IndieRails – Details, episodes & analysis

Landon Gray is a Rubyist, speaker, strategic advisor, and AI engineer. In May, he left Test Double to found Identus Consulting, where he helps companies with generative AI and machine learning. We chat about his love for consulting, how he got into AI, and how he's working with clients these days, using a blend of technical and project management skills.

Follow Landon
Twitter
LinkedIn
Ruby AI Twitter
Identus Consulting
Curious Centroid
Forecasting the future: Intro to Machine Learning for weather prediction in Native Ruby

Relevant Links
Test Double
Great Learning
Claude
Jeremy Howard
Torch.rb
Transformers.rb
Pandas
Jupyter

Our guest will be no stranger to most of our listeners. He’s been around the Ruby community for many years. He’s spoken at conferences, hosted conferences, hosts a "pretty good" podcast, author of courses, a staff engineer at Podia and more recently the co-founder of a successful SaaS: Job Boardly. Enjoy the show with Jason Charnes!

Related Links
Personal Website

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Job Boardly
Podia
Remote Ruby

Cody Norman is a Rails consultant, fly fisherman, BBQ connoisseur, and big fan of the state of Colorado. He joins us to share about getting into software development, his journey to consulting, and his mentorship work. We also chat about his product Spot Squid, his plans for Rawhide Ruby, and his upcoming RailsConf talk on Action Mailbox: Attraction Mailbox - Why I love Action Mailbox. Cody also shared post-show that he's developing a course on Action Mailbox!

Website
Twitter
Spot Squid
Rawhide Ruby
Action Mailbox Pro course

Related Links
Agency of Learning
The Startup of You
The Mom Test

In this episode of IndieRails, we delve into the world of productized services in software development. Moving beyond the traditional model of bespoke or custom solutions, productized services offer a blend of consistency, scalability, and efficiency, reshaping how businesses approach service offerings.

We were prompted to look into this topic by a question from Pascal, who coincidentally just launched his React To Hotwire Migration Service offering.

In episode, we aim to explore the journey from concept to market, the strategic advantages of adopting a productized model, and the challenges developers face in this transition. Join us as we uncover the keys to successfully crafting service offerings that combine the best of both products and services, making a compelling case for innovation in the way we deliver value to clients.

Original Question from Pascal
https://twitter.com/pascallaliberte/status/1724873520562237835

This is timely because he just launched his React To Hotwire Migration Service offering: https://twitter.com/pascallaliberte/status/1765489247694332083

Andy Croll is a Rubyist, author, and speaker. He's the CTO of CoverageBook, creator of the First Ruby Friend mentoring program, organizer of Brighton Ruby, and this year is co-chair of RailsConf. In short, he's a bit busy. In our conversation, we dive into his work at CoverageBook, discuss the hiring, onboarding, and mentoring of early career devs, and talk Ruby conferences (and why you should go).

Relevant Links
Twitter
Website
Why go to a Ruby or Rails conference?
One Ruby Thing
First Ruby Friend
Brighton Ruby
RailsConf
CoverageBook

In this episode we get the chance to interview Ben Orenstein: A person who probably doesn't need much of an introduction to our listeners. This episode should be special. Ben's journey from developer to entrepreneur exemplifies the path many in our audience aspire to tread. With a keen eye for opportunities and a deep understanding of the software industry's nuances, Ben's insights are invaluable for anyone looking to leverage their technical skills beyond the keyboard. Join us as we discuss strategies, challenges, and the mindset required to thrive in the competitive landscape of tech entrepreneurship.

Links:
Twitter
Tuple
Tuple Podcast
Personal site
Hackers Inc Podcast
"Predictable Mistakes of the Developer-Turned-Founder" - Laracon talk

In this episode, we chat with Jess's friend and fellow Georgian, Matt D. Smith. While developers may not be too familiar, Matt is widely known and well respected in the interface design community. He ran an independent design studio for many years, eventually transitioning to building products and courses. Matt is currently focused on Shift Nudge, the premiere online learning experience for designing beautiful & functional interfaces.

Matt shares with us his story of moving from client work to products, and growing an online presence. The parallels to indie development are striking, with many takeaways for those trying to build an independent practice, or grow as content creators.

Relevant Links

Matt's Twitter
Matt's YouTube
Matt's Website
Shift Nudge
Use Contrast
Flowkit

In this episode we catch up with an old friend, Allan Branch. Allan and his partner Steve were early adopters of rails and made a big splash in the tech community with their company LessEverything. They put on many conferences (LessConf), workshops, offered consulting services, created and sold a SaaS, displayed silly/witty marketing and shared a ton of what they've learned through social and open source projects, blogs and more.

Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, Allan has taken concepts from his dad's car wash businesses (the "Jason Fried of car washes") applied them to software, and now is applying them to real estate, city development and breweries too.

You don't want to miss this one, there's so much to learn. There's lots of great stories and even better advice.

Links:
Allan on Twitter
Current tech company (they're looking to hire Elixir and Rails devs)
Allan's link tree
 

Jason Swett is well-known in the Rails community for his podcast, Code with Jason, and his book, The Complete Guide to Rails Testing. Jason joins us to talk about his recent transition back into consulting after working for companies for the past few years. He shares about various projects he's been working on, building his personal brand, and his newest coaching service.

Jason is also hosting the 2nd iteration of Sin City Ruby at the Tropicana Las Vegas! Get your ticket and come meet Jason, Jeremy, Jess and a host of other Ruby friends!

Links:
Twitter
Website
Book
Sin City Ruby

Mentioned:
Friendly.rb talk
Million Dollar Consulting, Alan Weiss

In this episode, we dive into the multifaceted world of technology, creativity, and storytelling. We have the honor of hosting Ayush Newatia, a seasoned Ruby developer whose expertise extends beyond the intricacies of code. Ayush is not just a maestro in programming; he is an independent developer at radioactivetoy.tech, a creator of SaaS apps like Scattergun, on the Core Team of Bridgetown, podcaster at Just a Spec and he's also the accomplished author of the The Rails and Hotwire Codex.

Join us as we flip through the pages of his coding journey!

Relevant Links:
Website
Twitter
The Rails and Hotwire Codex (Book)

Scattergun (SaaS)
Bridgetown (Core member)

Just a Spec (Podcast)