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Startups & Side Hustles
Hey there,

I was chatting with a group of CTO’s here in Chicago this week, and one of them made a half-joking remark that “everyone’s a ‘senior’ Javascript developer.”

The humor here is that all of us are inundated with a flood of new bootcamp grads who can’t find junior positions, so they apply to senior roles and try to upsell their experience. We understand why they do it, but we’re also not stupid — we know not everyone is a really a senior Javascript developer.

This week I wrote a bit about the tricks we use to weed out inexperienced developers. If you're looking to hire a developer, and want to weed out some of the less experienced people I'd be interested to hear your methods.

On the other hand, if you're a junior developer looking to get hired by a startup, remember that knowing how to code is not enough.
Recommended Reading*
I love marketing, but many books on the topic are so full of conjecture, dated hacks, and fluff that they aren't worth more than a blog post of your time. The 1-Page Marketing Plan keeps it short and simple, much like the marketing checklist I built, so I highly recommend it as a more detailed follow up.

Around the Web
"The biggest mistake I see developers make is assuming that they are building something that people both want and will pay a meaningful amount of money for."

AI and machine learning are all the rage, but what does it take to actually run an algorithm? What are these seemingly magic algorithms doing? Read this beginner's guide to find out.

"In order to make doing work with your program easier, you need to prioritize what kinds of work they will do in order of how often the work is done."

Build a product you would use, but don't be a case study of 1. You need input from other perspectives.

Having just deleted the app a couple months ago, I can't say I'm surprised that "44% of users 18 to 29 have deleted the app from their phones in the past year."

"Real marketing is not defined by keywords and rankings. It’s defined by your audience. And there are no shortcuts when it comes to building trust."

Being consistent has been a huge help for me, but I'll admit it's hard. Even just a short 5-10 minute blog post can really help keep me in practice.

Sponsor*
I wear the same thing every day: t-shirt and jeans. Wohven reminds me every month to rotate an ugly old shirt out for the fresh new one they sent me. It might not seem like a huge life hack, but micro-optimizations like this add up.

Tools
I had no idea, but apparently you can write SQL queries in Google sheets.

A fast, simple way to generate business name ideas.

Tools and website builder for new company websites.

Combine screenshots and captions to easily create promo graphics for the App Store, Play Store, and Product Hunt.

Thanks for reading,

Karl Hughes, Portable CTO