Member Spotlight: Jason Skowronski, Founder of Dev Spotlight

Meet Jason, one of our oldest members, who is a consultant in marketing and development. He is the founder of Dev Spotlight and is unique in many ways.
Can you tell us about your background and how that led you to what you do today?
I have a background in software development. My first job after graduating from college was working at Amazon. I worked there for a few years and then decided to get into startups. I founded my own company called Keona Health which is now profitable and growing. I then joined another startup called Loggly which helps developers monitor their apps and fix problems quickly. I helped it grow revenue over 20x and get acquired by SolarWinds. 
At Loggly, I noticed a pain point that product marketing was difficult for companies that sell to developers. It's hard to find those unicorn people who are good at both software development and marketing. I noticed that many other companies wanted to do more developer marketing and developer evangelism but struggled to find the right people. That lead me to found Dev Spotlight. We are a consulting agency that focuses on creating great content for developers and DevOps engineers.

Who is your role model?
I look up to Elon Musk because he is able to make a vision for the future into reality, particularly when it's risky or difficult.

What is the key to staying competitive in the IT industry?
The key to staying competitive in this ever-changing tech industry is to always be learning. Some people are content in life doing just one thing. Although they may become an expert in that one thing, it also means they are less likely to keep up with new trends and methodologies. As a developer, your toolset might be completely different 10 years from now, so its important to keep learning. In fact, part of what Dev Spotlight does is educate developers on the latest technologies.

In what ways do you expect your company to grow in the next few years?
I'd like more developers to read our articles on a regular basis. We plan to hire more great developers as writers, especially people who are very experienced and well-known in their fields. We also plan to build stronger relationships with clients and publishers. To help us scale up, we are currently building a platform that will more efficiently connect our clients with writers and track results.

What are your biggest achievements/failures?
I see my time at Loggly as an achievement because we were able to grow the revenue by over 20x and help the company get acquired. It was a great learning experience to be working with the company during that period of growth. However, I sometimes regret not staying at Amazon 1-2 years longer to cash out more of my stock grant. Their stock has done really well since in the past few years.

What made you choose and stay in the Treehouse Society?
I was looking around downtown (Market St.) near to where my client’s offices are so I can meet with them easily. One of the perks of being a consultant is that I can have my own private office. That allows me to focus better.

*By the way, Dev Spotlight is hiring freelance software developers and DevOps engineers. Check out their jobs page for more detailed information! *