Essays on building software, running small businesses, and the messy reality of being a fractional CTO.https://mattgardner.com/en-ushttps://mattgardner.com/posts/2025-04-26-overnight-success-jobtracker/https://mattgardner.com/posts/2025-04-26-overnight-success-jobtracker/JobTracker's wait-list went viral overnight — except it was bots. Here's how I cleaned it up with captcha, validation, rate limits, and fingerprinting.Sat, 26 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTjobtrackerbuilding-in-publicsecuritybotsgrowthhi@mattgardner.com (Matt Gardner)https://mattgardner.com/posts/2025-04-26-slate-exciting-vehicle/https://mattgardner.com/posts/2025-04-26-slate-exciting-vehicle/Slate is a sub-$20k truck built around right-to-repair, customizable panels, and BYO tech for the dashboard. Here's why it's the truck I've been waiting for.Sat, 26 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTright-to-repairelectric-vehicleshardwareframeworkslatehi@mattgardner.com (Matt Gardner)https://mattgardner.com/posts/2025-04-23-college-financial-advice-guide/https://mattgardner.com/posts/2025-04-23-college-financial-advice-guide/Practical money advice for college: financial aid, building credit, budgeting that actually sticks, smart loan habits, and small wins that add up over time.Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTcollegemoneybudgetingstudent-lifepersonal-financehi@mattgardner.com (Matt Gardner)https://mattgardner.com/posts/2025-04-22-jobtracker-demo/https://mattgardner.com/posts/2025-04-22-jobtracker-demo/A two-minute video walkthrough of JobTracker — the free app that captures listings, attaches resumes, and tracks application status in one place.Tue, 22 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTjobtrackerdemovideoproductjob-searchhi@mattgardner.com (Matt Gardner)https://mattgardner.com/posts/2025-03-25-job-tracker/https://mattgardner.com/posts/2025-03-25-job-tracker/Job Tracker is a free app I built to organize a chaotic job search — paste a URL, capture the page, attach resumes, track status, and add notes.Tue, 25 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTjobtrackerside-projectsbuilding-in-publicjob-searchproducthi@mattgardner.com (Matt Gardner)https://mattgardner.com/posts/2025-02-03-on-leaving-8x8/https://mattgardner.com/posts/2025-02-03-on-leaving-8x8/Six years building developer experience at 8x8 ended in one meeting. Here's the story of how I got there, what I built, and what I learned along the way.Mon, 03 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMTcareerdeveloper-relationsdevexlayoffsleadershiphi@mattgardner.com (Matt Gardner)