From Introverted Developer to Building What Works
John didn't start out as someone who talks about careers. He started out as an introverted kid who loved computers, became a software developer, and then spent years doing what most developers do: heads-down, grinding on technical skills, hoping someone would notice.
He got good. Really good. He wrote 55+ courses for Pluralsight — one of their most prolific instructors. He landed consulting gigs at Verizon at $300/hour. But something felt off.
“I realized that being a great programmer wasn't enough. Nobody knew I was great. I had to learn to market myself like a business — and once I did, everything changed.”
He started Simple Programmer in 2009 to document what was working. The blog grew. The courses grew. In February 2013, he hit the number he needed to retire: $5,000/month in passive income from his Pluralsight courses. He was 33.
The Real Education
Retirement at 33 wasn't the happy ending it sounds like. He went to Hawaii, got depressed, and discovered that the goal he'd been working toward didn't mean what he thought it did. That crisis sent him deep into stoic philosophy, mindset work, and eventually to Tony Robbins' Date With Destiny — events that reshaped how he thought about purpose and work.
That journey is what Simple Programmer became about: not just "make more money," but build a career and a life that's actually yours. The two books came out of that shift — frameworks for developers to treat their career like a business, not just a job.
Rockstar Developer University
After years of coaching developers 1:1, John launched RDU as a formal program: intensive coaching for experienced developers ready to build real authority, charge premium rates, and stop competing on price. The results have been significant — clients have added $40K to $100K+ per year in income, built audiences of thousands, and landed roles they didn't think were accessible.
RDU is how John works with developers today. If you've been following Simple Programmer and want more than blog posts, that's the next step.