Learning to Code
Use a project-based approach to learning to code, not just following tutorials.
Two friends, Mia and Leo, decided to learn Python. Leo spent months watching video tutorials, meticulously following along as the instructor built projects. Mia, after learning the basics, decided to build a simple weather app. She got stuck constantly, spending hours on Google and Stack Overflow. A month later, Leo could talk about coding concepts, but Mia had actually built something. When faced with a new problem, Mia could solve it; Leo could only search for a tutorial that matched it exactly.
Stop doing tutorial hell. Do start building your own projects as soon as possible.
A learner named Sam was trapped in “tutorial hell.” He had completed a dozen online courses but felt like he couldn’t write a single line of code without guidance. He felt like a fraud. He finally decided to break the cycle. He picked a simple, personal project: a website to catalog his favorite books. It was ugly and the code was messy, but it was his. The act of solving his own problems, not the instructor’s, was the moment he truly started to learn and build real confidence.
The #1 secret for learning to code effectively.
The secret is not about being a genius; it’s about mastering the art of breaking down problems. A beginner tried to build a to-do list application and was completely overwhelmed by the scale of the task. A mentor sat down with her and showed her how to break it down into tiny, manageable pieces: “First, just create a simple input box and a button. Then, make the button print the input to the console.” By learning to deconstruct a large, scary problem into a series of small, solvable ones, she unlocked her ability to build anything.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about learning to code.
The lie is that you need to be a math prodigy to be a good programmer. A student who struggled with advanced calculus thought coding was not for her. She then discovered web development and found a passion for creating beautiful, interactive user interfaces with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. She realized that programming is a vast field. While some areas are math-heavy, much of it is about logic, creativity, and problem-solving, skills that have nothing to do with her old math grades.
I wish I knew this about the importance of consistency when I was learning to code.
When I first started learning to code, I would try to cram for eight hours every Saturday. I felt productive, but by the next weekend, I had forgotten most of what I had learned. It was a frustrating cycle. I wish I had known that consistency trumps intensity. When I switched to a habit of coding for just 30 minutes every single day, the concepts started to stick. That daily reinforcement was the key to building momentum and making real, lasting progress.
I’m just going to say it: You don’t need a computer science degree to become a software engineer.
A hiring manager had two candidates. The first had a computer science degree but a sparse portfolio with only school projects. The second candidate was a self-taught developer who had an impressive portfolio of real-world web applications she had built on her own time. The manager hired the self-taught developer. Why? Because her portfolio demonstrated not only her technical skills but also her passion, initiative, and ability to solve real problems—qualities that a degree certificate alone cannot show.
99% of beginners make this one mistake when learning to code.
The most common mistake is copy-pasting code from a tutorial or Stack Overflow without understanding what it does. A beginner found a snippet of code online that solved his immediate problem. He copied it into his project, and it worked. A week later, he needed to make a small change, but he had no idea how the code worked, so he was completely stuck. The goal is not just to make the code work; it’s to understand why it works. Type it out yourself, and question every line.
This one small habit of coding every day, even if it’s just for 30 minutes, will change your progress forever.
A busy professional wanted to learn to code but felt like she never had enough time for a long study session. She decided to try a new habit: she committed to writing code for just 30 minutes every single day during her lunch break. Some days she made a lot of progress, other days she just fixed a small bug. But this consistent, daily practice created a powerful learning loop. It kept the concepts fresh in her mind and built an unstoppable momentum that sporadic, multi-hour sessions never could.
The reason you’re not making progress in learning to code is because you’re not being persistent enough.
A beginner hit her first major bug. She spent two hours trying to fix it, got frustrated, and gave up for a week. What she didn’t realize is that every developer, from junior to senior, gets stuck. Programming is not about knowing all the answers; it’s about being persistent and resourceful enough to find them. The feeling of being stuck is not a sign that you’re bad at coding; it’s a sign that you are on the verge of learning something new.
If you’re still just passively watching tutorials, you’re losing the opportunity to actually learn.
Imagine trying to learn to play the guitar by only watching videos of someone else playing. You might learn the theory, but your fingers would have no idea what to do. The same is true for coding. Watching a tutorial gives you a false sense of competence. You only truly start to learn when you close the video, open a blank editor, and try to build something yourself. That is when you will struggle, and that is when the real learning happens.
Getting a Tech Job
Use your portfolio to showcase your skills, not just your resume.
A hiring manager sifted through a hundred resumes that all looked the same, listing “JavaScript” and “React” as skills. Then, she came across a resume that had a link to a personal portfolio. She clicked it and found three live, well-designed web applications the candidate had built. She could see their skills in action. She didn’t even finish reading the resume; she just scheduled the interview. Your resume tells them what you know; your portfolio proves it.
Stop doing mass-applying to hundreds of jobs. Do tailor your application to each company instead.
A job seeker sent out 200 generic applications in one week and got nothing but automated rejections. He was frustrated and demoralized. He decided to change his strategy. He picked one company he was genuinely excited about, spent a full day researching their product, and wrote a personalized cover letter that explained exactly why he wanted to work there. He got an interview the next day. Quality always beats quantity in a job search.
The #1 secret for acing your technical interview.
The secret is to communicate your thought process out loud. A candidate was given a coding problem. She thought for a minute in silence and then wrote out a perfect, optimized solution. The interviewer was impressed but had no idea how she got there. Another candidate, given the same problem, talked through her initial thoughts, her brute-force approach, and her process for optimizing it. Even though her final code wasn’t as perfect, she got the offer because she demonstrated her problem-solving ability, which is what the interviewer was actually testing.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about getting a job in tech.
The lie is that you need to be a “10x engineer” or a competitive programming genius to get a job. A junior developer was terrified of job hunting because he felt like he wasn’t smart enough. He finally applied for a job and discovered that the company wasn’t looking for a genius. They were looking for someone who was curious, a good communicator, a collaborative teammate, and had a solid foundation of practical skills. Most companies hire for potential and cultural fit, not just raw technical brilliance.
I wish I knew this about the importance of networking when I was looking for my first tech job.
I spent the first three months of my job search just applying to jobs online. I sent out hundreds of applications and felt like I was sending them into a black hole. I finally forced myself to go to a local tech meetup. I had a casual conversation with an engineer about a project she was working on. The next day, she emailed me saying her team was hiring and asked for my resume. That one conversation was more effective than all 300 of my online applications combined.
I’m just going to say it: The best way to get a tech job is through a referral.
An applicant tracking system (ATS) is a robot designed to filter out resumes. A human referral completely bypasses it. A candidate had a fantastic resume and portfolio but was getting no interviews because the ATS wasn’t parsing his resume correctly. His friend, who worked at one of the companies, saw the open role and referred him directly to the hiring manager. His resume was pulled from the pile and put on the top. A referral from a trusted employee is the most powerful tool in a job search.
99% of job seekers make this one mistake in their job search.
The most common mistake is spending 100% of their time applying for jobs and 0% of their time building new skills or projects. A job seeker will spend all day, every day, scrolling through job boards and sending out applications. A smarter job seeker will spend half their time applying and the other half learning a new technology or building a new project to add to their portfolio. This not only makes them a stronger candidate but also keeps their skills sharp and their morale high.
This one small action of reaching out to people who work at your dream company will change your job search forever.
A student wanted to work at her dream company. Instead of just clicking “Apply” on their website, she found a few software engineers from that company on LinkedIn. She sent each of them a short, polite message, not asking for a job, but asking if they would be open to a 15-minute “informational interview” so she could learn about their work. One of them responded, they had a great conversation, and at the end, the engineer offered to refer her for an open position.
The reason you’re not getting any interviews is because your resume is not getting past the applicant tracking system (ATS).
A creative designer applied for a tech job with a beautiful, two-column resume with fancy fonts and graphics. She never heard back. The reason? The company’s Applicant Tracking System (ATS), a piece of software that does the initial resume screening, couldn’t parse the complex format. A resume with a simple, single-column format, standard fonts, and keywords from the job description is much more likely to make it past the automated filter and into the hands of a human recruiter.
If you’re still not personalizing your job applications, you’re losing out to other candidates.
A hiring manager had a stack of 50 applications. 49 of them had a generic cover letter that just restated the resume. One of them stood out. The candidate had clearly researched the company and mentioned a specific feature of their product that she admired and had an idea for improving. This small act of personalization showed genuine interest and passion. It made her memorable and immediately put her at the top of the pile for an interview.
Career Growth
Use continuous learning to stay relevant in the fast-paced tech industry, not just relying on your existing skills.
An engineer was an expert in a specific, older technology. He was comfortable and saw no reason to learn anything new. His company then decided to modernize its tech stack. His skills were suddenly obsolete, and his career stagnated. His colleague, in contrast, had a habit of spending a few hours every week learning about new frameworks and technologies. When the shift happened, she was able to lead the transition and her career took off. In tech, if you’re not learning, you’re falling behind.
Stop doing coasting in your current role. Do actively seek out new challenges and opportunities for growth.
An employee was good at his job. He would do his assigned tasks and go home. He was “coasting.” His teammate, however, was always looking for ways to grow. She would volunteer to take on a challenging new project, she would offer to mentor junior engineers, and she would identify and fix problems that weren’t officially her responsibility. When it came time for promotions, she was the obvious choice because she had consistently demonstrated a desire to learn and contribute beyond the bare minimum.
The #1 secret for getting promoted in your tech career.
The secret is not just doing your job well; it’s making your manager’s job easier. A developer was a great coder, but her manager was constantly having to chase her for status updates and mediate her conflicts with other teams. Another developer was not only a good coder but also proactive. She would provide clear updates without being asked, she would document her work, and she would collaborate effectively. She was a “force multiplier” who made the entire team run more smoothly. She was the one who got promoted.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about career growth in tech.
The lie is that career growth is a straight, linear ladder that you climb. A developer thought the only way to advance was to become a senior engineer, then a principal engineer. She didn’t enjoy managing projects and mentoring people. She discovered that there are many paths. She could grow by becoming a deep technical specialist, by moving into a different role like product management, or even by starting her own company. A successful career is not a ladder; it’s more like a jungle gym with many different routes to the top.
I wish I knew this about the importance of soft skills when I was a junior engineer.
As a junior engineer, I thought my career would be defined by my technical skills. I would spend all my time learning new programming languages. I wish I had known that soft skills—like clear communication, empathy, and the ability to take feedback—are just as important, if not more so. The most successful and influential engineers are not necessarily the best coders, but the ones who can work effectively with others, explain complex ideas simply, and lead a team to a common goal.
I’m just going to say it: Your technical skills are not enough to have a successful career in tech.
A brilliant engineer was technically the strongest person on his team. But he was arrogant, he couldn’t explain his ideas clearly, and he was dismissive of other people’s opinions. He was constantly passed over for promotions. His colleague, with slightly less technical expertise but excellent communication and collaboration skills, was the one who became the team lead. To advance in your career, you have to be able to do more than just write good code. You have to be able to work with people.
99% of tech professionals make this one mistake in their career.
The most common mistake is waiting for their manager to hand them opportunities for growth. They will wait for their annual performance review to discuss their career. A more successful professional takes ownership of their own career growth. They don’t wait to be told what to do. They identify the skills they want to learn, they proactively seek out projects that will help them develop those skills, and they initiate the conversations with their manager about their career goals.
This one small habit of seeking feedback from your peers and managers will change your career growth forever.
An engineer was afraid of feedback. She would avoid code reviews and one-on-one meetings. As a result, she had blind spots in her skills that were holding her back. She decided to adopt a new habit: at the end of every project, she would actively ask her teammates and her manager, “What is one thing I could have done better?” This small habit of seeking out constructive criticism, while sometimes difficult to hear, provided her with the invaluable insights she needed to grow and improve at an accelerated rate.
The reason you’re not getting promoted is because you’re not making your accomplishments visible.
An engineer was a hard worker who consistently delivered great results. But she was quiet and never talked about her work. Her manager was often unaware of her biggest accomplishments. Her colleague, however, made a point of making his work visible. He would share his progress in team meetings, write internal blog posts about the projects he completed, and demonstrate the impact of his work with data. He got the promotion because he didn’t just do great work; he made sure that other people knew about it.
If you’re still not investing in your own career growth, you’re losing out on your full potential.
Two developers had similar skills at the start of their careers. The first one treated his job as just a job. He did his work and went home. The second one treated his career as a craft. He invested his own time in reading books, taking online courses, and contributing to open-source projects. Five years later, the second developer was a highly sought-after senior engineer with a wealth of opportunities, while the first was still in the same role, with a stagnant skillset. Your career is your biggest investment; you have to actively manage it.
Tech Interviews
Use a structured approach to preparing for your tech interviews, not just cramming at the last minute.
A candidate had a big interview in a week. He spent the week frantically trying to solve as many random coding problems as possible. He went into the interview feeling stressed and unprepared. A different candidate started preparing a month in advance. She followed a structured plan. She spent the first week reviewing data structures, the next on algorithms, and the final two weeks doing mock interviews. She walked into her interview feeling calm and confident because she had a process, not a panic.
Stop doing memorizing solutions to coding problems. Do understand the underlying concepts instead.
A candidate prepared for his interviews by memorizing the exact code for the 100 most common interview questions. In the interview, he was given a problem that was a slight variation of one he had memorized. He was completely stuck because he had only memorized the “what,” not the “why.” A better approach is to focus on understanding the underlying data structures and algorithms. If you understand the concept of a hash map, you can solve any problem that requires one, not just the specific ones you’ve seen before.
The #1 secret for solving any coding problem in a tech interview.
The secret is to always start with the simplest, most obvious, brute-force solution, even if you know it’s not the most efficient one. An interviewee was given a complex problem. Instead of jumping to a clever, optimized solution, she said, “The first thing I could do is a nested loop, which would be slow, but it would work.” She then wrote out that simple solution. This did two things: it proved she could solve the problem, and it gave her a working baseline from which she could then discuss and implement optimizations.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about tech interviews.
The lie is that the goal of the tech interview is to find the single “correct” answer to a puzzle. A candidate was given a design question. He gave one answer, and the interviewer poked a hole in it. He got flustered, thinking he had failed. The reality is that the interviewer is not looking for a perfect answer. They are looking to see how you think. They want to see you weigh trade-offs, discuss alternatives, and collaborate on a solution. It’s a test of your problem-solving process, not your ability to guess a correct answer.
I wish I knew this about the importance of communication during a tech interview.
I failed my first few tech interviews because I treated them like a test. I would silently work on the coding problem, trying to get the right answer. I wish I had known that the interview is a conversation. The interviewer wants to see how you collaborate and communicate. I started to think out loud, explaining my approach, asking clarifying questions, and treating the interviewer like a teammate. My interview performance improved dramatically because they could finally see my thought process.
I’m just going to say it: The tech interview process is broken.
A brilliant, experienced engineer with a fantastic track record of building real products failed an interview because he couldn’t remember the exact algorithm for balancing a binary tree on a whiteboard. The standard tech interview process, which often focuses on abstract, computer-science-puzzle-style questions, is a poor predictor of on-the-job performance. It filters for people who are good at a very specific type of test-taking, not necessarily for people who are good at building software. Many great engineers are unfairly excluded by this broken process.
99% of candidates make this one mistake in their tech interviews.
The most common mistake is jumping straight into writing code without fully understanding the problem. A candidate is given a problem, and he immediately starts typing. He makes a bunch of assumptions about the inputs and the edge cases. Halfway through, the interviewer points out that he has misunderstood a key requirement, and he has to start over. A better candidate will spend the first five minutes asking clarifying questions: “What is the expected format of the input?” “What should happen if the input is empty?” “Are there any performance constraints?”
This one small action of thinking out loud during your interview will change the way the interviewer perceives you.
Two candidates were stuck on a problem. The first one was silent for five minutes. The interviewer had no idea what was happening and assumed he was lost. The second candidate, also stuck, said out loud, “Okay, I’m thinking about using a hash map here, but I’m not sure how to handle the duplicate keys. Let me consider a different approach…” Even though he was stuck, by thinking out loud, he was demonstrating his problem-solving process and allowing the interviewer to offer a small hint to get him unstuck.
The reason you failed your tech interview is because you didn’t ask clarifying questions.
A candidate was asked to write a function that would find the “most frequent” element in a list. He wrote a function that did just that. At the end, the interviewer said, “What if there is a tie? Your code only returns one of the elements.” The candidate hadn’t considered that edge case because he didn’t ask. The problem statement was intentionally ambiguous. A good interview is a dialogue, and asking clarifying questions is a sign of a thoughtful and careful engineer.
If you’re still not practicing mock interviews, you’re losing a huge opportunity to improve.
A candidate was great at solving coding problems on his own. But in a real interview, he would get nervous and his communication skills would fail him. He started doing mock interviews with a friend. The act of simulating the interview environment—explaining his thought process out loud and answering questions under pressure—was invaluable. It helped him to build his confidence and polish his communication skills in a low-stakes environment. Mock interviews are the best way to practice the performance of interviewing, not just the problems.
Salary Negotiation
Use data to back up your salary negotiation, not just your gut feeling.
A developer went into a salary negotiation and said, “I feel like I deserve more.” This was not a compelling argument. Another developer went in prepared. She said, “Based on my research on sites like Levels.fyi for a developer with my years of experience and skills in this city, the market rate is between X and Y. Given my strong performance on the last project, I believe a salary in the upper end of that range is appropriate.” Her data-driven approach was professional and much more persuasive.
Stop doing accepting the first offer. Do always negotiate your salary.
A company made a job offer to a candidate. The candidate was so happy to get the offer that she accepted it immediately, without negotiating. What she didn’t know was that the company’s initial offer is almost never their final offer. They have a budget range for the role, and the first offer is usually at the lower end of that range. By simply asking, “Is this salary negotiable?” she could have potentially increased her annual salary by thousands of dollars. Always negotiate.
The #1 secret for a successful salary negotiation.
The secret is to be willing to walk away. A candidate went into a negotiation for a job she desperately wanted. The company knew this and refused to budge on their low offer. Another candidate had multiple options and was genuinely willing to walk away if the offer wasn’t competitive. This gave her immense leverage. The ability to politely and professionally say, “Thank you for the offer, but I will have to decline as it doesn’t meet my expectations,” is the most powerful position you can have in a negotiation.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about salary negotiation.
The lie is that if you try to negotiate, the company will be offended and might even rescind the offer. This is incredibly rare. A hiring manager has already invested a huge amount of time and effort to find and interview you. They want you to accept. A polite and professional negotiation is a normal and expected part of the business world. As long as you are reasonable and respectful, the worst they can say is no. They are not going to withdraw the offer because you asked for more.
I wish I knew this about the power of a competing offer when I was negotiating my salary.
I received a job offer that I was excited about, but the salary was a little lower than I wanted. I tried to negotiate, but the company wasn’t moving much. A week later, I received a second, higher offer from another company. I went back to the first company and politely informed them that I had a competing offer. Suddenly, they were able to “find” an extra $15,000 in the budget. I wish I had known that having a concrete, competing offer is the single most powerful piece of leverage you can have.
I’m just going to say it: The company is not your friend when it comes to salary negotiation.
The recruiter and the hiring manager might be very friendly and tell you how excited they are for you to join. But it’s important to remember that their goal is to hire you for the lowest possible salary within their approved budget. It is a business transaction. They are trying to get the best deal for their company, and you should be trying to get the best deal for yourself. Being professional and polite is important, but don’t mistake their friendliness for an altruistic desire to give you the most money possible.
99% of people make this one mistake when negotiating their salary.
The most common mistake is negotiating against themselves. A recruiter will ask, “So what are your salary expectations?” A nervous candidate will give a single number: “I’m looking for $100,000.” If the company’s budget was actually up to $120,000, the candidate just left $20,000 on the table. A better approach is to deflect the question and try to get the company to give the first number. If you must give a number, give a well-researched range, not a single figure.
This one small action of not revealing your current salary will change your negotiation power forever.
A recruiter’s favorite question is, “So what are you currently making?” This question is designed to anchor the negotiation around your past salary, not your future value. In many places, it’s now illegal for them to ask. A candidate was asked this question and politely deflected, saying, “I’m not comfortable sharing that, but I’m targeting a salary in the range of X for this role based on the market rate.” By refusing to be anchored by her previous, lower salary, she was able to negotiate based on her true market worth.
The reason you didn’t get a higher salary is because you didn’t ask for it.
A person worked at a company for three years and was a top performer. She was frustrated that she was still making close to her starting salary. She had been waiting for her manager to give her a large raise. That day never came. You have to be your own biggest advocate. If you believe you are underpaid and can provide the data to back it up, you have to initiate the conversation. In most cases, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
If you’re still not negotiating your salary, you’re losing thousands of dollars over your career.
Two developers started their careers at the same salary. The first one never negotiated. The second one politely negotiated a 10% increase at her first job. This small difference might not seem like much, but it compounds over time. Every future raise and new job offer will be based on that higher starting salary. Over the course of a 30-year career, that single, initial negotiation could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost earnings for the first developer.
Freelancing in Tech
Use your personal brand to attract freelance clients, not just relying on freelance platforms.
A freelance developer was struggling to find good clients on a crowded freelance platform. The jobs were low-paying, and he was constantly competing with people who would do the work for a fraction of the price. He decided to build a personal brand. He started a blog where he wrote about his area of expertise. A potential client read one of his blog posts, was impressed by his knowledge, and reached out to him directly with a high-value project. He was no longer competing on price; he was competing on expertise.
Stop doing charging by the hour. Do charge by the project instead.
A freelancer charged her clients by the hour. She soon realized this penalized her for being efficient. The faster she worked, the less she got paid. She switched to charging a fixed price per project. She would estimate the value the project would bring to the client and price it accordingly. This “value-based pricing” meant that she was rewarded for her expertise and efficiency, and the client had a clear, predictable budget. It aligned her incentives with the client’s.
The #1 secret for a successful freelancing career in tech.
The secret is to specialize in a niche. A freelancer who marketed himself as a “web developer” was competing with thousands of other generalists. He decided to specialize. He became the “go-to expert for building e-commerce sites on Shopify for small businesses.” By becoming an expert in a specific, high-demand niche, he was able to attract better clients, charge higher rates, and build a reputation as a specialist, not just a generalist.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about freelancing.
The lie is that freelancing is about freedom and working four hours a week from a beach. A person quit his job to become a freelancer, imagining a life of leisure. The reality was that he now had to be his own salesperson, project manager, accountant, and customer support representative, all on top of doing the actual development work. While freelancing offers flexibility, it is not a vacation. It is running a business, and it often involves working harder than you would in a traditional job.
I wish I knew this about the importance of a contract when I started freelancing.
For my first freelance project, I was so excited to get the work that I just started based on a verbal agreement. Halfway through the project, the client changed the scope of the work dramatically and then was slow to pay my invoice. I had no recourse. I wish I had known that a clear, written contract is non-negotiable. The contract should outline the exact scope of work, the payment terms, and the timeline. It protects both you and the client and prevents misunderstandings down the road.
I’m just going to say it: Freelancing is not for everyone.
The idea of being your own boss is appealing. But a successful freelancer needs to have a very specific set of skills that go beyond just being a good developer. You need to be self-motivated, organized, a good communicator, and comfortable with the uncertainty of finding your next project. A person who thrives in a structured team environment and prefers to focus solely on the technical work may find the business aspects of freelancing to be stressful and unfulfilling.
99% of new freelancers make this one mistake.
The most common mistake is under-pricing their services. A new freelancer, desperate for their first client, will set an extremely low hourly rate. This does two things: it attracts low-quality clients who are looking for cheap work, and it sets a precedent that is hard to break later on. It’s better to have no clients than to have bad, low-paying clients. You should research the market rate for your skills and have the confidence to charge what you are worth.
This one small habit of under-promising and over-delivering will change your freelance career forever.
A freelancer told her client that the project would be done in three weeks. She worked hard and delivered it in two. She also included a small, extra feature that they hadn’t discussed but she knew they would find useful. The client was thrilled. This simple habit of setting realistic expectations and then exceeding them is the key to creating happy, repeat clients who will recommend you to others. It’s the foundation of a great reputation.
The reason you’re not getting any freelance clients is because you don’t have a strong portfolio.
A person decided to become a freelance web developer but had no previous work to show. When potential clients asked to see examples of his work, he had nothing. A portfolio is the single most important asset for a freelancer. If you don’t have any client work yet, build your own projects. Create a beautiful personal website. Re-design a popular website. Contribute to an open-source project. You need tangible proof of your skills to convince a client to trust you with their business.
If you’re still not building your personal brand as a freelancer, you’re losing out on better clients and higher rates.
There are two freelancers. The first is an anonymous profile on a freelance marketplace, competing with thousands of others. The second has a professional website, an active social media presence where she shares her expertise, and has spoken at a local meetup. When a high-quality client is looking for an expert, who are they going to find and trust? The second one. Building a personal brand elevates you from a commodity to a recognized authority in your field.
Building a Startup
Use the lean startup methodology to build your startup, not just writing a business plan.
A team of entrepreneurs spent six months in a locked room writing a perfect, 100-page business plan. They then spent a year building the product based on their assumptions. When they finally launched, they discovered that nobody wanted it. A different team, using the lean startup methodology, created a simple “minimum viable product” in a few weeks, got it in front of real users, and used their feedback to iterate and pivot. They didn’t have a perfect plan; they had a process for learning.
Stop doing building a product that nobody wants. Do talk to your potential customers first.
Two engineers had a brilliant idea for a new mobile app. They spent a year building it in secret, worried someone might steal their idea. They launched it, and it was a complete failure. They had built a solution to a problem that nobody actually had. The most important job of a startup founder is not to build, but to listen. Get out of the building, talk to potential customers, and deeply understand their problems and needs before you write a single line of code.
The #1 secret for a successful startup.
The secret is not the idea, the technology, or the funding. It’s the team. A startup had a mediocre idea but a fantastic, resilient, and collaborative founding team. They were able to pivot, learn from their mistakes, and eventually find a product-market fit. Another startup had a brilliant idea but a dysfunctional team that couldn’t work together. They failed. A great team can turn a bad idea into a good one, but a bad team will ruin even the best idea.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about startup life.
The lie, often glamorized in movies and tech news, is that startup life is a series of exciting breakthroughs and glamorous parties, leading to a quick and massive exit. The reality for most founders is a long, difficult, and often lonely grind. It’s a journey filled with uncertainty, rejection, and immense stress. It’s about worrying about making payroll, dealing with customer complaints, and working tirelessly for years with no guarantee of success.
I wish I knew this about the importance of a great co-founder when I started my first startup.
I started my first company as a solo founder. I thought I could do it all myself. I quickly became overwhelmed. I had to be the CEO, the lead engineer, the salesperson, and the marketer. The stress was immense, and there was no one to share the emotional highs and lows with. I wish I had known that having a great co-founder, someone whose skills complement your own and who you can trust completely, is one of the single greatest predictors of a startup’s success.
I’m just going to say it: Most startups fail.
We love to celebrate the rare, massive successes like Google and Facebook. But the hard reality is that the vast majority of startups—some studies say as high as 90%—fail. They run out of money, they fail to find product-market fit, or the founding team falls apart. It’s crucial for aspiring founders to go into the process with their eyes open, understanding that failure is the most likely outcome. This isn’t to be pessimistic, but to be realistic about the immense challenge they are undertaking.
99% of first-time founders make this one mistake.
The most common mistake is being afraid to launch. A first-time founder will spend months and months polishing their product, adding one more feature, and perfecting the design, because they are afraid of showing an imperfect product to the world. A successful founder knows that “if you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” The goal is not to launch a perfect product, but to launch a “minimum viable product” as quickly as possible to start the learning process.
This one small action of launching a minimum viable product (MVP) will change your startup journey forever.
A team had a grand vision for a complex new software product. Instead of trying to build the whole thing, they took one small action: they built an MVP that had only the single, most important core feature. They launched it to a small group of early adopters. The feedback they received completely changed their understanding of what their users actually wanted. This one action of launching a simple MVP saved them from years of building the wrong product.
The reason your startup is failing is because you’re not solving a real problem.
A startup created a social network for pet owners to share pictures of their pets. It was a fun idea, but it wasn’t solving a real, painful problem for anyone. It was a “vitamin,” not a “painkiller.” The startup failed to get any traction. The most successful startups are the ones that identify a deep, urgent problem that a specific group of people have and then offer a solution that is ten times better than any of the existing alternatives.
If you’re still not talking to your users, you’re losing the most valuable source of feedback.
A founder was convinced he knew what his users wanted. He would ignore customer feedback that contradicted his own vision for the product. His startup stagnated. A different founder had a habit of talking to at least five of his users every single week. He treated their feedback as the most valuable resource in his company. This constant feedback loop allowed him to build a product that his users truly loved, because he was building it with them, not just for them.
Networking in Tech
Use networking to build genuine relationships, not just to collect business cards.
A person went to a tech conference with the goal of collecting as many business cards as possible. He came home with a stack of cards but no real connections. Another person went to the same conference and had three long, in-depth conversations with people whose work she genuinely found interesting. She followed up with them afterwards, not to ask for anything, but to continue the conversation. These three genuine relationships led to far more opportunities down the road than the first person’s stack of 100 meaningless cards.
Stop doing asking for a job. Do ask for advice instead.
A job seeker would connect with people on LinkedIn and his first message would be, “Hi, can you get me a job at your company?” This approach rarely worked. He changed his strategy. He started reaching out to people and saying, “Hi, I’m really impressed by your career path. As someone who is just starting out, would you be open to sharing some advice?” People are much more willing to give advice than to give a job. But very often, a good conversation that starts with asking for advice will naturally lead to a job opportunity.
The #1 secret for effective networking in tech.
The secret is to be a giver, not a taker. A person would go to networking events and only think about what he could get from other people. A more effective networker went with the mindset of, “How can I help the people I meet?” She would listen to their challenges and offer to make a helpful introduction, share a useful resource, or provide some feedback. By generously providing value to others without expecting anything in return, she built a strong, positive reputation and a network of people who were eager to help her in return.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about networking.
The lie is that networking is a slimy, transactional activity for extroverts. A shy, introverted developer was terrified of networking because she thought it meant she had to be a smooth-talker at a crowded happy hour. She discovered that she could network in a way that felt authentic to her. She started contributing to an open-source project. Through her high-quality code contributions and helpful comments, she built a strong reputation and a global network of professional connections, all without ever leaving her house.
I wish I knew this about the power of a strong professional network when I was started my career.
When I was starting my career, I was very heads-down. I focused only on my work and didn’t make an effort to build relationships with my colleagues or people in the wider industry. When I was unexpectedly laid off, I had no one to turn to. I had no professional network. I wish I had known that your network is your career safety net. The relationships you build when you don’t need a job are the ones that will be there to support you when you do.
I’m just going to say it: The best way to network is to help others.
A person was trying to break into a new field. Instead of just asking people for help, he looked for ways to provide value. He found a small community online and started answering other people’s questions. He shared useful articles. He offered to help a more senior person with a small, tedious task on a project. This “give first” mentality quickly established him as a helpful and knowledgeable member of the community. People started to notice him, and soon, opportunities started to come to him.
99% of people make this one mistake when networking.
The most common mistake is failing to follow up. A person will have a great conversation with someone at an event, they’ll exchange contact information, and then… nothing. The connection withers and is forgotten. A successful networker understands the importance of the follow-up. The next day, she will send a short, personalized email that references their conversation and suggests a way to stay in touch. This one small action is what turns a fleeting encounter into a lasting professional relationship.
This one small action of following up with the people you meet will change your networking success forever.
Two people met the same influential person at a conference. The first person never followed up. The second person, the next day, sent a simple email saying, “It was great to meet you last night. I really enjoyed our conversation about [specific topic].” That’s it. A month later, when the influential person heard of a job opening that was a perfect fit for the second person, who do you think she remembered? The one who took the small extra step to solidify the connection.
The reason you’re not good at networking is because you’re not being authentic.
A person went to a networking event and tried to be someone she wasn’t. She put on a fake, overly-enthusiastic personality and just talked about herself. People could see right through it. The key to effective networking is to just be yourself. Be genuinely curious about other people. Ask them questions about their work and what they are passionate about. Share your own interests honestly. A real, authentic connection is far more valuable than one based on a fake persona.
If you’re still not networking, you’re losing out on a world of opportunities.
A developer was looking for a new job by only applying online. She didn’t know that many of the best jobs are never even publicly posted. They are filled through internal referrals and professional networks. By not networking, she was completely invisible to this “hidden job market.” The people you know can bring you opportunities that you would never find on your own, from new jobs and freelance clients to co-founders and mentors. Your network is your opportunity-generating machine.
Mentorship in Tech
Use mentorship to accelerate your career growth, not just to find a job.
A junior developer found a mentor, and the first thing he asked for was a referral to get a job. A different junior developer found a mentor and asked for help with a specific technical challenge she was facing at her current job. The mentor helped her work through the problem, which gave her the skills and confidence to get promoted. A good mentorship is not a shortcut to a job; it’s a long-term relationship that helps you build the skills and wisdom you need to grow your career organically.
Stop doing looking for a single mentor. Do build a personal board of directors instead.
A developer was looking for one, single, perfect mentor who could guide her in every aspect of her career. She couldn’t find this mythical person. A better approach is to build a “personal board of directors.” She found one person who was great to talk to about technical architecture, another who gave her fantastic career strategy advice, and a peer who was her go-to for learning a new technology. You don’t need one mentor; you need a diverse network of people you can learn from.
The #1 secret for finding a great mentor in tech.
The secret is to not ask, “Will you be my mentor?” This question is intimidating and asks for a huge, undefined commitment. A better approach is to start by asking for a small, specific piece of advice. A developer sent a message to a senior engineer she admired, saying, “I saw your talk on [specific topic]. I’m working on a similar problem, and I’m stuck on this one specific part. Would you have 15 minutes to share your advice?” A relationship that starts with a specific, easy-to-fulfill request can naturally grow into a long-term mentorship.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about mentorship.
The lie is that mentorship is a formal, structured relationship where a wise old sage bestows their knowledge upon a young prodigy. The reality is that the best mentorships are often informal and peer-to-peer. A mid-level engineer learned more from a weekly “code and coffee” session with a colleague at her same level than she did from any formal program. They would share their challenges, teach each other new tricks, and hold each other accountable. Mentorship can come from anywhere.
I wish I knew this about the importance of being a good mentee when I was looking for a mentor.
When I was younger, I thought mentorship was all about what the mentor could do for me. I wish I had known that being a good mentee is a skill. It means being prepared for every meeting, respecting your mentor’s time, being open to constructive feedback, and, most importantly, following through on the advice you are given. A mentor’s time is their most valuable asset. They will continue to invest it in a mentee who is proactive and demonstrates that they are putting the advice into action.
I’m just going to say it: The best mentors are often your peers.
We often think of a mentor as someone who is much more senior and experienced than we are. While those relationships are valuable, some of the most effective mentorship comes from your peers—people who are just one or two steps ahead of you in their career. They have recently gone through the same challenges you are facing now, and their advice is often more current, relevant, and relatable than the advice from someone who was in your position 20 years ago.
99% of people make this one mistake when looking for a mentor.
The most common mistake is making a generic, non-specific request for help. A person will send a message to a senior leader saying, “I’d love for you to mentor me and help me with my career.” This is too broad and puts all the work on the potential mentor. A much better request is specific and demonstrates that you’ve done your homework: “I’m a junior engineer trying to improve my system design skills. I’ve read your blog post on [specific topic] and I’d love to ask you a few specific questions about it.”
This one small action of being prepared for your mentorship meetings will change the quality of your mentorship relationship forever.
A mentee would show up to his meetings with his mentor with no agenda. The mentor would ask, “So, what do you want to talk about?” and the mentee would struggle to think of something. The meetings were not very productive. He started taking one small action: before every meeting, he would write down a clear agenda with the specific questions he wanted to ask and a quick update on the progress he had made since their last talk. This preparation made the meetings incredibly focused and valuable for both of them.
The reason you can’t find a mentor is because you’re not being specific about what you need help with.
A person was complaining that no senior people would agree to mentor them. Their approach was to ask, “Can you help me with my career?” This is too vague. A potential mentor doesn’t know what they are signing up for. If you instead ask, “I’m preparing for a senior-level interview and I’m struggling with system design. Could I run through a practice problem with you?” you are much more likely to get a “yes,” because it’s a specific, time-bound request that they know how to help with.
If you’re still not seeking out mentorship, you’re losing out on invaluable guidance and support.
Two engineers started at a company at the same time. The first one tried to figure everything out on her own. The second one proactively sought out a mentor on the team. The mentor helped her navigate the company’s complex codebase, gave her advice on how to handle difficult political situations, and advocated for her in promotion discussions. A year later, the second engineer was far ahead of the first in both her skills and her career progression. A good mentor can save you from years of trial-and-error.
The Future of Tech Careers
Use a growth mindset to adapt to the future of tech careers, not a fixed mindset.
An engineer with a “fixed mindset” believed that his intelligence and abilities were static. When a new technology emerged, he was resistant to learning it, fearing that he wouldn’t be good at it. An engineer with a “growth mindset” believed that her abilities could be developed through dedication and hard work. She saw the new technology as an opportunity to learn and grow. In the ever-changing world of tech, a growth mindset is not just a nice-to-have; it’s a survival mechanism.
Stop doing specializing in a single technology. Do become a T-shaped person with a broad range of skills instead.
A developer was a deep expert in a single, niche programming language. When that language fell out of favor, her skills became obsolete. A “T-shaped” person, in contrast, has a deep expertise in one area (the vertical bar of the T), but also a broad knowledge of many other related areas (the horizontal bar). This combination of depth and breadth makes them incredibly versatile and resilient. They can contribute in many different contexts and can more easily adapt as the technological landscape shifts.
The #1 tip for future-proofing your tech career.
The single most important tip is to learn how to learn. The specific technologies you know today will likely be outdated in five or ten years. The programming language you are using now might not be popular in the future. The ability to quickly pick up new concepts, technologies, and paradigms is the ultimate meta-skill. A person who has mastered the process of learning will be able to thrive in any future version of the tech industry, regardless of what specific tools are in vogue.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about the future of tech careers.
The lie is that AI will take all the tech jobs. A developer was worried that AI code generation tools would make his job obsolete. He started using one of these tools and found that it didn’t replace him; it made him more productive. He could now focus on the more interesting and creative parts of his job—like architecture and problem-solving—while the AI handled the boilerplate code. The future of tech careers is not about being replaced by AI, but about learning how to collaborate with it.
I wish I knew this about the importance of lifelong learning when I started my career.
When I graduated from university, I thought I was done with learning. I had my degree. I wish I had known that in the tech industry, your education is never finished. The moment you stop learning is the moment you start becoming irrelevant. The most successful people I know are the ones who are the most curious and have a voracious appetite for learning, constantly reading, experimenting, and updating their skills, not because they have to for their job, but because they are genuinely passionate about their craft.
I’m just going to say it: The tech skills that are in demand today may not be in demand tomorrow.
In the early 2010s, being an expert in Adobe Flash was a valuable and in-demand skill. Today, that skill is virtually worthless. The tech industry moves at a blistering pace. The hot new framework of today could be a legacy system tomorrow. This is why it’s so dangerous to tie your entire professional identity to a single technology. Your long-term career security comes not from the specific tools you know, but from your fundamental problem-solving skills and your ability to adapt.
99% of tech professionals make this one mistake when thinking about the future of their careers.
The most common mistake is focusing only on developing their technical skills while neglecting their “human” skills. A developer can be a coding genius, but if she can’t communicate effectively, collaborate with a team, or understand the needs of the business, her career will have a ceiling. In a future where AI can handle more of the routine technical tasks, skills like creativity, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence will become even more valuable differentiators.
This one small habit of learning something new every day will change your career trajectory forever.
A developer felt like his skills were getting stale. He adopted a new habit: he would spend the first 15 minutes of his workday, before checking email, learning one new thing. It could be reading a chapter of a technical book, watching a short tutorial on a new tool, or reading a well-written blog post. This small, consistent investment in his own learning, compounded over years, had a massive impact on his knowledge and his career, keeping him at the cutting edge of his field.
The reason you’re worried about the future of your tech career is because you’re not prepared for it.
A developer was anxious about AI and the changing job market. He felt like the future was something that was happening to him. His anxiety came from a feeling of being unprepared. The antidote to this anxiety is proactive preparation. By actively identifying the trends, learning the new skills that will be in demand, and building a strong professional network, you can transform your fear of the future into an excitement for the opportunities it will bring.
If you’re still not thinking about the future of your tech career, you’re losing out on your long-term success.
Two developers had similar jobs. The first was focused only on her current projects and her next deadline. The second, while also focused on her current work, would also spend time thinking about the long-term. She would ask herself: “What skills will be valuable in three years? What kind of role do I want to have in five years?” This long-term, strategic thinking about her career allowed her to make small, deliberate choices today that set her up for massive success and fulfillment down the road.