Hi, I'm DJ!
I'm an Arkansas-based Full Stack Software Engineer.
I like to walk my dog Monkey, explore the hidden gems of Northwest Arkansas, and write the Old Programmer newsletter on Substack.
About me
I'm a serial entrepreneur and full stack developer who thrives on solving problems with code. I have multiple eight-figure exits and tons of learning experiences along the way. I love my work and expect to never completely retire.
- Location:Fayetteville, AR
- Age:55
- Nationality:USA
- Interests:Writing, Music, Social Scienes
- Study:Northwestern University
- Employment:Entrepreneur
Work
Freelance
Co-founder & Managing Partner
Led the purchase, management and sale of 330 multifamily apartments. Handled all asset management, finance and investor relations. Implemented the EOS system for business management. Automated our investor communications with ActiveCampaign, Zapier, Buildium, EZ Texting and more.
Chief Technology Officer
Managed the complete product lifecycle for an influencer marketplace. Oversaw strategic planning, resolved tech issues, and delivered a viable product in just 5 months (succeeding when two predecessors failed). Migrated prototype from Moveable Type to use Node and PostgreSQL backend with Mithril/Coffeescript front end.
VP Services
Led project management and development for four Ruby on Rails projects.
Chief Technology Officer
Led all technical development of a SaaS providing time- and role-based paging for hospital staff to be contacted for urgent critical care tasks. Underlying technology included Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, Cisco IP Phones and Twilio.
Chief Technology Officer
Led all technical development of a SaaS providing custom analytics integrated with third party reporting tools such as Google Analytics, Mailchimp and dozens of others. Core technology included Ruby on Rails, MySQL, jQuery, Highcharts and web APIs.
VP Sales and Business Development
Led sales during explosive growth period from $130,000 to $3 million in just two years. Also developed several key platform elements such as SalesForce integration, and entirely re-wrote the billing system. Core technology included PHP, MySQL, Zend Framework and web APIs.
Co-Founder
Created a B2C social media platform for extreme sports enthusiasts. Core technology included PHP, MySQL, Drupal and JavaScript.
Chief Privacy Officer
Devised and enforced spam-prevention policies for one of the first email marketing companies. Devised and executed a PR and marketing initiative to highlight the company's thought leadership in permission marketing, leading us to win major enterprise accounts such as Cisco Systems and Dell Computer.
CEO & Co-Founder
Created the industry's first email customer service platform, landing major clients such as Consumer Reports and the Chicago Board Options Exchange. The company was acquired by MessageMedia, providing a 700% return to investors in two years.
Skills
25 years of experience with software development in high-pressure, resource-constrained startups
Education
Bachelor of Science, Music Education
I decided by my senior year that I didn't want to teach, but NU is expensive so I took the degree and became one of those classic liberal arts major who had no idea what he wanted to do. Luckily I discovered I have an entrepreneurial instinct and a knack for computers.
Submarine Sales Methodology
Innovative sales method that trained me to, above all, not act like a salesman. See this post on my blog about one key concept, the Up Front Contract.
DJ is a great asset to any software development team. He's a bonafide team player, and commits himself 110%. My team and I were lucky to have someone of his caliber on board at Content BLVD. And I'd be honored to work with DJ in the future.
-- Dan Ripoll, CEO, ContentBLVD
During my time working closely with DJ at BlueSpruce, I had the opportunity to witness his exceptional leadership and organizational skills firsthand. His ability to effectively lead and inspire a team was truly commendable. DJ consistently demonstrated a strong vision for the company and effectively communicated it to the entire team, fostering a sense of purpose and motivation among employees.
-- Robin Diebel
DJ had a wide breadth of knowledge, and kept us focused on the technical tasks that drove the product forward.
-- Peter Klipfel, direct report at StatsMix
Get in touch.
I'm always interested in hearing about new projects, so if you'd like to chat please get in touch.
- me@djscruggs.com
- Phone
- 303-808-6614
- Location
- Fayetteville AR, USA
- Github
- djscruggs