We’re joined by Danny Thompson, currently Director of Technology at This Dot Labs and technical leader and organizer of the Dallas Software Developers Group, where he fosters vibrant local tech ecosystem through workshops, cohorts, and meetups.

With a passion to help others learn and find jobs, Danny shares his stories and insights that he gained throughout his extensive and fascinating career! From working as a cashier to now giving talks and organizing meetups for which people fly out to attend, Danny talks about how he got into coding in the first place and his progression, his advice to new developers, how does AI impact jobs now and his perspective on how it will change in the future and a lot more!

Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev

Listen on your favorite podcast player - https://www.backendbanter.fm

Danny's X/Twitter: https://x.com/DThompsonDev

Danny's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dthompsondev/

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro

02:14 - How Danny Got Into Coding

05:08 - Meetups and Affordable Conferences

23:37 - Overview of This Dot Labs

29:28 - Building Apps on Top of Stripe

30:30 - Businesses Focus on Functionality Over Aesthetics

33:00 - Danny's Career Progression

38:39 - Pros and Cons of Product vs. Consulting

43:12 - This Dot Labs Regarding AI

46:46 - Interest Rates &. AI: Impact on Developer Jobs

55:31 - The Pressure to Perform at a High Level

57:51 - Why Recruiters Do Not Call You Back

01:03:41 - Getting Feedback After Interviews

01:04:49 - Danny's LinkedIn Courses and Where to Find Him

"Who Cares?" (w/ John Early)