David Byttow
Engineer & aspiring artist. Former founder of Secret and Engineering Lead at Square, Medium & Google
Discussion
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David Byttow
@davidbyttow
Hello. I’m David Byttow. I’ve been writing code since the age of 11 (since John Carmack unleashed DOOM upon the world 22 years ago), that makes me 33 years old. I dropped out of college to pursue a career in programming video games at 19 and later worked at Google, Medium, and Square and co-founded Secret (RIP).
Today, I’m focused on a new project aimed at companies and teams and I can’t wait to show my work. 💯
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Ryan Hoover
@rrhoover · Founder, Product Hunt
David! Earlier this month, you revealed you're working on a new project in the enterprise space (@joshconstine and @sarahbuhr covered this on TC) and in your words, "It won’t be like Secret, but it will be bold." What is it and why the move from B2C to B2B?
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David Byttow
@davidbyttow
@rrhoover Glad you asked! TechCrunch reported that Ben Lee and I are working on a product aimed at Enterprise, and that’s technically true. But, I think what we’re doing is broader and more universal than that.
The product is called Bold.
And for now, I invite you to go to http://bold.io to add your email if you’re interested in learning more in the weeks to come. Also follow us at @bold on Twitter (http://twitter.com/bold). I seriously CAN NOT WAIT to get this into the hands of early adopter teams. That’s all I have to say about it for now!
Josh Constine
@joshconstine · Writer, TechCrunch
@davidbyttow @rrhoover I thought today was supposed to be when you revealed details. Will you please provide some more details about the focus of the company or the problem you'll address?
Jourdan Bul-lalayao
@jourdanb21 · Co-Founder & CTO, Jobox
Hey David! Thanks for the AMA!
If you had only one tip to share with junior software engineers on how to stand out and land their dream job, what is your absolute #1 tip?
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David Byttow
@davidbyttow
@jourdanb21 Good morning ☕️! Yes, ABC: Always Be Coding. (https://medium.com/@davidbyttow/...)
Josh Constine
@joshconstine · Writer, TechCrunch
What's the new project you're working on? Who with? When will it launch? Have you raised money?
Phil Weiner
@rigadoohaus · CEO, UrbnEarth
@joshconstine Word is these guys walked away with a lot of money at Secret and employees got nothing, so I don't think they needed to raise any money. Can @davidbyttow speak to this other than employees?
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David Byttow
@davidbyttow
@joshconstine Hi Josh, always a pleasure. ;) Bold. Ben Lee. When it's ready! Not yet.
Russ Frushtick
@russfrushtick
What do you think is the most exciting thing that'll be happening in the tech industry in the next 10 years?
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David Byttow
@davidbyttow
@russfrushtick So many things, we're in a Renaissance period! I think everything will revolve around communication between people. Communication is universal, and with the rise of apps like WhatsApp, Snapchat, WeChat, etc, our apps will be built upon these platforms. Aside from that, I think we will look back and say "wait, we had to drive our own cars?" in the next 10+ years, that is clear to me.
Lejla Bajgoric
@lejlahunts · Intern, Product Hunt
Hi David :) Can you elaborate on 'aspiring artist?' What kind of art? What do you hope to accomplish with it, if anything?
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David Byttow
@davidbyttow
@lejlahunts Thanks for the question! I believe if you have love for your craft and follow your passion, then you're an artist. For me, I've spent the past few months learning how to express myself through painting (acrylic on canvas) and did my first art show just a week ago -- it was an entirely new and humbling feeling that I've never experienced, and I want to explore it more. Aside, I've always appreciated this article from Lefsetz: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ind...
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
@davidbyttow Hey what would the you of 2 years ago think of the you today?
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
Hey David, thanks for joining us today! 🙌You've worked at some pretty awesome companies. Where was your favorite place to work? ;) Or - what were the differences you noticed about working across them?
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David Byttow
@davidbyttow
@ems_hodge I am grateful for all of the experiences at each company. I don't have a favorite!
- Google was where I really learned the most as an engineer and technologist.
- Square was where I was able to bring my experience at Google to bear. The most important thing I learned at Square was how simplicity always wins.
- I only worked at Medium briefly, but I learned a lot about how healthy teams communicate and build on each other.
- Secret was, well, chock full of experiences and lessons. ;)
I think that Square and Secret were the most transformative for my personal development.
Nick Creegan
@njcreegan
@davidbyttow You've worked at some highly creative companies, and obviously faced the challenge of fostering creativity at a company of your own. What are some of your favorite practices, office features, products, or cultural aspects for boosting creativity amongst your teams?
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David Byttow
@davidbyttow
@njcreegan @ems_hodge Great question! One thing I liked to do with the team was go on a "walkabout" every Friday afternoon. The basic idea was simple: I would pose a question (usually about a problem we were facing) to the entire company. Then, we would all walk silently to a unique location (usually about 20-30 minutes,) while meditating on the question. When we arrived, we'd stand in a circle and individually give our answers. From there, we'd usually go out as a team to dinner or a bar and that would start Friday night. Some of my most fond memories... 💛
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David Byttow
@davidbyttow
@ems_hodge Also, I'll be diving deeper into this on Nov 18 at the TNW conference. http://thenextweb.com/conference...
Daniel.
@danielrakh · iOS Developer & Designer
@davidbyttow Hey David, if there was one thing you could change to make Secret successful what would it be? Also, what have you found to be the biggest hurdle in the whole anonymous social space?
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David Byttow
@davidbyttow
@danielrakh Anonymity is hard. Context is everything. When it comes to anonymous content, especially among friends, you lack a lot of context as an outside (moderator). This makes the concept of Secret a bit of a paradox. That said, I think Secret did serve a need to speak freely among your peers. Once something is in the public, you can’t take it back. People often forget that invisibility is a superpower. (Banksy)
Jeff Needles
@jsneedles · BI @ Meerkat & Maker of Things
@davidbyttow If you could only code in one language for the rest of your life, what would it be? Also, how did you get @bold on twitter? That's impressive.
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David Byttow
@davidbyttow
@jsneedles If you asked me five years ago, I'd have said C++. But, probably Java. As for Bold, we have @SirBenLee to thank for that trick.