Finding success leading an empathy-driven career in the open source world and the power of discerning developers.
@janaboruta
shares her experience on The ReadME Project.
I’ve made 14 angel investments (mostly DevTools) since I started in January. I didn’t think this was a path available to me, but I figured it out. I’ve been absolutely loving working with founders and investing in founders/products I believe in. Gotta stop doubting myself.
After almost 7 years
@HashiCorp
, it was time for me to say goodbye. This wasn't an easy decision as I deeply love the company, my colleagues, and the community, but I'm a builder that loves the early stages. It's time for me to go do it all over again.
Having had a few months to reflect on my 7 years at
@HashiCorp
helped me realize how special our approach to community building was. With encouragement from friends, I wrote down our approach. Anyone building developer communities should read this:
We have a staff of 40 people running
@HashiConf
Global over the next 2 days including our broadcast team, moderators, emcees, the platform team and the
@HashiCorp
events team.
I closed on a house this week that I bought for my parents. It’s something I always dreamed about being able to do for them. How adorable is my mom. ☺️
I just tested positive for COVID even though I’m vaccinated. The last few days I’ve had a fever, chills, and a bad cough. This Delta variant is no joke. Stay safe friends.
I turned 37 today. Feeling really content and happy these days. When I’m 80, I want to be sitting at my dining table surrounded by friends I made along this journey. And I want to be remembered for how I treated people. That to me will be success. ☺️
Friends! Your girl is now an investor at TQ Ventures. I get to continue investing in amazing founders I meet & supporting them, but with more funds at my disposal. I wish I could tell that girl from 15 years ago she’s going to be ok & just keep being you.
SF dating: Is every man into van life, camping on weekends and/or rock climbing? Cause I’m more of a casual few mile stroll in nature followed by wine at the Ritz kind of girl.
I’m March, I thought my entire career was over after having to cancel all our conferences for the foreseeable future. I’ve been building communities and organizing in person events for a decade now. Instead, we pulled a hard pivot and learned how to run digital conferences.
Signed a lease on an apartment today. I’ve been loving my time in SF, and figured it was time to settle in. Can’t wait to have you over for drinks on my roof deck.
I’m watching the sun rise over the Pacific Ocean with sea lions barking in the distance. My mom and 12 of my closest friends are sleeping peaceful around me in a house I rented for us. This to me is success. Celebrating 38 years around the sun today. 🎉🎂
After spending a year trying to figure out what’s next for me, I decided to join
@isamlambert
,
@jreyesdev
,
@samkottler
, & other old friends at
@planetscaledata
. This is really a special group of people building the future database and I can’t wait to help.
The
@HashiCorp
IT team sent us a note this morning letting us know we can use the corporate Zoom account to stay connected to our friends and families as well as using it for work purposes. Little gestures like that mean so much in times like these. <3
I sent goodbye emails and published a post about leaving HashiCorp. I didn’t expect all the responses and now I’m sitting here crying reading them all. It’s a beautiful thing to realize you’ve built real connections and made an impact at a place. Thank you for your kind notes.
This week is my 3 year
@HashiCorp
anniversary. The scope of the things I own & have an impact on has decreased as we’ve grown from 20 to 320. I’m realizing to stay sane I have to let things go. Instead, I need to focus on continuing to deliver memorable community experiences.
I thought of my family on Thursday as we were onsite at
@Nasdaq
the bell ringing and the first trade. I will forever be grateful to
@mitchellh
and
@armon
for giving me this opportunity. Working at
@HashiCorp
changed my life. Here’s a photo of my mom and I in Times Square. 3/3
My
@github
ReadME Project interview is live.
“I quickly learned that cold calling or spamming developers was the worst way to get them to adopt your tool or service.”
My early exposure to open source developers changed everything for me. Here’s my story:
Just your regular reminder that building community is a long game. Don’t underestimate the commitment and investment needed to start building a healthy and vibrant community from the beginning.
I was just interviewed for the
@GitHub
ReadME project & thought it would be fitting to wear my 2011 OG GitHub hoodie.
@leereilly
thanks for suggesting me for this. The interviewer at the end said, “Community is your essence. It’s not just a job for you.” I felt very seen by her.
Today,
@jpiscaer
& I are excited to release Digital-First Events! We wrote this book for you & anyone that is embarking on building digital programs for their community. We also included workbooks and personal insights from building conferences
@HashiCorp
.
My parents have always been the most supportive of me and all of my career endeavors. This morning my dad asked if he could watch a stream of my talk at
@Accel
’s event this afternoon. I told him to join me instead. Thanks for making this happen
@amitku
. ❤️
I don’t think I’ve fully processed what I experienced yesterday being at Nasdaq for the
@HashiCorp
IPO. More thoughts later, but I think these two photos sum my day. My personal brand is strong.
This is the 13th HashiConf I’ve produced for
@HashiCorp
, third virtual event. It feels strange sitting here alone in my apartment. I wish we could all be together. Fingers crossed this will be possible next year! I miss hanging out with our community and my colleagues.
My mom loves it when I’m single because I take her on trips instead of whoever I’m dating. I guess my mom is joining me in Paris for
#KubeCon
+
#CloudNativeCo
. Also, Happy Valentine’s Day internet friends.
4 years ago this week I was hired by
@mitchellh
and
@armon
to plan
@HashiCorp
’s first-ever community conference. HashiConf 2015 is still one of my favorite events:
OMG. It’s
#HashiConf
Digital day. I’m drinking a delicious cup of coffee and rocking my production gear along with 40 other people helping produce this event across multiple time zones.
I’m actually crying right now from happiness and sheer exhaustion.
#HashiConf
Digital came to life due to the beautiful collaboration between different teams across
@HashiCorp
from community, education, marketing, engineering, product, and corp comms. I love this company.
I looked at my mom and cried. We were heading to the same train station that 36 years ago, my mom boarded a train to escape from a communist country to give us a better life. They left with a suitcase and maybe $5. They sacrificed everything for my brother and me. 2/3
I’m thinking/ideating/plotting the idea of a 2 1/2 day conference experience somewhere in Europe where you wouldn’t know what to expect ahead of time. Would you come? Tickets would be around €1000 which would include food, transport and lodging.
Today marks my 5th anniversary at
@HashiCorp
. My reflection post from last year still rings true. This is the best company I’ve ever worked for.
From start-up to scale-up: My first 4 years at HashiCorp
I’m sitting in a room surrounded by 100 female and non-binary angels and investors. I’m feeling all the feels. Seeing people like me that have built successful careers in venture fills me with such hope. Thanks for bringing us together
@amanda_robs
. 🥹
I can’t believe I get to meet all of my
@PlanetScaledata
colleagues next week at our employee summit. I’m 2 months in and loving every minute of it. 💜🎉
What about a small tech unconf in the Santa Cruz mountains, maybe half day hanging at the Beach Boardwalk playing arcade games and riding roller coasters? Always plotting.
Planted my first vegetable garden in 8 years. Have I mentioned how happy I am to be back in Northern California? I’ll throw a dinner party when I vegetables and herbs are ready. ☺️
Ok. Hi new friends. I wasn’t expecting my last tweet to take off as I’m about to go off the grid for 11 days to the burn. I’m Jana, pronounced like Yanna. I’ve been working at early-stage startups since 2008. Some failed and some did well. I’ve learned some things over that time.
Hosted a 35-person dinner with some of my favorite founders tonight in New York focused all on GTM. The discussion was led by an old colleague of mine from HashiCorp. Really engaging discussion. I’ll try to write something up.
First day back in SF and attended an awesome meetup hosted by
@ReamBraden
and the
@VoiceflowHQ
team. Met a bunch of cool people tonight. Thanks for the swag.
I had a call with a founder that asked me when should you start thinking about community. I said right away. Community isn’t a button you turn on. It should be part of the DNA of the company, and a given that founders and early employees are all community builders.
How much do you want to bet that the Rabbit founders didn’t know about the other really popular hardware device called The Rabbit. (I’ve held off on making this joke for weeks.) 🐇
In San Francisco for
@HashiCorp
’s Leadership Summit. I’m surrounded some of the most talented and brightest folks I’ve ever worked with in my career. Feeling really excited about this next phase we’re heading into.
The world needs more developer marketers, which community building and DevRel falls under. How you approach dev marketing is wildly different from the enterprise marketing motion.
Maybe it was imposter syndrome or not believing I had something to teach others that held me back, but this year, I set the intention that I would like to do two public speaking engagements. I surpassed my goal.
It’s Monday morning and I’m already thinking about Friday afternoon. If you’re around SF on Friday afternoon, come have beers with me (open tab) at Southern Pacific Brewery starting around 4:30pm.
Having zero fun. Spent the last week meeting with incredible people, friends, founders, and funds in Eastern Europe. I’m Czech so this country holds such a very special place in my heart.
Sent an email to 40 founders asking them to come to dinner this evening with an open mind and an open heart. I’ve gone full hippie, aka myself, and I love it. Always be open to new connections. You never know where that new friendship will take you or what you’ll learn.