So, I got laid off (for the third time! 🤦). Working at Observable was such a great experience. My team was awesome and every day (except the last one) was fun. I learned about all kinds of new tech from some of the smartest people I’ve ever worked with. I helped build an awesome platform for collaborative data exploration that makes data wrangling simple and is fun to use. But just because the product is great doesn’t mean that it will be successful right away. As the title states, startups are hard and sometimes that means a number of capable, talented people get laid off (like my colleagues). I’m bummed. I really liked that job.
But this means that I get to try something new! I’ve got lots of experience in web development, specifically with JavaScript/TypeScript, React, Vue, and Node. It’s all spelled out in my LinkedIn profile. I could help you build any part of the stack to deliver a web application, including frontend, backend, and DevOps tooling. My perfect job (remote or in the Denver/Boulder area) is one where I get to build useful tools while learning from and teaching my team. I also enjoy getting to work on many different parts of the code base. (One of my favorite features that I added to Observable was pasting links for highlighted text in markdown cells, which involved mucking about in CodeMirror transaction filters.) If you hear of any open positions that you think would be a good fit for me, please pass them along. Looking for a new job isn’t something that I enjoy, but starting a new job is great. Help me start a new job! Thank you.
If you’re still reading and you’ll indulge me for a moment, one of my favorite activities with my old team was working on crossword puzzles together. We did this weekly with Down for a Cross, a site which allows multiple people to solve a puzzle at the same time. Additionally, there’s an Observable-team-only version of this NYT Mini Crossword analysis notebook that has even more cool visualizations and trends for Observable employees. I can genuinely say that working at Observable made me a better crossword player, which isn’t something that many people can say.
(PS: If you want to connect on the Mini leaderboard, send me a message.)