Rails Business

Brendan Buckingham & Ryan Frisch

Brendan Buckingham and Ryan Frisch talk about developing with Ruby on Rails and how to leverage it to build a business.

  1. 28 AUG

    Chris Oliver

    In this episode, the hosts welcome Chris Oliver, a prominent figure in the Rails community, known for his work on numerous projects including GoRails, Hatchbox, and Jumpstart Pro to name a few. Chris shares his programming origin story, his academic journey and numerous early projects, explaining how he transitioned from Python to Rails. He recounts his experiences starting GoRails, managing multiple projects, and the challenges faced with Hatchbox. Chris elaborates on the impact of AI on the programming landscape and its potential risks and benefits. He offers advice to aspiring developers and reflects on his journey of self-driven learning and continuous improvement. LINKS - Chris's X/Twitter - GoRails - Ryan's Website - Brendan's X/Twitter - Brendan's Bluesky Send us feedback or questions to railsbusinesspod@gmail.com Send us a text

    59 min

  2. 14 AUG

    Irina Nazarova

    In this episode, Irina Nazarova, CEO of Evil Martians, shares her unconventional journey from earning a degree in computer science and working in finance to eventually becoming a leader in the Rails community. She discusses her entry into web development via WordPress and WooCommerce, her unfavorable experiences with PHP, and eventual discovery of Ruby on Rails. Irina provides insights into the company's culture, the advantages of using Rails for startups, and the importance of open-source contributions. The conversation also highlights Evil Martians' consulting and product strategies, the importance of company transparency and teamwork, and details about the upcoming San Francisco Ruby Conference. LINKS - Evil Martians - AnyCable - San Francisco Ruby Conference - How to do well in consulting (Irina's talk from Balkin Ruby 2024) - Ryan's Website - Brendan's X/Twitter - Brendan's Bluesky Send us a text

    44 min

  3. 31 JUL

    Discussing Documentation

    In this episode, Ryan and Brendan discuss the importance of documentation within a business and development context. They cover various types of documentation, including internal, user-facing, and code comments, and highlight the necessity of clear communication from story writing to feature documentation.  They also share insights on tools and methods for keeping documentation organized and accessible within their teams. 00:00 Introduction and Greetings 00:26 Diving into Documentation 02:48 Defining Documentation 05:12 User Stories and Documentation 08:12 Internal vs External Documentation 15:54 Organizing Documentation 21:09 Centralizing Resources with Trello 23:02 Balancing Multiple Documentation Tools 23:40 Challenges with Search Functionality 24:41 Effective Use of Trello Tags and Labels 27:54 The Importance of Code Comments and Commit Messages 29:28 Rebase vs. Merge: A Developer's Dilemma 30:16 Interactive Rebase: Cleaning Up Commit History 36:02 Concluding Thoughts on Rebase and Merge - Thoughtbot Rebase Workflow - Ryan's Website - Brendan's X/Twitter - Brendan's Bluesky Send us a text

    39 min

  4. 3 JUL

    Ernesto Tagwerker

    In this episode, the hosts are joined by Ernesto Tagwerker, founder of Ombuabs and FastRuby.io, a company specializing in Ruby on Rails upgrades as well as AI solutions.  Topics covered include: - Rails Upgrades - Technical Debt - Developer Onboarding and more! Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Ernesto Tagwerker 00:21 Ernesto's Developer Origin Story 01:10 Discovering and Embracing Rails 02:19 Building a Business Around Rails 02:51 Challenges and Solutions in Rails Upgrades 03:40 Client Needs and Service Offerings 06:18 Content Creation and Misconceptions 07:33 Best Practices for Rails Upgrades 10:34 Open Source Contributions and Tools 13:32 AI and Machine Learning Initiatives 18:27 Developer Experience and Technical Debt 29:46 Advice for Solo Developers 33:11 Conclusion and Final Thoughts LINKS - FastRuby.io - OmbuLabs - Ryan's Website - Brendan's X/Twitter - Brendan's Bluesky Send us a text

    36 min

  5. 19 JUN

    Jess Brown

    In this episode, Jess Brown, shares his journey from freelance consulting to becoming a Rails developer and business owner. Topics covered include Jess's origins with development and Rails, his roles in his businesses, Bootstrap upgrades, mobile apps and more! 00:00 Introduction to Jess Brown 00:12 Jess's Journey into Development 01:05 Transition to Rails 03:29 Business Ventures and Roles 07:30 Building and Managing Apps 12:46 Challenges and Solutions in Development 16:46 Upgrading and Modernizing 19:34 Bootstrap and Rails Upgrades 20:35 Dependency Management Challenges 23:16 AI in Development and Code Review 27:14 Using Videos for Task and PR Reviews 29:27 Buying and Growing Businesses 34:50 Conclusion and Contact Information LINKS - Jess's Blog - Jess's X/Twitter - Indie Rails Podcast - CSePub - Tract - Ryan's Website - Brendan's X/Twitter - Brendan's Bluesky Send us a text

    36 min

  6. 4 JUN

    Adrian Marin of Avo

    In this episode, the hosts interview Adrian Marin, the creator of Avo, to discuss his journey from PHP and Node.js to Ruby on Rails. Adrian shares insights into the development of Avo, an internal tools and operations framework for Ruby on Rails apps, and the challenges he faced transitioning from a developer to a business owner. He also touches on the importance of positioning, marketing, and sales in building a successful product. Furthermore, Adrian talks about organizing the Friendly RB conference to foster community and knowledge sharing in the Ruby on Rails ecosystem. 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome 00:19 Discovering Ruby on Rails 01:34 The Birth of Avo 03:39 Challenges in Marketing and Sales 04:49 Transitioning from Developer to Business Owner 06:32 Insights on Business Development 08:35 TinySeed and Team Expansion 11:29 Understanding Avo's Use Cases 16:41 Integrating Avo into Existing Apps 17:27 Engineers' Weekend Experimentation 18:26 Building and Transitioning to Avo 20:24 Challenges and Benefits of SaaS 23:23 Managing Feature Requests and Development 27:03 Organizing the Friendly RB Conference 32:42 Conclusion and Contact Information LINKS - Adrian's X/Twitter - Adrian's LinkedIn - Friendly.rb - Avo.cool - Ryan's Website - Brendan's X/Twitter - Brendan's Bluesky Send us a text

    34 min

  7. 15 MAY

    Jason Swett is Back to Discuss Sin City Ruby and more

    The hosts welcome back Jason Swett to the podcast.  He discusses the recent Sin City Ruby conference, including notable highlights such as having Dave Thomas as the keynote speaker. Jason provides insights into the conference's history, the challenges of organizing events in Las Vegas and the financial factors leading to the decision to discontinue Sin City Ruby. Other topics covered include Jason's  personal perspective on balancing multiple professional commitments, and some Docker debugging. 00:00 Welcome Back, Jason! 00:09 Sin City Ruby Recap 01:22 Dave Thomas: The Keynote Surprise 03:08 Conference Highlights and Extracurriculars 04:34 Challenges and Future of the Conference 11:13 New Beginnings: Jason's Career Shift 18:36 Improving Developer Onboarding 22:08 Challenges with Docker and Testing 24:12 Exploring Docker Configuration Issues 29:22 Balancing Multiple Projects and Burnout 32:26 Deciding What to Cut 35:48 The Value of Podcasting and Networking 37:16 Conclusion and Final Thoughts Links: - Jason's Website - Jason's Podcast - Jason's Book - Ryan's Website - Brendan's X/Twitter - Brendan's Bluesky Send us a text

    39 min

  8. 30 APR

    Colleen Schnettler of SaaS Marketing Gym

    In this episode, Colleen Schnettler, co-founder of the SaaS Marketing Gym, shares  the challenges and successes of building SaaS businesses, and her current work coaching technical founders on effective marketing strategies. The conversation also covers various other topics like AI role in marketing content, Rails Upgrades and more. 00:00 Introduction to Colleen Schneller 00:14 Colleen's Journey into Programming 02:49 The Birth of SaaS Marketing Gym 05:32 Challenges and Insights in Marketing 08:44 Tailoring Marketing Strategies for Founders 17:43 The Role of AI in Marketing 19:41 AI Struggles with Nuance 19:56 AI in Cold Emailing: A Disaster Story 20:48 Using AI for Research 22:48 Rails Upgrade Challenges 23:29 Active Storage Encryption Issues 29:07 Front-End Framework Dilemmas 32:25 Maintaining Software vs. Rewriting 33:40 Conclusion and Contact Information Notes - Colleen's LinkedIn - Colleen's X/Twitter - Colleen's Bluesky - Ryan's Website - Brendan's X/Twitter - Brendan's Bluesky Send us a text

    35 min
See All (16)

About

Brendan Buckingham and Ryan Frisch talk about developing with Ruby on Rails and how to leverage it to build a business.

Information

  • Creator
    Brendan Buckingham & Ryan Frisch
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    16
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Rails Business
  • Show Website
    Rails Business

You Might Also Like