Ship & Grow 500k+ User Side Projects [Part 5] - Make It 5x Better With 0 Effort

It can be tempting to make some money on your side projects given how much time you're putting in. However, this is almost never worth it. This lesson teaches you:

- Why the ROI on adding paywalls and ads to your product is pretty bad, especially when considering the true purpose of your side project
- Why payments are way more complex than you think
- The many downsides of adding ads to your product
- A little bonus you can do on top of making your product free and ad-free

Ship & Grow 500k+ User Side Projects [Part 2] - Done Is Better Than Perfect

Code quality is important, but side projects sort of break the rules here. This lesson teaches you:

- How good engineers often mess up their side projects from the very beginning
- Why making mistakes is perfectly fine (good even) when starting a side project
- How fast you should launch the v1 of your side project

Part 3 [RBP] Clean Up Your Effects

This lesson emphasizes the crucial practice of cleaning up side effects in React components to prevent unexpected behavior and optimize performance.

- **Understanding useEffect Cleanup:** Learn how to use the cleanup function returned by `useEffect` to properly handle resources like network connections, event listeners, and subscriptions.
- **Avoiding Memory Leaks and Unexpected Behavior:** Discover how neglecting cleanup can lead to memory leaks, multiple event triggers, and other unintended consequences, especially when components mount and unmount frequently.
- **Debugging with Strict Mode:** Explore how React's Strict Mode helps identify potential issues by intentionally double-invoking effects in development, making it easier to spot missing cleanup logic.

Links:

- Florian’s Next.js with Express and TypeScript Course: <https://codinginflow.com/nextjs>
- Florian’s free web development playlist on YouTube: <https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrnPJCHvNZuDG6BWjUFVxeWyYlve_SVJO>
- Code link: <https://github.com/codinginflow/react-best-practices/blob/effect-cleanup/src/app/page.tsx>

Engineer Your Ideal Tech Career [Part 10] - Sophie Novati: The Founder Journey

This video kicks off a section of 4 videos in which you’ll hear from different accomplished engineers on their career paths and what drew them to that route.

Starting us off, [Sophie](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophienovati/) (course author!) provides more context into how she became a founder, the typical founder path, and why she has a deep admiration for the work she does.

Looking for mentorship from tech’s top engineers + personalized job hunt assistance and interview prep? [Formation.dev](http://Formation.dev) can provide you unlimited career coaching, technical mentorship, personalized practice, and mock interviews. Join us here: <https://formation.dev/partners/taro>

Worksheet: [Formation - Coding Your Career](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/tech-career-growth.appspot.com/o/courses%2Fslides%2FFormation%20Career%20Direction%20Worksheet.pdf?alt=media&token=f6344b78-529a-411e-a449-7a34a8d55fc8)

Engineer Your Ideal Tech Career [Part 8] - What Stage Of Company?

In this video, we walk through common traits among different company sizes and also how they differ vastly. We also talk through a key mistake many engineers make when thinking about company size and stage.

Depending on how you like to work, the idea of which company size you want to shoot for should become more clear.

This video covers three main company types:

- Start-up
- Growth stage
- Large company

Looking for mentorship from tech’s top engineers + personalized job hunt assistance and interview prep? [Formation.dev](http://Formation.dev) can provide you unlimited career coaching, technical mentorship, personalized practice, and mock interviews. Join us here: <https://formation.dev/partners/taro>

Worksheet: [Formation - Coding Your Career](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/tech-career-growth.appspot.com/o/courses%2Fslides%2FFormation%20Career%20Direction%20Worksheet.pdf?alt=media&token=f6344b78-529a-411e-a449-7a34a8d55fc8)

Engineer Your Ideal Tech Career [Part 7] - What's Your Specialization?

In this video, we walk through three (of many) specializations you can pursue, what type of work you may be working on in each, and who its a good fit for based on the work you like to do.

These are just three of many; each of these buckets are massive and cover a lot (while also having distinct sub-categories in each):

- Frontend/mobile
- Backend
- Generalist

Looking for mentorship from tech’s top engineers + personalized job hunt assistance and interview prep? [Formation.dev](http://Formation.dev) can provide you unlimited career coaching, technical mentorship, personalized practice, and mock interviews. Join us here: <https://formation.dev/partners/taro>

Worksheet: [Formation - Coding Your Career](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/tech-career-growth.appspot.com/o/courses%2Fslides%2FFormation%20Career%20Direction%20Worksheet.pdf?alt=media&token=f6344b78-529a-411e-a449-7a34a8d55fc8)

Engineer Your Ideal Tech Career [Part 3] - What Drives You?

In this video, we explore the major areas of motivation for individuals in their career, and give you an opportunity to reflect on which resonates most with you.

Try to lean one way or the other on your worksheet vs. selecting a rating right in the middle!

We cover being driven by:

- Mission
- Technical Work
- Team

Looking for mentorship from tech’s top engineers + personalized job hunt assistance and interview prep? [Formation.dev](http://Formation.dev) can provide you unlimited career coaching, technical mentorship, personalized practice, and mock interviews. Join us here: <https://formation.dev/partners/taro>

Worksheet: [Formation - Coding Your Career](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/tech-career-growth.appspot.com/o/courses%2Fslides%2FFormation%20Career%20Direction%20Worksheet.pdf?alt=media&token=f6344b78-529a-411e-a449-7a34a8d55fc8)

15 SWE Years In 1.5 Hours [Part 6] - Networking

Your network is your net worth. Too many software engineers neglect their social skills as they solely build up their technical skills. This lesson teaches you:

- Why networking isn't just "politics"
- The key to effective networking
- How altruism can produce massive career benefits, explained with a powerful, real-life example

Get The Rating You Deserve [Part 13] - Showcase Your Work

**In this section, we discussed the importance of effectively communicating our work and aspirations.**

To maximize our impact, we should:

- **Showcase our work:** Highlight our accomplishments and contributions, tailoring our communication to different audiences.
- **Communicate our desires:** Clearly express our goals and aspirations to our managers and colleagues.
- **Engage in regular check-ins:** Schedule regular meetings with our manager to discuss our progress, challenges, and future plans.
- **Optimize synchronous time:** Make the most of our meetings by focusing on key topics and decision-making.
- **Develop strong storytelling skills:** Use storytelling techniques to make our work more engaging and memorable.

By effectively communicating our work and desires, we can increase our visibility, influence, and career opportunities.

If you want to get personalized support from Yogi, you can reach out to him at [coaching@yogisharma.com](mailto:coaching@yogisharma.com) or schedule an introductory call to dive into your situation at <https://tinyurl.com/meetyogi>.

Get The Rating You Deserve [Part 4] - Learning Objectives

**In this course, we aim to empower you to achieve your career goals by focusing on three key objectives:**

- **Mindset Shift:** We'll help you shift your perspective and adopt a growth mindset, believing in your ability to achieve your desired outcomes.
- **Tactical Strategies:** You'll learn practical strategies and tactics to effectively navigate your career and achieve your goals.
- **Discretionary Application:** We'll guide you on how to apply these strategies judiciously, recognizing the right moments to leverage them for maximum impact.

By focusing on these areas, we'll equip you with the tools and knowledge to succeed in your career.

If you want to get personalized support from Yogi, you can reach out to him at [coaching@yogisharma.com](mailto:coaching@yogisharma.com) or schedule an introductory call to dive into your situation at <https://tinyurl.com/meetyogi>.

Get The Rating You Deserve [Part 3] - About Yogi

**In this section, we learned about the instructor's qualifications and experiences that make them credible to teach about creating value and receiving rewards.**

Yogi has:

- **Academic Background:** A Ph.D. in theoretical computer science and experience in teaching.
- **Industry Experience:** Worked at Facebook for several years, gaining insights into large-scale systems and organizational dynamics.
- **Personal Experience:** Overcame challenges and learned valuable lessons about career progression and negotiation.
- **Coaching Experience:** Helped numerous individuals and organizations improve their performance and achieve their goals.

By sharing their knowledge and experiences, the instructor aims to help learners develop the skills and mindset needed to create value and receive the rewards they deserve.

If you want to get personalized support from Yogi, you can reach out to him at [coaching@yogisharma.com](mailto:coaching@yogisharma.com) or schedule an introductory call to dive into your situation at <https://tinyurl.com/meetyogi>.

Come Up With 500k+ User Project Ideas [Part 16] - Bias Towards Action

Talk is cheap. Action is expensive. Engineers often fall into a habit of thinking about what to do instead of actually doing anything. This lesson teaches you:

- How engineers struggle internally with their side projects, leading to nothing getting built
- Why you should just quickly build a side project idea after you have done some basic validation
- Why running a survey is one of the worst ways to validate a side project idea
- How most engineers struggle with user research (UXR)
- What book you should read if you really, really, really want to do UXR

Here's the UXR book Alex mentioned (it's one of the few books he's actually read): <https://www.momtestbook.com/>

Come Up With 500k+ User Project Ideas [Part 9] - Single Player vs. Multiplayer

The most successful apps are those where users interact with other users - Facebook, Uber, and Airbnb are just a few. However, this model doesn't translate well to side projects. This lesson teaches you:

- The difference between a single-player product and a multi-player product
- Why multi-player products are both insanely hard to get off the ground and a recipe for disaster
- Why your side project really should be a single-player products
- The brutal chicken-and-egg problem multiplayer products must solve initially, shown with a concrete example from Alex's past

DSA Crash Course [Part 51] - Graph Intro Lecture

In this lecture, Alvin explains the basic structure of a graph.

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [**Alvin's**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [**Structy**](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [**this link to get 20% off**](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/>

DSA Crash Course [Part 40] - Depth First Values Walkthrough

In this lesson, Alvin walks through the python implementation for the *depth_first_values* problem.

Code along and test your work in the following editor workspace: <https://structy.net/problems/depth-first-values?language=py>

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [**Alvin's**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [**Structy**](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [**this link to get 20% off**](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/>

DSA Crash Course [Part 33] - Reverse List Walkthrough

In this lesson, Alvin walks through the python implementation for the *reverse_list* problem.

Code along and test your work in the following editor workspace: <https://structy.net/problems/reverse-list?language=py>

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [**Alvin's**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [**Structy**](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [**this link to get 20% off**](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/>

DSA Crash Course [Part 31] - Get Node Value Walkthrough

In this lesson, Alvin walks through the python implementation for the *get_node_value* problem.

Code along and test your work in the following editor workspace: <https://structy.net/problems/get-node-value?language=py>

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [**Alvin's**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [**Structy**](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [**this link to get 20% off**](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/>

DSA Crash Course [Part 30] - Get Node Value Approach

In this lesson, Alvin explores the strategy to solving the following interview problem:

> Write a function, *get_node_value*, that takes in the head of a linked list and an index. The function should return the value of the linked list at the specified index.
>
> If there is no node at the given index, then return *None*.

```
a = Node("a")
b = Node("b")
c = Node("c")
d = Node("d")
a.next = b
b.next = c
c.next = d

# a -> b -> c -> d
get_node_value(a, 2) # 'c'
```

```
a = Node("a")
b = Node("b")
c = Node("c")
d = Node("d")
a.next = b
b.next = c
c.next = d

# a -> b -> c -> d
get_node_value(a, 3) # 'd'
```

```
a = Node("a")
b = Node("b")
c = Node("c")
d = Node("d")
a.next = b
b.next = c
c.next = d

# a -> b -> c -> d
get_node_value(a, 7) # None
```

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [**Alvin's**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [**Structy**](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [**this link to get 20% off**](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/>

DSA Crash Course [Part 28] - Linked List Find Approach

In this lesson, Alvin explores the strategy to solving the following interview problem:

> Write a function, *linked_list_find*, that takes in the head of a linked list and a target value. The function should return a boolean indicating whether or not the linked list contains the target.

```
a = Node("a")
b = Node("b")
c = Node("c")
d = Node("d")
a.next = b
b.next = c
c.next = d

# a -> b -> c -> d
linked_list_find(a, "c") # True
```

```
a = Node("a")
b = Node("b")
c = Node("c")
d = Node("d")
a.next = b
b.next = c
c.next = d

# a -> b -> c -> d
linked_list_find(a, "d") # True
```

```
a = Node("a")
b = Node("b")
c = Node("c")
d = Node("d")
a.next = b
b.next = c
c.next = d

# a -> b -> c -> d
linked_list_find(a, "q") # False
```

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [**Alvin's**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [**Structy**](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [**this link to get 20% off**](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/>

DSA Crash Course [Part 25] - Linked List Values Walkthrough

In this lesson, Alvin walks through the python implementation for the *linked_list_values* problem.

Code along and test your work in the following editor workspace: <https://structy.net/problems/linked-list-values?language=py>

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [**Alvin's**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [**Structy**](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [**this link to get 20% off**](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/>

Tech Career Growth Videos

Our instructional videos provide software engineers with insights needed for career growth. Masterclasses go incredibly in-depth on a specific tech topic while case studies are real examples from established engineering leaders.