My Current Availability:
Not Available.

I am OPEN for business networking that is not just you trying to sell me something or get me to code your startup for free.

I am FULLY REMOTE in my current role and happy enough in it that I updated this page to say so.

Want my attention? Read the below F.A.Q. and know the details, be as competitive as you can be, and reach out respectfully with the understanding that I talk to a lot of recruiters and am happy where I am.

Availability: Frequently Asked Questions

Thanks for your interest. I only accept roles I can be successful in, so I am very confident that I have the exact skills to hit the ground running on any project I accept. You have a backlog of code? I can do the work. You have a list of projects you need to prioritize or plan with the help of a Sr. level software architect? I can do the work to make sure your backlog is correctly sorted so you can actually get more done in the same amount of time by being smart about the dependencies of your different projects.

I have no concerns about my ability to perform the work I accept as a full stack developer, so after we discuss the role and I decide to accept, my only remaining concern is whether you have any concerns about my qualifications that I can address.

If I choose not to accept the role, I will explain why, and then do what I can to give you any advice or reference I can to help you still be successful in your project. So please, reach out for a discussion.

I'm not the sort to normally promote myself, but I often get asked to interview by companies looking for somebody with my wide range of technical and leadership skills and it is not uncommon for me to get many requests a week. Due to this, the following page was created so I could just copy and paste the link to recruiters who may need this data because I'm sick of promoting myself, and as an engineer this seemed like the simplest and most efficient fix.

The contents of this page may NOT be used for used for ETA-9089, USCIS Form I-140, or Visa Petition of any kind. This is to limit abuse by recruiters and third parties.

Technology Stack FAQ

Do you favor doing back-end development, or front-end development?
I'm a Full Stack Software Development Engineer.
If I told you that you could only do ONE, either back-end or front-end development, what would you pick?
If given a choice between back-end or front-end development, I would choose a role on the back because thats where the most technically challenging and business critical problems are.
I don't see enough engineering excellence on the front end to be interested in it, unless its something the company really needs done. I would much rather be where I can do the most good for the company/team, and sometimes that is theFront-End/UI so I'm happy to help out the team. But statistically, more often the biggest company need is on the back-end.
What clouds have you actually used?
I have personal development experience building products using Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Openstack, Hadoop, and manual "Rack and Stack" company built/hybrid clouds. I have also moved entire companies to the cloud, and between clouds, as well as been part of teams that did so.
What mobile application development experience do you have?
I have personal experience building products on all the major mobile App platforms (iOS [Objective C, Swift], Android [C++ ABI, Java]) as well as other legacy platforms (Windows Mobile [OS Level Code in C++, App in C#/.Net/C++], IoT [C++, Embedded Python, C, Assembly]), and Other embedded devices [C, C++, Assembly, Python, Lua, others].
What desktop development have you done?
I have personal experience building desktop products on all the major computing platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux) as well as other server-focused platforms (Berkley Software Distribution, HP-UX, Solaris, others).
I have personally used C#/.Net, F#/.Net, Python, PowerShell, DOS Batch Scripts, Go Lang, VBA, C++ (Visual Studio, GCC, CLANG), C (Visual Studio, GCC, CLANG), Perl, Assembly, and others.
I LOVE Python and GoLang and Rust's design interests me at a very geeky level, but I cant seem to find a Python/GO/Rust Language role.
Have you shipped to production?
Yes, typically a roles "definition of done" requires this, so I prefer to build continuous integration and continuous delivery pipelines early on to create the most momentum.
What SQL / NoSQL / Database development have you done?
I have personal experience with multiple databases on all the major computing platforms (PC (Windows), Mac, Linux)) as well as other platforms.
This includes ACID compliant SQL based DB's including MySQL, PostgreSQL, T-SQL, SQLitem, as well as NoSQL aka "Not Only SQL" alternatives that include DynamoDB, Key->Value Stores and Document DB's, Key->Key->Value stores like Cassandra, etc.
I'm against MongoDB even existing on technical grounds that I'm happy to explain in detail, just ask.
What programming languages do you have the most recent experience in?
I have the most recent professional experience has as of today 10/1/2020 been in Java, Batch/Bash/Shell Scripting, Python, JavaScript, F#, C#, SQL, C++, GO, C, C++, and Perl. In that order.
I have also spent a lot of time on other languages. Currently spending time with bison and flex grammars for the fun of it, if that means anything to you.
Over my 20-or-so years programming I have personal experience in others such as and including (but not limited to) Assembly, Javascript, Lua, TCL, Bash, Powershell, and a very long list of others that are no longer generally used (Such as COBOL, LISP, etc).
I don't limit myself to one language and I prefer to build up a toolbox so I can use the right tool for the job over treating a given programming language as the one tool for everything. Tools often get replaced with better tools.
Can you handle our needs?
Statistically, yes. If not I will say so, because your time is valuable and I hate BS'ing people.
I'm programming language agnostic and would rather have a toolbox than use a single language as a hammer against every problem.
If I do not already know the language or framework, I will tell you. I will then go get a book on it, and then spend time learning it on my own, just for the fun of it.
Contact me directly with your expectations. I'm always open to a conversation to see how I can help.

Leadership Style F.A.Q.

How would you best explain your leadership style?
I use a "Eyes on, Hands off" style. The goal is to maintain flexibility between different elements of servant leadership and typical PDM / Delegation while still maintaining business priorities by being results-oriented and balance sheet focused.
What does "Eyes on, Hands off" really mean in simple English?
It means I coach and train people, teams, and organizations so that leadership is not a bottleneck on the productivity of the members of the team, in a way that allows leadership to still maintain control over what results they get from the team, all without creating organizational problems that limit company growth or employee retention.
What if we train our people and they grow enough to be able to leave the company or ask for more money?
What if you don't improve your team's skills at all, and they decide to stay and lower the overall effectiveness of your company by being more Jr. level, and your company dies so slowly nobody knows it until its too late to save the company because your people stayed jr. level in their roles too long?
What if our organization is more Jr. because we can't retain our best people?
Stop using bad engineering for everything, treat people with respect, limit working hours to 40-45 hours a week, pay people market competitive rates, remove the bad managers, and your retention will improve.
If that is not helping, then you may have a leadership problem or you have a bad idea of what market rate looks like. In this case your leadership or management is possibly chasing your best people away even if you are paying people enough.
I actually specialize in helping companies keep their best people as part of larger efforts to grow teams to be more productive.
Reach out for a discussion.
Whats this "Love, Defend, Learn" Motto you often use about?
Its about remembering to be kind, and to cultivate people by tending them like you would a garden or rosebush, so they can bloom all the more fully. Reach out for a discussion.

Job Interest F.A.Q.

What are you actually looking for?
I'm looking to find a family focused company that I can invest my time and career into without feeling used or feeling dirty. It does not have to be a tech company, but I expect to be doing Tech Things for them.
I want to find a company I can help be successful using my tech skills, and then share in that success that I helped to create, myself. I don't want to be a temporary person.
I want to be able to actually schedule a vacation (Or maybe my own wedding?) 2 years in advance, and be able to actually go to it on time and keep the date without a meeting or business conflict getting in the way.
What does "fully remote" in a job description actually mean?
The words "fully remote" mean that its not only a "physically remote" role with no daily travel to an office, but also has no time zone shift requirements. In my case it means since I'm in PST, that means I will work PST hours, not EST hours, have no daily travel, and can expect to work normal business hours for my PST based location. Anything else would not be "fully remote".
This is defined this way for legal reasons, because telling somebody a role is "fully remote" and then expecting them to shift timezone for daily work is considered an illegal bait and switch industry wide in the software industry.
If a role is time-shifted, then its not "fully remote", its only "physically remote" while still being "temporally local". The words "fully remote" mean both "physically remote" and "temporally remote" by nature, so if any of these dependencies are false then it can't logically be "fully remote", and any claim otherwise is just considered a blatant lie.
It is in your best interest to be as clear as possible in the job description at all times, because most people will rightly assume that any company that pulls this form of illegal bait and switch was just trying to be intentionally malicious by hiding important information about the job description, since the company in all cases knows far more about the role than a potential candidate ever could.
What sort of roles are you most interested in?
I'm not currently looking but..
  1. FTE gets my attention over anything else.
  2. Contract to Hire gets my attention, but I often find that phrase maliciously and intentionally abused... so I will have questions.
  3. Contact me for a discussion about anything else, if its not outright forbidden here.
What sort of roles should we *never* contact you about?
I do not think like this, as I have found that these forms of intellectual dualism can be limiting to opportunities. So, See below.
What sort of roles are you less interested in?
Most 1099 or c2c roles are not interesting to me at all BUT if you are willing to pay over $300/hour for a 40 hour work week and commit to at least a full 3 years in writing of all of this, then we can talk 1099/c2c roles because thats the price point where it can be sustainable for me. Otherwise, I consider anybody asking for c2c/1099 to be acting intentionally malicious as this is a very abused system and I see my peers hurt all the time. I have done the math. It's just not in my best interest to play these games, but I'm happy to keep the door on c2c/1099 unlocked in case you want to spend the money and commit to a long term partnership. Otherwise, please don't contact me for c2c or 1099 roles that do not fit these minimal requirements as I consider underpaying c2c/1099 roles to simply be a form of malicious abuse, and that is why I only accept w2 roles most days.
I'm not open to any role that requires relocation while not being economically or socially competitive to Seattle. Basically, if you can't offer me a full relocation package and flat out buy me a home in my name that I own outright, and also pay me a market competitive wage, with benefits/etc on top of that, I'm not interested. I honestly hate the idea of relocating outside of WA, its my home, but a part of me likes the idea of just starting over, so this sentence exists.

Technical Contracting F.A.Q.

What sort of roles are you most interested in?
See above "Job Interest F.A.Q.".

Recruiter F.A.Q.

I'm a recruiter; How do I stay on your good side?
Be honest and candid. Sadly, past recruiters have chosen to intentionally lie to me to try to fill hard to fill roles. I do not respond well to being intentionally lied to.
Respect the division I intentionally maintain between home and work life. The reason people work is because they have families or lives. I respect that, and you should, too. For example: I get deeply offended when a Technical Recruiter stalks me on-line and sends me a random friend request on FB with no prior connection.
If you call a role a "FTE" role, it must be a full time perm direct hire role on w2. Otherwise, it's just a contract on w2 tax status and I have to assume you are being intentionally and aggressively malicious by lying to me.
If you call a role a "contract to hire" role, I will validate this with the client company and the hiring manager to mitigate possible risk to me.
If relocation or travel from my home in required for the role, please do not contact me about it. I am deeply worried about COVID19 and do not want to mistakenly get infected or accidentally infect others; I would feel so badly if I knew I was a part of the infection chain for somebody who died of it, and so as a decent human I actively try to do what I can to mitigate that risk.
Why does your value system say you cannot work with recruiters who misrepresent roles or use bait and switch tactics?
Because per this is defined as illegal Fraud in the state of WA.

Domains F.A.Q.

So I see you own https://GameDev.Com, would you sell it to me?
The domain GameDev.Com is an active part of my portfolio. I use it for email and other things. It is not going unused, and I am not a domain squatter.
The correct and proper answer to this question is actually very nuanced. See the below.
Is the domain https://GameDev.Com for sale?
Because statistically you are going to offer me much less than its worth or than it would cost me to divest it from my holdings and projects, the public answer is "no".
I'm sick of getting this question, so please just DM me via twitter for all further communications about GameDev.Com or any other domain with the understanding that if you have to ask me how much I would sell at, you probably can't actually afford it.

Relocation F.A.Q.

Will you relocate outside of Seattle, WA, USA in the domestic USA for any reason?

Time-zone F.A.Q.

What times of day should we call you?
Please don't. I'm not currently looking.

Legal F.A.Q.

Why won't you work for Huawei or their owned/connected subsidiaries (Futurewei, etc)?
The United States Federal Government is formally accusing them of Treason against America.
Legally speaking, this is a capital crime with a death sentence per United States Code at 18 U.S.C. § 2381. I want nothing to do with this, or any person or company in that situation.
Why won't you work for companies on your personal "nope" list?
If a company is added to my personal "nope." list, it means they have burned a bridge with me or other members of my social or professional circle that I value highly, and as such I have made the choice that they no longer get to benefit from my technical expertise or intellectual capabilities. I do this because they have proven themselves no be longer trustworthy. It is an explicit rejection of them as a threat to me or others.
Adding a company to my personal list of companies that I refuse to work for is not a choice that I make lightly, however. When I make the choice to do so, it is done with the explicit intent of protecting myself from abuse or the threat of my skills being used to support the abuse of others. I do this only because I feel that it was not just one "bad apple", but rather a system issue that runs more deeply.
In general, companies get added to my "nope" list because they refuse to change their unethical, greedy, or discriminatory behavior. They get added because I consider their entire company to be harmful to the world.
If a company is added to my personal "nope" list it means they have burned a bridge with me or other members of my social or professional circle that I value highly, and as such I have made the choice that they no longer get to benefit from my technical expertise. I do this because they have proven themselves no be longer trustworthy. It is an explicit rejection of them. Since WA is an "at will" work state, I have all the legal right I need to say "no" to any company I can not trust, as does every other engineer I know.
In general, companies get added to my ban list because they refuse to change their unethical, greedy, discriminatory behavior. They get added because I consider their entire company to be harmful to the world.
If you invent something interesting to us, can we claim ownership if you worked for us?
Per it is illegal for an employer to expect ownership of work an employee does on their own time using their own resources.
If you otherwise seek to purchase or license my IP, start the conversation in a friendly tone that recognizes the fact I own the IP in question, and expect to pay market rates for licensing as I'm generally not the sort of person to sell my IP outright.
I'm a lawyer looking to talk to you about an opportunity to license your IP to my client..
Stop. One of the rules I picked up working as an Executive at a Fortune 50 company is that "Lawyers always only Talk to Other Lawyers".
The result of this is that I simply don't talk to lawyers that don't explicitly work for me. Period.
In the event that a Lawyer reaches out to me for any reason, I will always refer them to my own lawyer, let them sort it out, and then add the cost of my lawyer to any invoice I send out.

Personal F.A.Q.

Why have you done so much contracting?

Back in 2005 I was just a 22 year old kid who had been running his own tech company since he was emancipated at 17. I sort of "won the lotto" and through good luck, hard work, a lot of determination, and some help from friends I manage to land my first role at MSFT in MSR. MSR is also known as MSFT Research.

Here I am, surrounded by PHD's and experts in fields of study I adored. I wanted to learn everything. So I did what any man should do in that situation: I started asking questions about everything I could, including how best to take advantage of this opportunity.

They all told me the same thing; that I should stay a contractor until I was "ready" and "sick of it", move around the industry, learn daily - including from my own mistakes - and then once I wanted out of contracting, take the amount of experience/skills that I had acquired from contracting/consulting and settle down into a "work home" that I could invest myself in fully, in a mutually symbiotic relationship built on mutual respect and a sincere desire to keep learning while building the future.

Are you open to FTE roles?
Yes, but only when I'm not already working. I am actually prioritizing FTE roles for the future. Contact me for a discussion if the above says I'm available.
OK, I read the entire thing. I get what you are looking for. I think I have something you will enjoy. What is the secret to getting your attention?
Tell me you read the FAQ and mention the phrase "brown M&M's." in the subject when you contact me to get the best response/treatment.
If you want to understand the logic/meaning behind this, you should read this link: