Karl L. Hughes articles - 58 total
Becoming a Senior Software Engineer
I used to speak regularly at many of the Chicago-area coding bootcamps and one of the common...
API Development: The Complete Guide for Building APIs Without Code
The term “API” gets thrown around a lot these days, but what does it mean? What can you...
The Startup Tools I Can't Live Without
I’ve always liked trying new software tools, but the more experienced I get, the more...
Managing Direct Reports at a Startup
=== I remember the first time I was put in charge of a team at a startup. I had been in leadership...
Introduction to Publii, the Static Site Generator
There is so much to consider when making a basic website. You have to think about how to get a...
SEO Keyword Opportunities in Developer Marketing
We recently started supporting our clients at Draft.dev with keyword research which, given our...
Hugo vs. Gatsby
JAMStack, which stands for JavaScript, API, and Markup, is the latest buzzword in the world of web...
Running My Business From an iPad
=== Earlier this year, I decided to get an iPad as a more portable work device. I haven’t owned an...
10 Technical Writing Style Guides You Can Use
Great US soccer player Mia Hamm famously said, “It is more difficult to stay on top than to get...
The Entrepreneur's Salary Guide
=== When I started my business last year, I knew I wanted to pay myself something from the...
How We Found Our First 30 Clients
=== It’s been less than a year since I started Draft.dev and we’ve already built up a roster of 32...
Field Guide to Technical Editing
You’ve been tasked with editing material with deep knowledge—it’s complex and highly...
Recruiting and Hiring Software Engineers
=== When I took my first real management role as Packback’s Head of Engineering back in 2015, I...
What to Expect from a Coding Bootcamp
=== Over the past several years, I’ve taught or guest spoken at many of Chicago’s coding bootcamps...
26 Low-Cost Content Marketing Ideas
I talk to a lot of early-stage startups that aren’t sure about content marketing yet. I’ll admit,...
Alternatives to Basecamp for Project Management
=== Basecamp has recently come under fire for changes the founders implemented including the...
Jekyll vs. WordPress
There are many choices when it comes to building a website or blog, catering to every level of...
Setting Up a Custom 404 Page with GitHub Pages
In this article, I’ll be showing you how to create a custom error 404 page in GitHub Pages, a...
Hands on with Developer Marketing
Developers have a reputation of being averse to marketing, but that’s not necessarily true....
How I'm Scaling My Service Business
When I left my job to start Draft.dev last year, I knew there were pros and cons to start...
The Best Startup Project Management Tools
How do you manage your project workflows? Effective project management is crucial to t...
Writing Less Software to Accomplish More
=== Creating custom software should be the last resort for early stage startups. Writing good s...
Building a Business Without Slack
Last year, I read two books that changed my perspective on work. The first was Bored a...
Building a Great Startup Culture
I once shared office space with a quickly-growing startup in downtown Chicago. This compa...
The Best Engineering Blogs
The world of tech and software development evolves fast, with new frameworks and libraries advancin...
The Best Software Engineering Books
Early in my career as an engineering manager, I wrote a long list of my favorite engineering manage...
6 Tips for B2D Marketing
Business-to-developer marketing (often shortened “B2D marketing”) describes marketing initiatives d...
The Bulk of Software Engineering is Just Plumbing
I read a post online recently about how some software engineer was asked to complete a technically...
What to do After Your Coding Bootcamp
I have been a guest lecturer, instructor, and mock interviewer at half a dozen Chicago coding bootc...
How Do Open Source Companies Make Money?
A few weeks ago post, I wrote about the case for simple business models in startups. This sparked a...