AMA with Designer & Developer Nathan Bashaw
When I started my journey into software development and product design, Nathan was one of my first major role models in the field who I learned from. It was late 2013 and at the time he was working at General Assembly developing an online tool called Dash, which would soon help hundreds of thousands of people in creating their first websites.
What really set Nathan apart for me, was his ability to both think about and mentally construct products, and then build them — A true talent in a time where many of us who come up with ideas fail to execute them, either by the more common lapse of concentration or by a technical inability.
In this AMA, our group had the pleasure of asking him questions about his past achievements, current endeavors and strong thoughts along the way. I hope you enjoy it and take the time to reach out to him if you have any lasting questions.
He’s Nathan Bashaw and @NBashaw on Twitter.
Wesley: What was the very first bit of software you ever made?
It depends on how you define “software” — the first code I ever edited was probably HTML on my Myspace :) but the first app I built was http://updwn.co — which I re-built recently with my friend Connor Montgomery.
While working at General Assembly, what were some unforeseen challenges after releasing Dash?
For those who don’t know — Dash is a way to learn to make websites using HTML, CSS, and JS by doing fun projects in your browser, for free. Over 300k people have used it, and it’s definitely the thing I’ve made that I’m most proud of!
I think the biggest unforeseen challenge was just figuring out exactly how to quantify the value to General Assembly. We can track how many people sign up for courses after they take it, but it generated a lot of goodwill and awareness that seems to make it more valuable than, say, a sweepstakes that drove the same amount of revenue.
What were your biggest takeaways from college? Did it directly influence you as an entrepreneur today?
Biggest takeaway from college is basically that the world isn’t going to hand you opportunity — you have to learn to do things yourself. I saw a lot of people feel really lost once they graduated and there was no obvious next step.
The thing that helped me most was doing a lot of internships, and learning about what kind of work made me the happiest. I wrote about that recently here: http://elitedaily.com/life/trailblazers-work-that-i-love/1223274/
What do you see education looking like in 5–7 years?
I think we’re still in the super early days of “e-learning”. Most products we have now are either digitized books or digitized courses. They’re not native to computers / phones. Things like Dash and Khan Academy are starting to change that.
Hopefully Hardbound will change that too :) Basically, I think people will learn directly from computers a lot more, and teachers will be more like coaches.
Ferjohn: What are your thoughts on specialization vs. generalization?
It all depends on what you want to do. If you want to be able to build any idea you think up without needing anyone else, it’s awesome to be a generalist. I really love building new products and it’s super helpful that I can design and code. But by focusing on product and design, I’ve sacrificed some programming ability. I’m not ever going to get an engineering job at Google. But that’s ok! I don’t want one haha
Teddy: Where do you feel you enjoy doing work the most (Designer | Developer)? Do you feel that people peg you as one or the other more often?
I really enjoy both! Honestly to me they are inseparable — I think of it more like just “building products” than designing or developing. People peg me as a Product Manager / Entrepreneur more than anything else. I can code, but it’s not my main focus. Always a means to an end.
What gets you excited about a mockup or design? What kinds of things do you look for in good design?
Clarity and taste. Both are the kind of things that are hard to coach, but you definitely know it when you see it.
What’s one piece of advice you have for someone who is pursuing a career in such a fluid field as front-end web dev?
Build a bunch of cool stuff! People respect that more than your ability to answer really hard technical interview questions.
Wesley: How do you plan to build something that hosts long-form content but keeps the short-form dopamine addicts engaged?
You’ll see very soon! Can’t reveal too much about Hardbound yet, mostly because it’s just not ready. We’re still figuring it out. But like you said, I agree that books and longform more generally will never go away. There’s a basic human desire that those things fulfill that tweets / photos / etc. never will.
You moved from Michigan to San Francisco and are now in NYC– Do you think location plays a role in your ability to formalize and develop ideas?
This might be controversial, but in my opinion you should do anything you can to get to a proper startup hub, and join a world-class team. Look at the founders of the most interesting companies — almost all of them were able to do that because of the people they met and things they learned in other really interesting companies. Success breeds success.
What do you geek out to in your spare time?
Food! I’m a huge food nerd — I enjoy cooking and trying out new restaurants all the time. I grew up in Arkansas, and have a lot of family in Texas, so BBQ is a big deal to me. I like to watch YouTube videos of pitmasters making brisket haha.
Do you listen to music while working? If so, any recommendations?
As for music, I feel like my tastes have gotten a lot less interesting over the years. I like Hype Machine a lot. I also like Noon Pacific. Sometimes I have been known to listen to One Direction. Shhhhhhh don’t tell anyone
Ferjohn: What important truth do very few people agree with you on?
If you really want to create books for a phone, you have to work your way all the way back to the story / ideas, and design and basic model of making progress through the content. You can’t just digitally distribute paper goods and expect it to be a good experience.
Wesley: What are some essential tools for your workflow?
Who inspires you the most?
Walt Disney.
Sanny: What are you most proud of?
Professionally? Dash (http://dash.generalassemb.ly)
Personally? Walking away from ProductHunt. It was definitely not an easy decision to leave after helping create it and watching it get traction, but I knew I wanted to do something around books and that I probably wouldn’t have the passion to work on PH for years and years. I’m proud because it’s so hard to go with your gut even if it might look stupid, and I’ve failed at this many times. I just think that was one time when I got it right, so I think about it when I face similar challenges now.
“I’m proud because it’s so hard to go with your gut even if it might look stupid, and I’ve failed at this many times.”
Rodrigo: What are your thoughts on the Agile Methodology?
I’ve never used the really formal Agile stuff, but I guess I do like to develop software roughly the way they say you should do it. My own process is hugely influenced by Getting Real from 37signals.
Also — I wouldn’t worry too much about that stuff. Just build things and figure out what works for you.
