Episode 429 | Paul Dix - Solving For Real Needs

Guest:

Paul Dix

@pauldix

Paul Dix talks with Dave Rael about geeking out, open source, time series data, running a business, and finding a market

Paul is the creator of InfluxDB. He has helped build software for startups, large companies and organizations like Microsoft, Google, McAfee, Thomson Reuters, and Air Force Space Command. He is the series editor for Addison Wesley’s Data & Analytics book and video series. In 2010 Paul wrote the book Service Oriented Design with Ruby and Rails for Addison Wesley’s. In 2009 he started the NYC Machine Learning Meetup, which now has over 7,000 members. Paul holds a degree in computer science from Columbia University.

Chapters: 0:15 - Dave introduces the show and Paul Dix5:16 - Paul's experience in software testing7:59 - Starting a business, motivation, writing code, and impact11:45 - The story of InfluxDB - origins, identifying a market need, open source notoriety, and becoming a viable business21:10 - The nature of InfluxDB and the use cases it serves26:17 - Paul's experience with building teams and an organization and distributed teams30:50 - Paul's story of failure - building a product without a market35:20 - Paul's book recommendations40:00 - The ongoing value of technical books and Paul's approach to using them43:04 - The things that have Paul most excited46:32 - Paul's top 3 tips for delivering more value48:17 - Keeping up with Paul

Resources: InfluxDB InfluxDB on Twitter InfluxDB Blog Service-Oriented Design with Ruby and Rails (Addison-Wesley Professional Ruby) - Paul Dix NYC Machine Learning Meetup Testing Computer Software, 2nd Edition - Cem Kaner Time Series Monitorama Telegraf Kapacitor Chronograf InfluxDB 2.0 GitLab on Remote Work The Rust Programming Language - Steve Klabnik The Rust Programming Language - Steve Klabnik (free HTML edition) David Heinemeier Hansson on the Tim Ferriss Show David Heinemeier Hansson on Developer On Fire Gien Verschatse on Developer On Fire Apache Arrow WebAssembly

Paul's book recommendation: Programming Rust: Fast, Safe Systems Development - Jim Blandy A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy - William B. Irvine American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road - Nick Bilton Poached: Inside the Dark World of Wildlife Trafficking - Rachel Love Nuwer

Paul's top 3 tips for delivering more value: Become good at expressing yourself through writing Ask why and understand the motivations behind a request to truly understand the need Optimize for the productivity of your user