In this episode of 99 Dev Problems, Tessa Kriesel is joined by Brian Casel, founder of Instrumental Products, to discuss his journey from front-end dev to full-stack mastery and his passion for building tools that empower developers. Brian shares insights from his unique career path, transitioning to Ruby on Rails, and the pivotal role AI plays in accelerating development workflows.

Brian explains how Rails remains a premier choice for building MVPs and SaaS products, thanks to its simplicity and developer-friendly philosophy. The conversation also dives into how AI tools like Cursor have transformed his productivity, unblocking challenges that once took weeks in mere minutes.

Tessa and Brian explore deeper topics like the evolving landscape for junior developers, the value of taking risks early in your career, and the joys and struggles of building a business as a technical founder. Brian also shares details about his exciting new projects: a Rails components library and a block editor for Rails, both designed to make development faster and more intuitive.

This episode is packed with actionable insights, whether you're a junior developer navigating your first steps, a seasoned coder exploring Rails, or a founder looking to build products smarter and faster.

Where to Find Brian Casel:

• Instrumental Products: instrumentalproducts.com
• Personal Site: briancasel.com
• Social Media:
  • Blue Sky (@briancasel)
  • X./Twitter (@CasJam)

Brian’s New Podcast:

• The Panel: Panel Podcast (Launching February 2025)

Additional Resources:

• For Rails enthusiasts: Keep an eye on instrumental.dev for the upcoming Rails components library and block editor.

Don't miss this inspiring conversation that reminds us why we love building, solving problems, and collaborating in the developer community!