Networks

Introduction

I am the VP of Software Engineering at Ticket Evolution, a former client of Pivotal Labs, and have been leading teams and companies since my first startup/web development company in 2003.

What languages/frameworks do you use (Java, .NET, PHP, Ruby, etc.)?

Ruby, Rails, Sinatra, Event Machine, jQuery, Backbone.js, PostgreSQL, Redis, MongoDB, Elasticsearch, Solr

What topics might you be interested in?

Team building, technical presentations, managing teams with tight deadlines and budgets without sacrificing the team's quality of life. I am in the process of building out a 12 member team of developers (6 hired to date). My next position, which will be as a founding CTO or Technical Partner, has me interested in learning more of the business side of moving a startup into IPO position.

Do you have any specific areas of expertise? Would you be willing to share it with the group?

I'm primarily interested in joining the group to gain expertise. I have been successful in managing a web startup without outside funding, but do not consider myself an expert in the field.

What is your favorite unit test framework and why?

A few weeks ago I would have said Capybara, however, I am quickly being won over by Jasmine. What attracts me to these frameworks is the ability to test both individual components and full stack interaction from the end user's perspective.

What is your favorite version control system and why?

Git hands down. The idea of having each copy of the repo capable of being the authoritative remote is critical in a distributed work environment. It also lends itself to headache-free repository disaster recovery.