my blog. for you.

Let’s talk digital.

I’m an independent IT consultant and entrepreneur in the Internet and software business. I’m interested in design, enterprise applications, web apps and SaaS products. I design and develop business solutions and applications. I help companies in terms of software quality and knowledge transfer, e.g. with Angular and Spring Boot.

Stephen Fluin @ ng-conf 2018: Angular for Designers

At ng-conf 2018 Google Angular developer advocate Stephen Fluin gave this highly interesting talk on making Angular - and web development in general, for that matter - more accessible to designers: Sadly, what we often see in software development industry today is largely artificial boundaries being set up between roles that define themselves by the programming languages they use, e.g. front-end development vs back-end. In other words: Paradoxically, additional information silos are created, while software is actually meant to tear down information ... Read more

Work Culture and Enabling Software Developers to Contribute

This article by Marcus Blankenship tries to answer the question why programmers become disaffected with a company and its goals and ultimately turn to just wanting to code. As I wrote in an earlier article about paying for developer tools with developers, particularly in larger organisations, I frequently encounter a feeling of powerlessness and not having significant say in that organisation’s direction. Marcus is spot on in that he attributes this far too common attitude to an often dysfunctional work culture that doesn't ... Read more

Rules of Acquisition

From the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition: 3. Never spend more for an acquisition than you have to. 35. Peace is good for business. 125. You can't make a deal if you're dead. ... In a recent online discussion involving ethics somebody only somewhat jokingly said something along the lines of "Most people only abide by the Rules of Acquisition anyway." and I thought to myself: Would that really be so bad? In case you don't know him, this handsome gentleman is Quark, bar ... Read more

Arbeitnehmerüberlassung? Nein, danke!

Sorry, this entry is only available in German.Der Markt für Aufträge für IT Berater wird ganz wesentlich von so genannten Vermittlern dominiert - Unternehmen, die als Mittelsmänner zwischen Dienstleistern und Kunden fungieren. Die Gründe dafür sind vielfältig, haben unter anderem mit dem deutschen Gesetz zur "Scheinselbständigkeit", aber auch mit der unzureichenden Positionierung vieler IT Freiberufler am Markt zu tun. In letzter Zeit häufen sich kuriose Auftragsanfragen einiger dieser Vermittler: In der Projekt-Ausschreibung wird zunächst eindeutig nach Freiberuflern gesucht. Kommt es dann im ... Read more

How to succeed in business as an introvert

In this article entrepreneur Michael Shreeve provides an interesting "Introvert’s Guide To Success In Business". The cliché of a typical entrepreneur still is something like an alpha-type salesperson who's always on the phone, in sales meetings or otherwise presenting and selling his or her product. While it's absolutely true that as an entrepreneur you always have to be selling to succeed there are many different approaches of doing so. Don't do things that don't work for you just because you feel obligated by ... Read more

Supporting the Idea of an Unconditional Basic Income

About a year ago Scott Santens - self-declared writer and advocate of basic income for all - wrote a highly recommendable piece on why should support the idea of an unconditional basic income. In this article he debunks common myths about less desirable repercussions a basic income might have (such as suddenly nobody wanting to do any work anymore ...). He makes a few salient points as to why a basic income is the right thing to implement both from a capitalist's ... Read more

Freelance Developers: Get Your Act Together!

Time and time again I get emails starting like this: Good morning Harvey Nash Business Partner, I would like to make you aware of a new contract that we have open at the moment [ ... ] I didn't bother to anonymize this particular example because somebody who can't bother to look up a person's name on the Internet certainly doesn't care about some negative publicity either. So, go look up their website, I'm sure Harvey Nash are nice people after all. Anyway, I can only ... Read more

Antiwork – Rethinking Work Ethic Or: Hard Work is Not Working

In a highly interesting recent article Brian Dean calls for a a radical shift in how we view “jobs”. He poses a seemingly radical question: "Over a decade into the 21st century, we seem as work-obsessed as ever. Is it time for a progressive reframing of work and leisure?" Drawing upon other recent articles such as the already famous one by anthropologist David Graeber on the phenomenon of bullshit jobs Dean argues that in the 21s century our work culture and work ethic is ... Read more

Unicorns And Revolutions

History is filled with two types of people: the ones that want to maintain a comfortable status quo and the ones that want to move humanity forward. In a recent article Jan Lehnardt calls for rethinking and in fact revolutionizing business culture. He makes a few good points. You really should read the whole article. However, in a nutshell its message is this: Throughout history there are those who try to maintain the current status quo for their own good. On the other hand, ... Read more