Solo Web Startup

13

23 Aug 2011

My new job in San Jose at Adobe
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I'm pumped up!

Adobe offered me a 6-month contract (with possible hire or extension), and it was too good to refuse. I will be joining a team of veteran Adobe ColdFusion developers, and will get to work on the high-traffic downloads area of the site: get.adobe.com. I haven't worked on systems with so many millions of visitors per month before, so it will be a new challenge for me.

We may also work on some AIR-based apps and advanced javascript / jQuery stuff, so that should be fun, too!

I will move to San Jose in about a week, my family will stay in Austin for a while, and we'll decide later if they should move with me or not...

What does this mean for Refynr.com, my startup that _seems_ to be doing well, but isn't actually making money?

It runs pretty well as-is, but with some minor updates it should run better, even with only minimal time from me. I can't spend much time on it for a while, but may be able to spend more money on it. I don't know the future of Refynr yet; only time will tell... ;-)

What do you think of my latest move?
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0

25 Feb 2011

Senior ColdFusion Developer Job, work remotely
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Here's a nice ColdFusion (telecommute) job for a senior developer, and I can personally recommend working here:

Please send all resumes to careers [at] demandgenpartners.com

Introduction:

DemandGen Partners, a rapidly growing real estate marketing & software development

company, is seeking a Senior ColdFusion Application Developer with experience in

building CRM and marketing related software solutions. The position is a temp to hire

project. The scope of work will is multi-faceted. It involves optimizing existing ColdFusion

and SQL server infrastructure of version 1 of SmartTouch® and co-developing a

property management module and content management system that will be integrated

with the current CRM and e-mail platform. Based on performance and compatibility,

the position will evolve into becoming part of the team that will build the next

generation CRM & Marketing Automation Solution on the same platform. The contract

position can be performed remotely for the immediate future.

Requirements:
- Experience with CF 8 or 9 Enterprise and .NET
- Understanding "Best Practices" for writing CFCs, CustomTags, and re-usable, scalable code
- At least 2 years developing advanced or enterprise-class CFML systems
- Mid- to senior-level T-SQL (MS SQL Server 2005 or 2008) skills
- At least 1 year with jQuery 1.3+
- Knowledge or cross-browser HTML & CSS
- Willingness to document code & system
- Experience installing IIS or Apache with CF Enterprise (or Railo) for clustering
- Experience with Email Marketing systems
- At least 1 year with AJAX
- At least 2 years designing and optimizing SQL Server 2005+ databases
- Experience with one or more common CF Frameworks, such as Fusebox 4+, ColdBox 3+, Mach-II, FW/1, or CFWheels
Added Pluses:
- CF 8/9 (or Railo 3+) Enterprise performance monitoring & tuning w/ tools like FusionReactor, CF Server Monitor, or SeeFusion
- ASP .NET experience
- Understanding of JVM tuning
- Advance T-SQL query writing and tuning
- jQuery 1.4+ plugin writing
- Advanced jQuery knowledge and skills
- MTA Mail Server and Sender Reputation experience. The heart of SmartTouch is its mailing capabilities.
- College Degree in related field
The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas and does have plans to open a

development office in the next 12 to 18 months in Austin Texas. Pay is commensurate

with experience - $40-$50/per hour.

About DemandGen Partners

Demand Gen Partners helps firms that require a multi-touch sales cycle create a

demand for products and services and grow their business with customized, interactive

lead generation programs and a lead cultivation CRM solution. Backed by 30 years of

experience in developing demand generation programs for 100s of clients, Demand

Gen™ Partners sets a new standard with lead generation programs and a solution that

integrates sales and marketing automation in one platform, SmartTouch®.

http://demandgenpartners.com/products/custom-crm-solutions/crm-for-real-estat...
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8

13 Oct 2010

Are you allowed to use twitter at work?
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If not, why not?

Are these some reasons?
1. Security risk. "A link from twitter could have a virus, adware, or malware on it!"
2. Reduced productivity. "You won't be productive if you're spending too much time on twitter, participating in random conversations that aren't related to work!"
3. Bad perception. "We need to all focus on working hard and fast. Projects are behind schedule and we're losing customers. Time is precious! People should be *working*, not twittering or whatever you call it!"
What other reasons?

Well, I've use twitter, LinkedIn, and sometimes Facebook during working hours plenty of times at my last salaried job (I'm a self-employed entrepreneur now), so obviously I think it's ok to tweet during work. The problem for me is that there are too many off-topic conversations coming from the 650+ twitter accounts that I follow. That's fine while I'm at home, surfing the net on the couch while watching "The Office", but to be fair to our employers, there could be security issues, off-topic conversations are a time drain, and if someone walks by and sees all the *junk* on your twitter home stream/feed, that's not a good perception.

So, I'm not saying all the arguments against using social media at work are 100% true. As a programmer, I learn tons about new and useful technology from twitter. I've helped recruit, and have been recruited from twitter. I meet the top names in my industry (for ColdFusion, that's Ben Nadel, Sean Corfield, Ray Camden, and many, many others). I ask questions and get them answered faster than on any other medium (including Adobe forums, a blog, email, LinkedIn, etc.).

So, I wanted to be able to work efficiently in the office without my conscience bothering me. That's what http://refynr.com is all about.
- Connect Refynr to Twitter
- Create a List of Keywords/Topics that relate to my job
- View the "refined" Refynr Stream without feeling like I'm wasting time
- (coming soon) view Twitter "history" in your Refynr Stream so that you can catch up on what happened while you were on vacation
(download)

Click here to download:
are-you-allowed-to-use-twitter-at-work-FavAcfhpvbatagitBjtA.zip (299 KB)

Now, I can follow as many people as I want on Twitter without worrying that they talk too much about Foursquare, their new hot girlfriend, side conversations that belong on IM, bots and spammers, or what they're eating for breakfast.

Does Refynr sound useful to you? Why or why not?

Sign up and try it: https://refynr.com/secure/signup.cfm (Alpha Code: Alpha1Tester)

Comment below with your thoughts on how useful this is...
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26

31 Aug 2010

When no programming jobs feels right, jump off a cliff!
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Metaphorically, of course. But still: what the hell's WRONG with me?! I resigned from a job for the first time in my programming career *before* I lined up a new job. And while overseas, no less. And I've had more interest in hiring me over the past 2 months than in my entire 10 year career previously. And I have a wife, a 4 year-old, and a 4 month old baby.

So, my crazy announcement is that I'm taking roughly 6 months to start my own web-based startup venture. Alone.

My problem, and occasionally my forte, is that I'm a gambler. Yes, I've spent a few too many hours in casinos playing Black Jack, but I'm not talking about that! I'm talking about gambling on my career. And no one has sufficiently discouraged me, even after averaging less than 18 months per full-time job over my career; even after selling my house, 2 cars, all my belongings, and leaving a great job in Austin 2 years ago to live overseas in Holland.

I can't really rationally defend my decision, but here's all I've got:
1. I really, really freakin' want to do this!
2. I don't have a job, so why not?!
3. My wife didn't say, "no"
4. My in-laws have graciously allowed us to live with them for 6 months. Cheap rent!
5. I think I have a really good idea (more on that below)
6. Life is short. Why keep all that money in banks & money markets when it wants to be spent on my latest whim?
7. I figure even if I fail horribly, I will learn tons more than I can working for someone else
8. I know I have to make this a full-time effort, because I'm too lazy with my off-hours and would never follow through with my ideas if I don't have the failure stick whacking me and the success carrot dangling in front of my nose at least 8 hours a day.
9. If I'm disciplined, I can spend more quality time with my family, so that's a WIN no matter what
So, what's my big idea? I'm not telling yet. Here's some hints:
- Anyone want a dead simple way to filter out the headache-inducing noise from social media (especially Twitter)?
- Railo in the cloud? Hells yes!
- Sencha Touch or JQTouch? You best believe
- One of the noSQL solutions, such as MongoDB or CouchDB? er, maybe...
That's all I've got so far. I will commence concentration and focus shortly, am ignoring new job opportunities, and will see if I have the fortitude to last 6 months as a Solo Web Startup (notice my blog's new domain name).

BTW - I will be looking for tons of user input from my blog readers and social media "friends" to test out the Alpha & Beta versions of my idea, so keep your eyes pealed, fellow nerds.
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2

31 Aug 2010

Know the job market for ColdFusion developers? I do now...
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After 2 months of furiously searching for a new "Senior ColdFusion Developer/Architect" job, I can say that there are plenty of ColdFusion jobs out there. I had no less than 50 serious potential opportunities and at least 20 in Texas. That led to 6 first interviews, and any of the jobs would be solid: good pay, interesting work, benefits, and learning new things, etc. I concentrated my search in Austin and Dallas/Ft. Worth, and found that most of the jobs (some contract, so perm.) were in the Dallas metro area, with only a few in Ft. Worth or Austin.

But if I was willing to relocate to other parts of the US, there were dozens more solid opportunities out there. There seems to be quite a few in California, Oregon, and New York, with others in MD, DC, and IL. I just got back from 2 years in The Netherlands, so I didn't want to be too far from our family any longer. But I missed some great opportunities, I think.

How did I search? In short, every "modern" way I could think of:
- emailed every contact I had that might know of an open CF position
- Job boards: mainly Monster and CareerBuilder
- My CF blog
- twitter: normal tweets and DMs to people I would like to work with
- sent Facebook messages to CF "friends"
- LinkedIn updates
Did I accept a new position? Which one? And where?

The answers will be in my next blog post ;-) ...
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4

6 Jul 2010

Senior ColdFusion Developer seeking a new job
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After 2 years in Europe, I'm looking at new job opportunities as a Senior ColdFusion Developer/Architect, most likely in Austin, TX. I have started my job hunt in Austin, but will then broaden the search to the rest of Texas, especially Dallas or San Antonio. However, I may consider other locations around the world for the right opportunity. Also, telecommuting could be a great option.

You can google my unique name and find my up-to-date LinkedIn profile, but to save you the trouble:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronlongnion

I plan be back in the US no later than September 30th, 2010, and will be available for phone / Skype interviews almost any time.

I will be sending my resume / CV out everywhere, but just to give you an idea of what I do best:
- Recently planned and implemented entire upgrade of systems from ColdFusion 9 Enterprise (64-bit), multi-server, with JRun clustering on multiple 64-bit application servers machines behind a hardware load balancer with 2 Enterprise MySQL 5.1 (64-bit) replicated databases on the backend.
- Update legacy ColdFusion code to newest best-practices, optimized for pure speed, high-availability and scalability
- Leading and mentoring international teams of developers to become world-class ColdFusion programmers
- Bridging the gap between clients, Product Management, and the IT teams to design web application solutions that benefit customers and the long-term viability of companies
Hope to hear from you, and I look forward to my next adventure!

- Aaron Longnion
email me: aqlong _at_ gmail _dotcom__
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0

19 Nov 2009

Junior ColdFusion Web Developer Job Opening
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Peoplexs.com, in Holland (The Netherlands), has a great opportunity for a Junior Web Developer to join me and an international team (Dutch and American) of ColdFusion developers to work on some exciting new projects. We will be upgrading from ColdFusion 8 Enterprise to ColdFusion 9 Enterprise soon; we're on MySQL 5.1 Enterprise, all with powerful 64bit servers packed with RAM. We provide:
- training in-house and via 3rd parties (for Advanced ColdFusion, MySQL, and other),
- possible relocation assistance,
- a fun and casual work environment,
- there's options to work from home once per week,
- time allocated to attend CFUG meetings and SOTR (http://www.scotch-on-the-rocks.co.uk/),
- and we have a very experienced and senior-level group of developers and product managers to collaborate with on a daily basis.
We're excited to hear from you, and feel free to ask me any questions any time. I'm happy to help.

Candidates must either currently live in The Netherlands or be willing to relocate.
Apply to the Junior Developer position now

Aaron Longnion
Director of Internet Technology
http://twitter.com/aqlong
http://www.google.com/profiles/aqlong
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1

12 Nov 2009

Finding Job Candidates with Twitter at Peoplexs
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First, I have only been using twitter for about 7 months (since 16 April, 2009), and in that time I've made 1,090 tweets, followed 418 accounts, 384 have followed me, and in just over a week (when twitter lists were added) I have been added to 40 lists by other twitter accounts.

My account: http://twitter.com/aqlong
Lists I created: http://twitter.com/aqlong/lists

Lists following me: http://twitter.com/aqlong/lists/memberships

These are not super-huge numbers, but the point is that I'm a consistent user and engage in my community with on-topic tweets, most of which I hope are helpful in some way to at least some of my followers. This creates loyalty so that your twitter followers continue to follow you instead of removing you. If you always think to yourself before you tweet something, "is this interesting or helpful to any of my followers", then you're on the right track. If you simply answer, "What are you doing right now?" all the time, you probably won't be engaging with your community very effectively.

If you look at the links above, there is a clear theme here that my account, my lists, my tweets, my followers & friends are by and large related to one technology: ColdFusion. Focusing on one or two themes is essential in my opinion.

To the success story:
The other day, without much forethought, I sent a tweet from my company BlackBerry via TwitterBerry:
"I'm curious: how many of you #Coldfusion developers out there don't have a job now or know an unemployed CF dev?"

Within minutes, I had a bunch of replies from my followers. This screenshot is via the twitter implementation in Digsby:

As you can see, some people re-tweeted my question (using "RT" plus @aqlong). So, naturally I followed up with: "For unemployed #coldfusion developers: who would be willing to move to another country for the right position?". Quickly I got these responses:

I also got 3 Direct Messages (DMs) regarding those tweets, but since those are meant to be private, I will keep them that way. Next, I sent this tweet: "#ColdFusion developers willing to move to Holland, we have a Junior Web Dev position now: http://digs.by/jwK please RT" <-- notice that I use the hash (#) directly in front of ColdFusion. When clicked on, the ColdFusion link goes to http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23Coldfusion, which some people interested in ColdFusion use to find out anything & everything interesting about ColdFusion. So, there were a few replies to my tweets that were not even previous twitter followers of me.

Within about 8 hours we had 4 high-quality candidates who applied via our website and began the recruiting process within the Peoplexs system. Interviews begin shortly. ;-)

Aaron Longnion
Director of Internet Technology
www.PeopleXS.com
Join the PeopleXS Community at www.peoplexs.com/communities/nl/
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