He might not wear a cape or a mask, but Kurt Kowitz is Message Blocks’s in-house super hero. If the site is up, if the site is down, if there are bugs, crashes, if there is any tech problem at all-call Kurt and he springs into action. When he is not busy cleaning up after us technologically unaware fools, he keeps himself busy adding cool new features to the site and working on old features to enhance customer experience.
Kurt has spent most of his life in Michigan, and has worked as a solo developer for nearly a decade. He has extensive experience working as a developer and in the IT field. Working in the startup industry allows him to work on every part of the site and not just one feature. He does not have to be forced into a niche.
Young developers looking to work in the same field should not be discouraged by early setbacks. “Persist,” Kurt advises, “I don’t expect myself to know everything, but I try to learn more every day.” He encourages developers to keep pushing themselves to acquire a variety of skills and learn more about the field each day. At a startup, it is important to know the different types of technology used on the web, since not everyone will be using the same program. Startup developing teams use a variety of software for their projects. Developers should also have their own extensive knowledge in a program of their choice. To get your feet wet in the startup world, Kurt recommends attending meetups or conferences for language or web development framework. Network with people there and reach out to any potential contacts.
When he is not busy as the caped crusader of our tech world, he likes to spend time with his two boys. Kurt and his wife keep busy shuttling their kids to swim class and school, so they look forward to the time they have to themselves.