Matt Swanson, CTO at Arrows

May 27, 2024

Matt Swanson, CTO at Arrows, discusses his journey in content creation, the benefits of working in-person, and the value of demonstrating competence through content creation. They touch on the changing landscape of content creation, the longevity of Ben's Ruby talk, and the importance of quality coworkers.

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Episode notes

Introduction

00:00 • 4min

Distinguishing Factors Between Student Engineer and Product Engineer

03:41 • 2min

Navigating Career Transitions and the Value of Diverse Experiences

05:20 • 23min

Navigating the Interview Process Without Traditional Skill Tests

28:40 • 3min

Impact of Coding Talks and Programming Resources

31:21 • 7min

Analyzing the Business Comedy TV Show 'Nathan for You'

38:40 • 2min

Monetizing Pennies through Advertising

40:51 • 5min

Ben and Matt discuss the role of a product engineer and Matt's journey as a content creator. Matt shares his experience working at a consulting agency and how it shaped his perspective on engineering. They also discuss the benefits of working in-person and the importance of the quality of coworkers. Matt reflects on his motivation for content creation and how it ties into his competitive nature. They touch on the changing landscape of content creation and the value of posting code snippets, and about Matt's experience getting hired at Arrows through Twitter and the value of demonstrating competence through content creation. They touch on the longevity of Ben's Ruby talk and the elements that make it stand out.

Links

Tuple.app (https://tuple.app) - The best app for pair programming

Arrows.to (https://arrows.to) - An app for collaborative customer onboarding that Matt works on

Boring Rails (https://boringrails.com) - Where Matt shares boring tools and practices to keep you as happy and productive

YAGNI (https://yagni.fm) - The podcast where Matt and look at software practices and tools and ask: "do we need it?"

Key Takeaways

A product engineer is someone who writes code, cares about design and user experience, and is responsible for the end-to-end delivery of a feature.
Working at a consulting agency can provide valuable experience by exposing developers to a variety of projects and domains.
Content creation can be a way to contribute back to the community and establish oneself as an expert.
Demonstrating competence through content creation can help in the hiring process.
Long-lasting talks focus on practical ideas and good object-oriented design principles.

Chapters

(00:00) - Introduction and Matt's Role as a Product Engineer
(07:11) - The Benefits of Working at a Consulting Agency
(09:34) - The Importance of Quality Coworkers
(13:41) - The Motivation for Content Creation
(18:54) - The Value of Posting Code Snippets
(24:03) - Packaging Content as an Event
(26:40) - Demonstrating Competence through Content Creation
(32:05) - Long-Lasting Talks: Practical Ideas and Object-Oriented Design
(38:39) - 'Nathan for You': Creative and Mischievous Problem-Solving
(41:30) - Unconventional Advertising: Selling Ads on the Penny
(44:29) - Thinking Outside the Box: Unconventional Solutions