to provide support and additional features.
Scaling Influence
Christopher focuses on scaling his influence by finding the right people to work on projects and empowering them to take ownership. He no longer focuses on coding but instead helps to guide and strategize the direction of various projects. By giving his team the support and resources they need, he enables them to have a significant impact. This approach allows him to have a broader reach and solve more problems while also developing the careers and skill sets of those he works with.
The Value of Solving Problems Completely
Christopher believes in solving problems completely rather than continuously rewriting or repeating efforts. He encourages dreaming big and finding the best solutions to problems, aiming to build projects that are comprehensive and don't require constant rework. This approach eliminates redundancy and wasted time, leading to more efficient and impactful projects.
The Success of React
React, created by Christopher, has become widely adopted due to its effectiveness in addressing problems specific to the web development community. By focusing on a holistic solution and offering significant improvements, React has become a staple in the industry, surpassing the constant churn of new JavaScript libraries. A similar approach was taken with Excalidraw, addressing the limitations of existing whiteboard tools and providing an innovative and versatile solution.
The Birth of Excalidraw
Excalidraw originated as a way for Christopher to draw illustrations for his blog posts. It started as a way to procrastinate writing 360 feedback at Facebook. After receiving positive feedback on Twitter, Christopher decided to turn it into an open-source project. Through collaborative contributions on GitHub, Excalidraw matured as a drawing app. Its popularity surged during COVID-19, as it became a sought-after online whiteboard solution. Excalidraw continues to grow and is now being supported by a dedicated team through the formation of a company.
On the eve of the pandemic, Christopher Chedeau was procrastinating performance reviews at Facebook and decided to hack together a simple drawing app. That weekend project became Excalidraw, an open-source virtual whiteboard so popular that its users have basically demanded a startup form around it so that they can bring it to work. In this episode of the Sourcegraph Podcast, Christopher tells the backstory of Excalidraw's meteoric rise, as well as his story of joining Facebook and coming to America, and tales from the early days of React and how React Native was born.
Show notes & transcript: https://about.sourcegraph.com/podcast/christopher-chedeau/
Sourcegraph: about.sourcegraph.com
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