In this episode, we chat with Jess's friend and fellow Georgian, Matt D. Smith. While developers may not be too familiar, Matt is widely known and well respected in the interface design community. He ran an independent design studio for many years, eventually transitioning to building products and courses. Matt is currently focused on Shift Nudge, the premiere online learning experience for designing beautiful & functional interfaces.Matt shares with us his story of moving from client work to products, and growing an online presence. The parallels to indie development are striking, with many takeaways for those trying to build an independent practice, or grow as content creators.Relevant LinksMatt's TwitterMatt's YouTubeMatt's WebsiteShift NudgeUse ContrastFlowkit

In this episode we catch up with an old friend, Allan Branch. Allan and his partner Steve were early adopters of rails and made a big splash in the tech community with their company LessEverything. They put on many conferences (LessConf), workshops, offered consulting services, created and sold a SaaS, displayed silly/witty marketing and shared a ton of what they've learned through social and open source projects, blogs and more. Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, Allan has taken concepts from his dad's car wash businesses (the "Jason Fried of car washes") applied them to software, and now is applying them to real estate, city development and breweries too. You don't want to miss this one, there's so much to learn. There's lots of great stories and even better advice. Links:Allan on TwitterCurrent tech company (they're looking to hire Elixir and Rails devs)Allan's link tree 

Jason Swett, known in the Rails community for his podcast and book, talks about his recent transition into consulting and product development. He discusses the benefits of long-term engagements and building trust with clients. The chapter also explores the evolution of coaching and the importance of establishing a non-negotiable North Star objective. They discuss unique projects, like starting a snail mail newsletter and going on a world tour. The hosts also talk about the evolution of personal branding and the challenges of finding intelligent and conscientious clients. They emphasize the advantages of building from a solid foundation and highlight Sensity Ruby as an upcoming conference focused on fostering meaningful connections and camaraderie.

In this episode, we dive into the multifaceted world of technology, creativity, and storytelling. We have the honor of hosting Ayush Newatia, a seasoned Ruby developer whose expertise extends beyond the intricacies of code. Ayush is not just a maestro in programming; he is an independent developer at radioactivetoy.tech, a creator of SaaS apps like Scattergun, on the Core Team of Bridgetown, podcaster at Just a Spec and he's also the accomplished author of the The Rails and Hotwire Codex. Join us as we flip through the pages of his coding journey!Relevant Links:WebsiteTwitterThe Rails and Hotwire Codex (Book)Scattergun (SaaS) Bridgetown (Core member)Just a Spec (Podcast)

Get ready for an insightful conversation as we sit down with the dynamic Adrian Marin, who has had an extraordinary year making waves in the Ruby world. From taking Avo, his custom Content Management System for Rails, to the next level, to the launching of Friendly.rb, a fresh and vibrant Ruby conference in the heart of Bucharest, Romania.Adrian doesn't stop there; he's been on a whirlwind journey, embracing the global Ruby community by attending conferences far and wide. Join us as we delve into the intricacies of developing Avo, the inspiration behind launching Friendly.rb, and the invaluable experiences gained from being a prominent presence at ruby conferences around the globe. Oh, did we mention that he also started a podcast?If you're curious about Avo, Friendly.rb, the Friendly Show or simply interested in the adventures of an entrepreneur who's had a monumental year, tune in and discover the vibrant world of Adrian Marin.Relevant LinksWebsiteTwitterMastodonAvoFriendly.rbFriendly Show

Jess and Jeremy discuss an excellent question posed by Nate Vick: What are you looking for in a new client? Whether you're looking for a new client, new target market for your product, or a new job, identifying the people you will be serving (or want to be serving) is a critical step to finding success and happiness in business. Join us as we contemplate and examine Nate's question in our own businesses. Hopefully it will get you thinking about your own!

John Nunemaker is a long-time Rails developer known for his writing on the RailsTips blog, his open source gems like HTTParty and Flipper, and his work at Ordered List, GitHub, and now Box Out Sports and Fewer & Faster. He joins us to share about his developer journey, the origins of the Flipper gem, and the creation of Flipper Cloud. Relevant LinksWebsiteTwitterGitHubBox Out SportsFlipper CloudFewer & FasterSpeaker DeckRailsTipsFlipper HTTParty

Bram Jetten joins us for a special episode, recorded on the second day of Rails World 2023. (BIG thanks to Buzz Sprout for sponsoring and making this happen!) Bram is a maker of many things, but his two main focuses are an open source project Spina CMS, and the SaaS business he helped found and build called PlanGo: software for driving schools.Links:https://bramjetten.dev/TwitterProjects:Spina Pro (currently developing) A pro version of Spina CMSSpina CMS An open source Rails CMSSpina Shop An e-commerce plugin for SpinaPlanGo 🇳🇱 My SaaS-business targeted at driving schoolsMr. Hop 🇳🇱 Webshop selling specialty craft beersRobodash A bg/cron-job monitoring tooliPad app for my grandma with Alzheimer's I made a calendar app for my grandma

Greg Molnar joins us for a special episode, recorded on the first day of Rails World 2023. Greg is an OSCP Certified Ethical Hacker and an independent Ruby developer. We talk about his consulting work, his Rails Tricks newsletter, his newsletter product Pombo Mailer, and his new book Secure code review for Rails Developers.Relevant LinksTwitterWebsiteRails TricksPombo MailerSecure code review for Rails Developers

Jeremy just recently gave a talk at friendly.rb titled "Making it as an Indie Developer". Part of the talk was about managing yourself and we wanted to do a deeper dive into that topic. As an indie developer (or could be applied to other categories like business owners or founders) , how do you manage the business, your career, motivation, goals, health, pipeline, workflow, etc??They don't have all the answers, but Jeremy and Jess bring their nearly 30 combined years of experience to share how they make it as indie developers.