Greener Pastures: Infrastructure from the Ground Up

By Steve Grunwell

Elevator Pitch

In late 2016, I left my comfortable agency position to join a small media startup as its first Director of Technology, and a company with zero technical debt; I’d be in charge of deciding everything we used, from hosting platforms, platforms, and office tools. These are the lessons I learned.

Description

In late 2016, I left my comfortable agency position as a Lead Web Engineer to join a small media startup as its first Director of Technology.

One of the major draws to the startup was its complete lack of technical debt: I’d be in charge of deciding everything we used, from hosting platforms, platforms, and office tools. The opportunity was perhaps the greenest of fields I had ever laid eyes upon.

While the company ended up not being the right fit for me, the lessons learned from researching, evaluating, and deploying the solutions have informed recommendations and decisions in my career post-startup.

Attendees will gain insight into the technology needs and available solutions for a small, web-based publisher, and the criteria that led to each decision.