For the past year or so I’ve started to value my time a lot and decided if I ever get involved in side-projects it won’t be for free. Having a full-time job and a family doesn’t give you too much free time so I better justify what I spend my time on. This thinking really changed my perspective on things that I was keen to work on. This article is a reflection of that journey.

Reflections on building a side-business

It was the winter of 2016 when I opened my phone and saw the job offer from Buffer. I remember I was in an Uber with my wife driving back home from the JFK airport. So many things have changed since then. I grew as a person and as an engineer. This article is a story where I openly share all my learnings and challenges I’ve experienced throughout my journey of working remotely as a software engineer.

Reflections on being a remote developer

In this article, I discuss how AI can revolutionize CI/CD processes, drawing from my experience at Netflix and addressing challenges like predictive test failure analysis, automated test generation, and intelligent rollbacks.

Ideas for AI-Driven CI/CD

This blog post provides my firsthand perspective on working in a big tech company. It challenges common misconceptions about the lack of innovation and personal growth in these companies, highlighting the diverse opportunities, collaboration, and deep technical specialization they offer.

Working at big tech can be interesting

In this personal blog post, I share my journey of falling in love with programming as a teenager in Armenia and the transformative impact it has had on my life. Through dedication, passion, and hard work, I overcame obstacles to become a "serious" programmer and encourage others to pursue their dreams in the world of coding.

Falling in Love with Programming

Vartan Gregorian, an influential Armenian-American academic, historian, and educator, transformed education and society through his passion, dedication, and leadership, leaving a lasting legacy and inspiring lessons for future generations.

On Vartan Gregorian

A story about hard work, passion, and a group of computer engineers who want to build a new microcomputer in the 1970s. Or, in other words, my review of Tracy Kidder’s "The Soul of A New Machine" outstanding book.

The Soul of Our Work

I've been building my side business for the last four years while working full-time. I've learned a lot during these years but realized that building a solo business is not as straightforward as it seems.

Beyond Indie Hacking

Earlier this week, I shared in my yearly review that I would like to learn a new programming language next year and chose Rust. So today, I thought I'd write down my decision-making process and why I think Rust is a good language to learn.

Why I want to learn Rust

We are closing the year soon, and I'm off from work this week. I felt now is a good chance to reflect on my past year and write down how things went in 2021 and what I'm looking forward to in 2022.

Reflecting on 2021

It’s been a couple of years now since I discovered my deep passion for building developer tools. I’m particularly interested in tools that become an indispensable part of developers’ workflow. Most such tools have one thing in common: they provide exceptional developer experience.

Reliability and performance in software tools

In the past couple of years, I've developed a deep passion for developer tools. I now work at Netflix, where I spend most of my time building tools for engineers. Since I'm very interested in the devtools space, I'm always looking forward to trying new dev tool products, especially when I see immense potential for the tool to make a difference. 

First impressions of Warp terminal

This is the message I keep telling myself for the past couple of months. After I started a new job at Netflix, it's been hard for me to find time and motivation to build things outside of work. The most challenging part is knowing that this feeling can compound and get more difficult over time if I don't take action and keep procrastinating. The longer you stay in this hole harder it becomes to escape.

Less Twitter, more building

I have wanted to write about this topic for a while and promised myself a couple of months ago that after landing a new job, I’d finally sit down one weekend and write down everything I know about tech interviews and how I prepare for them.

How to approach tech interviews

After four and a half years working at Buffer, I will be moving on to a new opportunity. Next month, I'm joining Netflix to work on developer productivity and tooling. It is difficult to describe my feelings right now because Buffer has become a huge part of my life.

Farewell Buffer

Now that I’ve decided to share more of my half-baked notes, it’s become much easier to write and publish new things. I feel less pressured because I can write about anything that’s in my head. I enjoy the note-sharing process because it’s more authentic and it connects me with readers.

Doing one thing but doing it well

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about our learning process as programmers. How we as software engineers learn new things. Our field evolves so fast so we always feel the urge to catch up with the latest technologies and standards.

Learning how to learn as a programmer

I wanted to write about this subject for quite some time and only today decided to finally sit down with no distractions. I put my phone aside and tuned on Spotify’s “focus” playlist. I’ve finally collected my thoughts together. This is a topic that is very close to my heart. It feels like a brain bug that’s been bothering me and forcing me to ponder.

Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

I’ve recently switched careers, from being a product engineer to a site reliability engineer (SRE). I’ve become Buffer’s first SRE this year and learned a lot from my experience. I want to share everything I’ve learned along the way, as well as the challenges I faced.

Becoming a Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)

In this blog post, I share the ideas that I think you can start exploring today to increase your income.  All these ideas require substantial time investment in the beginning, but I think you can do them on the side while keeping your current job.

Things you can do as a developer to make more money

In 2018, I decided to start a side-business. I got into writing, found my true professional passion, generated around $4000 net revenue, and met great people who inspired and helped me.

What I learned in my first year as a solo founder

Մի քանի օր առաջ ես դարձա 30 տարեկան ու քանի որ սա հոբելյանական տարիք է մտածեցի լավ կլիներ, նախ և առաջ ինձ համար, որ հետ նայեի անցաց տարինեին ու գրեի ինչ-որ կարևոր բաների մասին որ սովորել եմ մինչ օրս:

All Posts

Reflections on building a side-business

Reflections on being a remote developer