Jeff Meyerson - Poker Player Launches Tech Podcast, Software Engineering Daily #49

Biography
Episode Summary
Key Milestones
Additional Resources

Biography

\Jeffrey Meyerson is the creator and host of the tech podcast, Software Engineering Daily (@software_daily). He is also the founder of FindCollabs, a platform to find collaborators for ventures.

Jeff definitely took a non-traditional path to software engineering. Before getting his degree he played poker professionally for 3 years and then became a poker coach!

Post-college, he worked at a number of software companies including Amazon and eBay as an engineer. Pretty quickly, Jeff realized that he prefers to work for himself. These days he is a podcaster, founder, and investor.

Click Here –> For more information about tech careers

Episode Summary

“Somebody invented poker. Poker isn’t just a product of nature. Would you rather spend your entire life being someone who just plays poker? Or would you rather figure out how to become somebody that can invent things like poker?”

“Once I found computer science, I was like ‘this is the medium through which one can invent important things!’.”

—Jeff Meyerson

In this episode we’ll cover:

Why did Jeff start his tech podcast, Software Engineering Daily? How does it make money?
What should you do if you feel out of place in tech? Is it worth it getting a remote job so that you can have more flexibility?
Where is the podcast space headed? Is it saturated or is there still room to grow?

Key Milestones

[3:50] – Jeff got into online poker in high school. It was much easier to win money in the early days, these days it’s a lot more competitive.
[7:01] – How did poker shape Jeff’s perspective on life and get him into computer science?

[10:15] – Jeff recalls college and how he tried various majors including Philosophy, Pre-Med, English before landing on computer science. In his own words, he ‘took his sweet time’ to graduate!
[13:01] – Jeff tried out several internships in college. His experience was ‘deeply unsatisfying’ and he couldn’t find work that was intellectually fulfilling especially after his entrepreneurial roots in poker.

[17:21} – What should you do if you feel out of place in tech? Is it worth it to get a remote job so that you can have more flexibility?
[22:15] – Why did Jeff start the tech podcast, Software Engineering Daily? What does the day to day look like? How does it make money?

[25:30] – Jeff tips his hat to Robert Blumen for inspiring him to start a podcast. Check out Robert’s podcast, Software Engineering Radio here
[28:11] – What were some of Jeff’s insecurities as a teen? How was he able to get over them?
[32:02] – Why Jeff loves working independently without having to take orders?

[35:40] – It’s hard to keep a balance while working independently in terms of work-life balance.
[37:30] – Where is the podcast space headed? Is it saturated or is there still room to grow?