Builders Gonna Build metacast.app

John Crickett is the creator of Coding Challenges, a newsletter for engineers that has over 54k subscribers. John’s LinkedIn profile grew from 3k to 150k+ followers in a year. In this episode, we dive into the process and mindset that allowed John’s following to grow so quickly.
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Try Metacast podcast app at metacast.app.Join our Reddit community at r/metacastapp.Segments
[00:58] Introduction[03:18] Spending a million Euros and a year on an MVP[05:54] Coding Challenges[08:15] MVP for an info product vs. software[13:51] Growth on LinkedIn[17:32] Post structure[19:48] Comments on posts[21:48] Twitter/X[25:15] Coding Challenges newsletter[27:12] Building a personal brand[34:09] Nicheing on LinkedIn[41:50] Selling B2B vs. B2C[47:18] Tangent on car salesmen[50:13] Book recommendations
Where to find John
John’s LinkedInCoding ChallengesCoding Challenges newsletterCoding Chats podcast30 Day LinkedIn Personal Branding Challenge for Software Engineers (starts on May 20, 2024!)Links 
Advent of CodeCarrd website builderAirChatPodcasts
My First Million (Jason Cohen episode)Books
Stop Asking Questions by Andrew WarnerHatching Twitter by Nick BiltonGet in touch!
Send us an email at hello@buildersgonnabuild.comSubscribe to newsletter at buildersgonnabuild.comMetacast: Behind the scenes - "build in public" style podcast and newsletter at metacastpodcast.com

Jason Fried is a co-founder and CEO of 37signals, the company behind Basecamp and HEY. Together with his business partner David Hannemeier Hanson, Jason co-authored seminal entrepreneurship books Rework, Remote, and It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work.
This episode was originally published on the Metacast podcast, episode 28 in July 2023.
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Try Metacast podcast app at metacast.app.Join our Reddit community at r/metacastapp.Segments
[03:17] Introduction of Jason and 37signals [05:38] Founder role vs. CEO role [08:37] Working with the same co-founder for 20 years [11:10] Disagreements between founders [13:31] Disagree and commit principle [15:14] The business side of things (numbers, accounting, etc.) [18:17] On costs and profitability [21:01] Intentionally keeping the company small [24:01] Managing risk [26:11] Jeff Bezos’ investment [32:34] Working on several products at the same time [33:31] Six-week cycles vs. long-term projects [38:50] Evolution of 37signals [44:45] Keeping products until the end of the Internet [47:28] Calm companies [48:38] Listening to customer feedback [54:25] Jason's email is public. Is this a good idea? [58:07] Employee performance reviews and fixed salaries [59:45] Can the "calm company" mindset work in big companies? [01:05:51] How does one find a calm company to work for? [01:08:46] Publishing books [01:11:38] On being contrarian and no politics at work Podcasts
Rework#496: Marc Randolph on Building Netflix, Battling Blockbuster, Negotiating with Amazon/Bezos, and Scraping the Barnacles Off the Hull on The Tim Ferriss ShowBooks
ReworkGetting RealIt Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at WorkShape UpMaverick by Ricardo SemlerBlog posts
Founder & CEO is kinda a BS title by Jason FriedBasecamp's new etiquette regarding societal politics at work by DHHBut what if you're wrong? by DHHGet in touch!
Send us an email at hello@buildersgonnabuild.comSubscribe to newsletter at buildersgonnabuild.comMetacast: Behind the scenes - "build in public" style podcast and newsletter at metacastpodcast.com

Corey Quinn is the Chief Cloud Economist at The Duckbill Group and a big celebrity at the AWS circles well known for his sense of humor and unrelenting focus on making some good fun of the cloud providers.
In our interview, we are learning Corey’s background, how The Duckbill Group got started, and how he runs the media side of his business. As usual, we talked about bootstrapping and running consulting services while building a product.
This episode was originally published on the Metacast podcast, episode 32.
Do you love audio podcasts?
Try Metacast podcast app at metacast.app.Join our Reddit community at r/metacastapp.Where to find Corey
Screaming in the Cloud (podcast)Last week in AWS (newsletter)AWS Morning Brief (podcast)X: @QuinnyPigDuckbill GroupBooks
Practical Monitoring: Effective Strategies for the Real World by Mike JulianNever Eat Alone by Tahl Raz Keith FerrazziOther references
Route 53, Amazon’s Premier DatabaseWriting New Editions and Ticking All the Boxes with Andreas WittigMetacast Ep. 8 - SquadCast Founders on Remote Collaboration in PodcastsYes, I Test in Production (And So Do You) by Charity MajorsGet in touch!
Send us an email at hello@buildersgonnabuild.comSubscribe to newsletter at buildersgonnabuild.comMetacast: Behind the scenes - "build in public" style podcast and newsletter at metacastpodcast.com

Dave Thomas, co-author of The Pragmatic Programmer and Agile Manifesto, on the true spirit of being agile (vs. "doing agile"), mistakes engineering teams make, and common practices of successful teams.
Do you love audio podcasts?
Try Metacast podcast app at metacast.app.Join our Reddit community at r/metacastapp.Segments[10:29] The genesis of The Pragmatic Programmer[11:41] People don't know what they want, importance of feedback loops[22:17] Doing Agile vs. being agile[26:36] Practices of successful engineering teams[36:35] Being pragmatic at an early stage startup[44:10] Things that are still true 24 years after the book was published[55:25] How does a book define its author's identity?
Show notes
The Pragmatic ProgrammerThe Pragmatic BookshelfThe Agile ManifestoGet in touch!
Send us an email at hello@buildersgonnabuild.comSubscribe to newsletter at buildersgonnabuild.comMetacast: Behind the scenes - "build in public" style podcast and newsletter at metacastpodcast.com

For 10 years, Henry built mobile apps at Google and Amazon. Now he is a partner at a software development agency studio.init(). Henry shares his thoughts on using cross-platform frameworks vs. native languages, argues that Apple’s 30% cut of the in-app purchases is acceptable, and tells us how Google layoffs became a blessing in disguise.
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Segments
[01:31] Introduction
[04:03] Viral LinkedIn posts about layoffs
[08:13] Google layoffs
[17:36] Cross-platform app development with Flutter vs. native languages
[30:12] Getting apps into app stores
[31:43] Apple's 30% in-app purchase fees
[42:09] Building apps within Google and Amazon
[50:30] Starting studio.init() and finding first customers
[56:58] Book recommendations
Show notes
Where to find Henry

LinkedIn

studio.init()


Books

Permission to Screw Up by Kristen Hadeed

Crucial Conversations

Getting More by Stuart Diamond

The New One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard, Spencer Johnson


Do you love audio podcasts?
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Get in touch!
Send us an email at ⁠hello@buildersgonnabuild.com⁠
Subscribe to newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠https://www.buildersgonnabuild.com⁠⁠⁠
Metacast: Behind the scenes - "build in public" style podcast and newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠https://metacastpodcast.com⁠

Dennis E. Taylor built software for 35 years before trying himself as a sci-fi author. His first novel Outland earned him some “Starbucks money” on Amazon, but his second book We Are Legion made him a best-selling author. Dennis retired as an engineer and became a full-time writer.
In this episode, we talked about the parallels between writing software and writing books, Dennis’s process of coming up with ideas and turning them into reality, working with agents, and writing audio-first books.
Segments
[02:30] Introduction
[04:42] Transition from software engineering to writing
[07:37] Primer on Dennis's books
[12:02] Parallels between writing software and writing books
[16:10] Where do ideas come from?
[19:41] The process of writing
[22:38] Writing for an audio-first format
[27:28] Narrating a book
[30:43] Engaging with fans
[32:06] Doing research for sci-fi
[36:17] Making money with books
[38:58] Dennis's favorite authors
[41:04] On following the best practices in writing
[44:22] How writing has changed over time
[46:06] Advice for aspiring authors
[47:10] Where is the Bobiverse series going?

Show notes
Where to find Dennis

Audible profile

Amazon profile

Twitter/X


Books

Bobbiverse #1: We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

Bobbiverse #2: For We Are Many

Bobbiverse #3: All These Worlds

Bobbiverse #4: Heaven’s River

Outland

Roadkill



Do you love audio podcasts?
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Get in touch!
Send us an email at hello@buildersgonnabuild.com
Subscribe to newsletter at ⁠⁠https://www.buildersgonnabuild.com⁠⁠
Metacast: Behind the scenes - "build in public" style podcast and newsletter at ⁠⁠https://metacastpodcast.com⁠