You are receiving this message because you signed up for the The Modern Coder newsletter. You can unsubscribe with the link in the footer. Along with some big updates on my small business, LearnGit.io, this month I share the story of why I moved to NYC, and the bumpy ending to my 7-year-long career at Amazon. Thanks for reading! Change In the past 6 years, change has been a reliable companion. To recap, I moved to NYC, quit my job of 7 years at Amazon, got married, started a small business,...
5 months ago • 4 min read
We've gained a couple hundred new readers in the past few months, so I thought this could be a good time to revisit some of my favorite stories: ➡️ In my latest newsletter, I talk about how I got started in web development, and shared some of my early designs. ➡️ Here's one of my personal favorites: I share the story of investing in a private office space, and with a behind-the-scenes video, I show how I built out the space. ➡️ Lastly, from my very first waitlist newsletter, I explain the...
7 months ago • 1 min read
I started building websites when I was a teenager, sometime around 2007. In the beginning, I did what most people did: created a file called index.html, threw in some basic tags, and added CSS directly to the HEAD. People find their way into programming careers via all sorts of avenues. My on-ramp was website building. As my interest in web development grew, so did my desire to make my websites flashier and more complex. That's when I found the crown jewel of Window's Vista-era software:...
8 months ago • 2 min read
Last month the online business that I'm building, LearnGit.io, went into early access. I want to thank you all for your support! Over 20 people took the leap and signed up (detailed numbers at the end of the newsletter). I'm grateful for the support. It feels like I'm running a real business now! Speaking of real businesses: Starting in this newsletter, I'll be sharing some numbers behind LearnGit.io — things like customer signups, revenue, expenses, etc. I can't promise I'll continue this...
9 months ago • 4 min read
Here Goes Nothing Happy 2024! It's hard to believe another year has passed. Not so long ago — May 2023, to be exact — I was announcing to my YouTube channel that I was in the midst of a brand-new project. That project is LearnGit.io. As of today, it's live for the world to see. You'll find more information about that at the end of this newsletter. But before I could get to the launch, I hit some last-minute hiccups. If you've been following this newsletter, you know that my white whale has...
10 months ago • 2 min read
When I first announced I was working on LearnGit.io back in May, I was sure launching by the end of 2023 was an achievable goal. Seven months later, the only thing stopping me from achieving that goal is (predictably!) bureaucracy. Bureaucracy If you've been following my weekly updates on Instagram, YouTube or X (more about that below), you know I've formed a business, The Modern Coder Group LLC, to own and operate LearnGit.io. I am the sole proprietor, and forming a limited-liability company...
11 months ago • 3 min read
I'm not going to make it, but maybe that's for the best You saw the title, and it's true. I will not finish building my business, LearnGit.io, by the end of 2023, BUT that doesn't mean I won't be launching before the end of the year. But wait, those two statements are contradictory, so what gives? Transparency The goal of these newsletters is to document my life as a software engineering manager who quit his job at a large FAANG company to start a business. Managing the emotional toll this...
almost 1 year ago • 3 min read
Come Hell or High Water. In This Case, Water For much of September I wasn't at my desk. In fact, I wasn't even in the same country as my desk. I was enjoying my honeymoon in Italy and Switzerland with my wife. In Lake Como, Italy Besides a much needed break from the craziness of NYC, traveling gave me a chance to get some rest. As some of you may know, I have been building a Git training business called LearnGit.io, and prior to our trip my mental state had been easily derailed by obsessing...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
Deep in the Weeds For much of August I've been deep in the weeds working through my LearnGit.io to-do list. Among those items: Creating reusable animation templates using Apple Motion (sneak peek below) Configuring my backend infrastructure through AWS Amplify Continuing my monthly YouTube upload schedule (latest video) Tracking down extra plywood tiles for my video backdrop (I didn't order enough 🤦) And so much more... With any large project, the journey to completion includes blocks of...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read