Show Notes
In today's episode, we bring back James Q Quick. Last time we talked about his best tips to land your first ever job as a developer. Today we talk about James' new startup and how he manages all his new tech adventures with being a parent and also provides some helpful insight as to why having an audience and personal connections in the industry is beneficial - but not strictly necessary to succeed.
We also talk about AWS, abstraction and the current (healing) state of layoffs, so don't lose hope if you're demotivated in your job search.
Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev
Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm
Deals for Devs: https://www.dealsfordevs.com/
James' Website: https://www.jamesqquick.com/
James' Twitter: https://x.com/jamesqquick
James' Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JamesQQuick
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:55 On being a parent
04:28 Idiocracy
05:47 Deals for Devs
10:09 Comparison with Dixie Direct
12:22 How do you quantify the really high quality deals
15:57 The challenge with a two-sided marketplace
22:28 Doing stuff manually is actually pretty good
25:38 Having a personal connection helps A LOT
29:12 Zeta
34:05 The Web is being modeled on AWS
36:38 You shouldn't be learning one JavaScript framework
38:30 Know how to answer a question if you don't know the technology
41:43 When you learn to code, how much layers of abstraction you should go?
43:45 Should passion be required for a job in tech?
49:02 The state of layoffs
52:29 The ease of finding a job after a layoff when you're highly talented
55:58 Do you need an audience to find a job easily?
58:40 Developers of the world - Interviews in person
01:02:12 Where to find James
More from Backend Banter
Today we welcome YK Sugi—engineer, educator, and the mind behind CSS Dojo—for the final episode of season two.
In this episode, we sit down with Quincy Larson, founder of Free Code Camp, to explore his incredible path from high school dropout to influential tech educator. Quincy shares his unconventional journey — from living in his car and working fast food jobs to building one of the most impactful coding education platforms in the world.
Today we welcome Mitchell Hashimoto, co-founder of HashiCorp and creator of Ghostty, a new terminal emulator built in Zig. In this episode, Mitchell shares the story behind Ghostty, how his curiosity about terminals evolved into a full-fledged project, and why Zig became his language of choice.
Today we welcome Malte Ubl, CTO of Vercel, to discuss the evolution of frontend development and the role of AI in shaping modern engineering workflows. Malte dives into V0, Vercel's innovative tool for generating frontend code using AI, and explains how it empowers developers—especially backend engineers—to build full-stack applications. We also explore the concept of verticalization in engineering roles, the challenges of balancing innovation with infrastructure, and how AI is redefining productivity in tech.
Today we welcome Madison Kana—a self-taught dev who defied the traditional path. From dropping out and navigating a world of homeschooling to launching the Code Book Club, Madison transformed her unconventional journey into a thriving community of coders. In this episode, she shares how bypassing the typical education route fueled her passion, the real challenges of learning on your own, and the power of mentorship in building a dynamic tech career. If you’re ready to break the mold and carve your own path in software development. Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm Madison's X: https://x.com/Madisonkanna Website: https://madisonkanna.com/ Learn out loud: learn0utloud.com Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 00:30 - Where did it all start? 01:40 - Dropping out 08:42 - How Madison started learning code 22:00 - Team leading 30:30 - Code Book Club 38:50 - Learn out loud 46:20 - AI talk 54:18 - Book recommendations 56:05 - Outro Like & subscribe for the algo if you enjoyed the video!