Developer on Fire
Developer on Fire
Episode 268 | Jonathan Tower - Family, Community, Business
Guest:
J. Tower talks with Dave Rael about business, family, taking an extended trip, and the rewards of contributing
Jonathan "J." Tower is a Microsoft MVP, Telerik Developer Expert, and business owner with over eighteen years of software industry experience. He loves solving problems and the creative aspects of software development, as well as sharing what he’s learned and helping building the technology community. His current technology interests include .NET Core, Mobile, and JavaScript development. J. lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan with his wife and children, where he uses his passion for the tech community to help run a user group and several annual conferences.
Chapters:
- - Dave introduces the show and J. Tower
- - J's software interests
- - J. and his conference speaking
- - J's family and travel - exploring the USA and their National Parks for over a year while working remotely
- - Working remotely, including both from home and with a home moving around the USA
- - Preferred sites seen in the extended travel by J's family
- - How J. got started in software
- - J's story of failure - surprising a client with new and shiny (and unfamiliar) platform and language features
- - The origin of J's consulting focus
- - Advice for would-be consultants
- - The downsides of consulting
- - The establishment of the Trailhead business and an excellent team
- - J's success story - family and business, recognition for community contributions, and conference organizing
- - The Trailhead partners
- - How J. says current with what he needs to know
- - The things that have J. most excited
- - J's book recommendation
- - J's causes of pain and suffering
- - The things about which J. likes to geek out
- - J's top 3 tips for delivering more value
Resources:
- J's Website
- Trailhead Technology Partners - J's Business
- Microsoft Most Valuable Professional program
- Developer Experts (Recognition by Progress Telerik
- Glacier National Park
- Texas Instruments’ Personal Computers
- Nik Molnar on Developer On Fire
- "The wand chooses the wizard"
- Principle of Least Surprise
- Beer City Code
- Grand Rapids is "Beer City"
- Xamarin
- Xamarin Forms
- OWIN
- Kyle Scarmardo on Developer On Fire
Jonathan's book recommendation:
Jonathan's top 3 tips for delivering more value:
- Don't forget to take care of yourself
- Communicate
- Always be learning
