Author of Soft Skills. I help software developers build careers they love. Get a free YouTube channel plan for developers 👇
San Diego
Joined May 2009
- Tweets24K
- Following20.1K
- Followers39.1K
- Likes8.1K
Try explaining one feature of your stack to a beginner. If they get lost, knowing more facts won't fix the explanation. Making something complex simple takes practice.
You just solved something that confused you yesterday. Explain it while you still remember where you got stuck. You can help another beginner without pretending to be an expert.
If you're a developer, YouTube isn't an ad business. It's how people find out you exist. Free channel plan:
go.rockstardeveloperuniversi…
The money came from people who watched, then bought my books, joined my email list and took my courses.
At about 100-150K subs, my old Simple Programmer channel made $2-3K a month in AdSense.
I paid my video editor about the same. Ad money: basically zero.
I was the most shy, introverted person you could meet.
I trained myself to talk on camera and on stage anyway. It's a skill. If I could learn it, you can learn it.
go.rockstardeveloperuniversi…
Most developers market themselves like a lawyer who says he does criminal, divorce and tax law.
Nobody hires that guy for a murder case.
Pick one thing to be known for and make content about it.
go.rockstardeveloperuniversi…
You don't need a lot of subscribers for a dev YouTube channel to pay off.
A couple hundred views on the right video can land you a consulting gig. The hiring manager searching for your tech doesn't care about your sub count.
go.rockstardeveloperuniversi…
If you go with YouTube, here's a free tool that plans your channel:
go.rockstardeveloperuniversi…
2. Build a name. A blog, a podcast or a YouTube channel in one specific niche. Hardly any developers do this, so a little effort puts you near the top 1%.
1. Learn to build with AI. Cursor, Copilot, whatever. It takes a week or two, and everyone will do it, so it won't set you apart.
AI can write code. I've built apps in a couple of days that would have taken me 3 months.
If I were a developer worried about my job, here's what I'd do:
I've gotten job offers from my blog and YouTube channel where I didn't have to interview at all.
Guess how the salary negotiation went when they came to me.
go.rockstardeveloperuniversi…
How many developers do you know personally who have a YouTube channel?
Almost none.
That's the opportunity. A recruiter Googles you, finds 20 videos on the stack they're hiring for, and you're not one of 200 resumes anymore.
go.rockstardeveloperuniversi…
Open the vlog with one thing you're building that day and the problem it solves. Then use your move to Afghanistan as context. Give people a project they can follow across videos. When are you publishing it?
Pick one beginner drone project and make a short series showing what you actually build and test. You'll have a clearer audience than covering robotics broadly. What are you building first?
Make the next Hermes video solve one beginner problem, like connecting an MCP tool and showing it working. Keep the same audience for the first batch. What will a viewer be able to do after video two?