I joined DevMynd after multiple failed attempts to bring Sarah Mei in as a consultant at a few of the companies I previously worked for. I admire Sarah’s grasp of the custom software development process, and really wanted to work alongside her to observe and learn from her. That opportunity presented itself when the healthcare startup I was working for, as a senior software engineer, essentially vaporized one lovely morning in April, 2015. Sarah’s boss, JC Grubbs (DevMynd founder) just happened to be in San Francisco at the time. So, I decided to meet with him and Sarah to see if it was a fit for me.
Right away, I knew I wanted to join DevMynd. After having seen a TON of other software consulting firms, it was evident to me that DevMynd was among the cream of the crop. There are too many “consulting firms”, that are in reality, just contracting firms. They might have smart people working for them, but they limit themselves, their consultants, and their value to the client, by taking on projects that only need seat fillers and code monkeys. Not that these firms and the folks who work for them aren’t skilled or valuable, but it’s not what I’m interested in doing with my time — and it’s not what DevMynd is all about.
Consulting, to me and in the true spirit of the word, means leaving a team/company/product better off than when you found it. Not just a little further along.
I often associate the two ways of thinking with the old quote:
“Give a person a fish and they will eat for a day. Teach them how to fish and they will eat for a lifetime.”
I don’t like to work on projects pushing code around to fill leaky holes in a codebase. I prefer to teach a team to build a vessel that is a pleasure to fill with resilient code. This is the way the team at DevMynd operates on projects and with their clients. This engagement style gave me the opportunity to work with a variety of teams on different projects, both greenfield and legacy, where we worked towards a more malleable codebase. All the while, trending towards happiness, writing good code, and actually accomplishing our goals.
The team at DevMynd is an awesome, eccentric mix of very intelligent and passionate individuals who are genuinely out to make a difference in everything they take on. DevMynd teaches that good isn’t always good enough. They overcome challenges because they collaborate and they listen….to each other and to their clients.
The team, and the opportunity to be a part of the culture at DevMynd, have been awesome. However, I am closing this chapter of my career and my time with DevMynd. Fortunately for me, I have yet another amazing opportunity to work with another incredible team. There I will be able to take what I learned at DevMynd and make a really positive impact. Otherwise, I’d never leave DevMynd. I’ll definitely be keeping in touch though.
Getting to pair with Sarah and others at DevMynd, has given me an opportunity to work with great clients on really cool projects. Plain and simple, it has been a pleasure. It’s been real DevMynd! So long and thanks for all the fish!
