Develop Yourself

Five years ago, during an interview for a senior dev role, I had a panic attack. It was one of my worst interview experiences. It also taught me a lot about what I was doing wrong.

In this episode, I'll break down the process that took me from under-paid developer to passing interviews and 4x'ing my salary.

Here's your worksheet to help you create a solid story for an interview: worksheet

If you know you suck at interviews - I'll be working with a few people to help them crush their next interview and increase their salaries.

Apply here: Fill out application 👈

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Shameless Plugs

🧑‍💻 Free 5 day email course to go from HTML to AI

🤔 Got a question you want answered on the pod? Drop it here

Apply for 1 of 12 spots at Parsity - Learn to build complex software with AI integrations.

AI Bootcamp - for software developers who want to be the expert on their team when it comes to AI

Harish, former lead engineer at MongoDB and current co-founder of Flaire, takes us on a journey through his unusual career path—one that didn’t involve grinding LeetCode or chasing FAANG.

Instead, he got deep into cybersecurity, built large-scale systems, and eventually started his own company that’s redefining how small businesses use software.

We talk about:

• What it’s actually like to work on database internals and secure infrastructure
• Why most engineers shouldn’t become founders—and why he did anyway
• How to use AI for real business workflows (not just ChatGPT hacks)
• The rise of “cybersecurity as product” and how ops teams still run on spreadsheets and WhatsApp
• Why learning to code isn’t just about DSA and bootcamps—it’s about solving real problems

“A lot of tools are built for enterprises, but most businesses are duct-taping together spreadsheets. We built for them.”
“You need to understand how your workflows actually function before throwing AI at them.”
“Don’t overbuild. Build just enough to learn something, then improve.”

If you’re newer to tech and want to understand what actual engineering careers can look like—this episode will open your eyes to what’s possible.

Connect with Harish here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scharish/

Send us a text

Shameless Plugs

🧑‍💻 Free 5 day email course to go from HTML to AI

🤔 Got a question you want answered on the pod? Drop it here

Apply for 1 of 12 spots at Parsity - Learn to build complex software with AI integrations.

AI Bootcamp - for software developers who want to be the expert on their team when it comes to AI

Are junior devs cooked?

How can I scaffold a solid MERN stack app?

What's the best way to stick with a tutorial?

We got some great questions this episode and my answers might surprise you.

Got a question you want answered? Drop it here: https://form.typeform.com/to/Q499M9kl

Send us a text

Shameless Plugs

🧑‍💻 Free 5 day email course to go from HTML to AI

🤔 Got a question you want answered on the pod? Drop it here

Apply for 1 of 12 spots at Parsity - Learn to build complex software with AI integrations.

AI Bootcamp - for software developers who want to be the expert on their team when it comes to AI

Learning JS is tough.

And you're probably making some of the same mistakes I did in the past.

In this episode you'll get a path and a small project to make to teach you the minimum effective dose of JavaScript necessary to move forward in your learning journey.

Here's the challenge I mentioned which includes some short videos: Your Form Challenge

Send us a text

Shameless Plugs

🧑‍💻 Free 5 day email course to go from HTML to AI

🤔 Got a question you want answered on the pod? Drop it here

Apply for 1 of 12 spots at Parsity - Learn to build complex software with AI integrations.

AI Bootcamp - for software developers who want to be the expert on their team when it comes to AI

A junior developer who got hired at a startup used AI non-stop to keep up.

It worked for weeks until he crashed and burned.

He'd built a house of cards that he couldn't keep up. The AI tools went in doom loops or just added more sloppy code that his team wouldn't accept.

Turns out they hired a prompt engineer instead of a coder.

We're in uncharted territory my friends.

You can't just NOT use AI but when should you start? How much is too much?

Let's explore a path to learning code with AI that won't make you another prompt engineer.

PS - If you're already a software developer, I'm working with a few people to crush their next interview. Apply here.

Send us a text

Shameless Plugs

🧑‍💻 Free 5 day email course to go from HTML to AI

🤔 Got a question you want answered on the pod? Drop it here

Apply for 1 of 12 spots at Parsity - Learn to build complex software with AI integrations.

AI Bootcamp - for software developers who want to be the expert on their team when it comes to AI

3 traps to avoid in your career, that I nearly fell for:

1. The Framework Developer Trap

2. The Developer in a Hoodie Trap (might be the most surprising revelation for many aspiring programmers)

3. The Hype-Driven Development Trap

Got a question you want answered on the pod? Drop it here: https://form.typeform.com/to/Q499M9kl

Send us a text

Shameless Plugs

🧑‍💻 Free 5 day email course to go from HTML to AI

🤔 Got a question you want answered on the pod? Drop it here

Apply for 1 of 12 spots at Parsity - Learn to build complex software with AI integrations.

AI Bootcamp - for software developers who want to be the expert on their team when it comes to AI

Matt Watson, who scaled VIN Solutions to a $150 million exit, shares his journey from coding to building products that make a real impact in the business world.

We talk about:

• Why most developers fail at launching products
• What it means to be a product-minded engineer
• How AI is exposing weak developers
• The importance of sales, customer empathy, and learning in public

“Your code isn’t the product. Solving real problems is.”

“If I have to write requirements down to the detail… I might as well just give it to AI.”

Want to develop the product engineer's mindset? Grab Matt's book here : http://productdriven.com/book

Matt's newsletter for product driven engineers: https://newsletter.productdriven.com/

Send us a text

Shameless Plugs

🧑‍💻 Free 5 day email course to go from HTML to AI

🤔 Got a question you want answered on the pod? Drop it here

Apply for 1 of 12 spots at Parsity - Learn to build complex software with AI integrations.

AI Bootcamp - for software developers who want to be the expert on their team when it comes to AI

This episode introduces a weekend project that will give you authentic experience working with existing code—a crucial skill that most tutorials and coding platforms simply don't teach. 

Using Kyle Simpson's YouPeriod GitHub repository, you'll learn to navigate a codebase written by someone else, which is exactly what you'll do in your first development job. This particular project is perfect for beginners because it uses fundamental web technologies (HTML, CSS, and vanilla JavaScript) rather than complex frameworks like React or TypeScript.

Here's the Github repo: https://github.com/getify/youperiod.app

This weekend project will teach you more about real development work than weeks of guided exercises. 

If you're completely new to JavaScript, check out our Dev30 program at dev30.xyz, where you can learn the fundamentals and beyond.

Send us a text

Shameless Plugs

🧑‍💻 Free 5 day email course to go from HTML to AI

🤔 Got a question you want answered on the pod? Drop it here

Apply for 1 of 12 spots at Parsity - Learn to build complex software with AI integrations.

AI Bootcamp - for software developers who want to be the expert on their team when it comes to AI

Have you ever wondered what data scientists and engineers actually do all day? Forget what you've seen in movies – it's not all neural networks and fancy algorithms.

Ryan Varley, Engineering Fellow at Magnite and experienced data leader, pulls back the curtain on the rapidly evolving world of data science and engineering. 

The real work often involves what he colorfully describes as "really complex plumbing" – making processes more efficient, reliable, and scalable in ways that directly impact business outcomes.

Whether you're considering a career pivot into data, trying to understand how these roles fit within your organization, or simply curious about the mechanics behind today's AI revolution, this episode provides an accessible window into a complex and increasingly crucial field. 

Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn .

Read Ryan's Newsletter for engineering leaders facing the hardest problem in scaling their impact: https://newsletter.ryanvarley.com/

Send us a text

Shameless Plugs

🧑‍💻 Free 5 day email course to go from HTML to AI

🤔 Got a question you want answered on the pod? Drop it here

Apply for 1 of 12 spots at Parsity - Learn to build complex software with AI integrations.

AI Bootcamp - for software developers who want to be the expert on their team when it comes to AI

Interviewing is arguably the highest paying skill you can have as a developer.

I don't think this is fair but it is reality.

I've taken part in well over 100 interviews both as an interviewee and interviewer. I've worked with dozens of developers to ace their interviews and increase their salaries by tens of thousands of dollars.

This is not for developers looking to get into Big Tech. This episode is for the 99%.

We're going to cover the 4 most common stages of the tech interview from recruiter filtering to technical interview to "tell me about yourself" and finally the offer stage.

Here's the unit testing course I mentioned in the episode that you seriously need to check out if you don't know how to write a test: https://github.com/CodeCoachJS/js_pro_unit_testing

Send us a text

Shameless Plugs

🧑‍💻 Free 5 day email course to go from HTML to AI

🤔 Got a question you want answered on the pod? Drop it here

Apply for 1 of 12 spots at Parsity - Learn to build complex software with AI integrations.

AI Bootcamp - for software developers who want to be the expert on their team when it comes to AI