Frontmatter

In this episode of the FrontMatter podcast, host Len Epp interviews Eric Wise, author of Effectively Learning to Code: A Brain-Based Approach. Based in Cleveland, Eric is a software architect turned learning expert who has founded and led successful companies while honing his passion for creating impactful learning experiences. His book bridges the gap between cognitive science and coding education, offering strategies rooted in brain science to help aspiring developers learn to code more effectively. The conversation starts with Eric’s origin story. He grew up in Ohio and was inspired to pursue coding after being introduced to the Atari gaming system and the Commodore 64 by his father. Although initially drawn to game development, he shifted to business programming after recognizing the instability and demanding nature of the gaming industry. Eric discusses his successful career in enterprise architecture and consulting, highlighting his transition from working for large companies like Microsoft to joining smaller firms where he had more influence. Eric delves into his management experience, sharing lessons learned about effective communication and leadership. He emphasizes the importance of understanding how people learn, which became a focus when he started building his own coding bootcamp. Through his experiences, Eric realized that many teaching methods lack essential learning science principles, such as active learning, spaced repetition, and project-based approaches. His book and online content aim to fill this gap by incorporating scientifically backed strategies that facilitate better long-term retention and skill development. The interview also explores Eric’s insights on mentorship, where he describes the value of having a mentor to guide learners through the often overwhelming amount of information available. He notes that good mentorship involves meeting learners where they are, understanding their challenges, and helping them build foundational skills. This approach aligns with the advice he gives on effective studying—encouraging note-taking, journaling, and breaking down complex problems into manageable steps. In discussing content creation, Eric shares how he approaches building educational materials by first identifying the needs of his audience. He emphasizes the importance of structuring content based on real learner feedback, which he often gathers from online communities like Reddit. His content strategy involves not just presenting information but ensuring that learners actively engage with it through exercises, project work, and reflective practices like journaling. Eric also touches on the future of software development in light of AI advancements. While some fear that AI might replace developers, Eric is optimistic that AI will serve as a tool that enhances productivity rather than replacing human expertise. He advises developers to focus on building a broad foundation of knowledge rather than specializing in a single technology, as this adaptability will be key in navigating the evolving tech landscape. To learn more about Eric and his work, visit SkillFoundry.io or follow him on YouTube and Twitter. This interview was recorded on August 12, 2024. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM299-Eric-Wise-2024-08.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, and almost everywhere else people listen to podcasts. This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.

Gojko Adzic is the author of the Leanpub book Lizard Optimization: Unlock Product Growth by Engaging Long-Tail Users. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Gojko about what he’s been up to since he was first on the podcast, managing hugely successful products with really small teams, and his new book about how to think about outlier customers. This interview was recorded on August 8, 2024. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM298-Gojko-Adzic-2024-08-08.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, and almost everywhere else people listen to podcasts. This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.

Thad McIlroy is the author of the Leanpub book The AI Revolution in Book Publishing: A Concise Guide to Navigating Artificial Intelligence for Writers and Publishers. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Thad about about his new book, and many of the important questions for both authors and books publishers in our current era of technological innovation in the area of artificial intellegence. This interview was recorded on August 6, 2024. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM297-Thad-McIlroy-2024-08-06.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, and almost everywhere else people listen to podcasts.

Peter Stevens is the author of the Leanpub book The Illustrated Guide to Scrum: Scrum Explained Through Infographics. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Peter about his background and career, manufacturing innovations and what it means to be a “Musk” company, Scrum, and about his approach to writing and illustrating for professionals. This interview was recorded on July 18, 2024. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM296-Peter-Stevens-2024-07-18.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, and almost everywhere else people listen to podcasts. This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.

Leo Tam is the author of Truth Engine: Applying AI to Investing. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Leo about his background and career, his academic research and his time working at NVIDA, the deep applications of AI in investing, and about his writing process. This interview was recorded on June 17, 2024. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM-295-Leonidas-Tam-2024-06-17.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, and almost everywhere else people listen to podcasts. This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.

Stephan Schmidt is the author of the Leanpub book Amazing CTO: The Missing Manual for Managing. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Stephan about his background and career, his book and the challenges of being a CTO, and how to prepare for and thrive in that role, and also about his writing process. This interview was recorded on June 12, 2024. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM294-Stephan-Schmidt-2024-06-12.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, and almost everywhere else people listen to podcasts. This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.

Philip Gannon is the author of the Leanpub book Become a Senior Developer: A concise guide to succeeding as a Senior Software Developer. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Philip about his background and career, how he first got interested in technology, his book and the challenges faced by developers when they get promoted to senior roles, and his experience as a writer. This interview was recorded on June 10, 2024. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM293-Philip-Gannon-2024-06-10.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, and almost everywhere else people listen to podcasts.

Phil Sturgeon is the author of the Leanpub book Surviving Other People’s APIs. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Phil about what he’s been up to since he was last on the podcast, co-founding the environmental charity Protect Earth, and his latest book, Surviving Other People’s APIs. This interview was recorded on May 23, 2024. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM292-Phil-Sturgeon-2024-05-13.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, and almost everywhere else people listen to podcasts.

Isaak Tsalicoglou is the author of the Leanpub book The Incredible Story of Deft: What Nobody Told You About Business Hype (Lean, Agile, etc.). In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Isaak about his background and career, his books, how frameworks like Agile and Scrum can be corrupted, using Plato’s allegory of the cave to explain how startups can compete against incumbents, and about his work as a writer. This interview was recorded on April 12, 2024. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM-291-Isaak-Tsalicoglou-2024-04-12.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, and almost everywhere else people listen to podcasts. This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.

Barry O’Reilly is the author of the Leanpub book Residues: Time, Change, and Uncertainty in Software Architecture. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Barry about his background and career, Complexity Science and its connection to his fascinating concept of Residuality theory in the fields Software Architecture and Computer Science, and his experience as a writer. This interview was recorded on April 9, 2024. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM290-Barry-O’Reilly-2024-04-09.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, and almost everywhere else people listen to podcasts. This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.

Luca Minudel is the author of the Leanpub book Succeed over difficult problems by embracing Complexity-Thinking: Micro-guide to thriving in everyday complexity by breaking free from ordered and linear approaches. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Luca about his professional background, the challenges of high-pressure work, what it was like working on the software side of the Ferrari F1 team, his book, and his approach to writing. This interview was recorded on March 20, 2024. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM289-Luca-Minudel-2024-03-20.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, and almost everywhere else people listen to podcasts. This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.

Viktor Farcic is the author of the Leanpub book Crossplane: The Cloud Native Control Plane. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Viktor about what he’s been up to since his first appearance on the podcast, and his latest book, on Crossplane, explaining how using the service you create, for people in your company, a platform that would provide them with the same experience they have when working with AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, or any other public Cloud provider. This interview was recorded on March 13, 2024. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM288-Viktor-Farcic-2024-03-13.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, and almost everywhere else people listen to podcasts. This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.

Marc Bless is co-author of the Leanpub book Agile Games and Simulations: Field-tested games for Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Marc about his background and career, his book, the nature and power of Agile games and simulations for improving team productivity, and his experience as a co-author. This interview was recorded on March 11, 2024. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM287-Marc-Bless-2024-03-11.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, and almost everywhere else people listen to podcasts. This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.

Paul Hammant and Luc Courage are the authors of the Leanpub book Value Stream Mapping for Software Delivery Teams. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Paul and Luc about their backgrounds and careers, how they decided to collaborate on a book together, the history of manufacturing and the development of Value Stream Mapping, their book, and their writing process. You can find the image discussed in the video here. This interview was recorded on March 7, 2024. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM286-Paul+Hammant-and-Luc-Courage-2024-03-07.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, and almost everywhere else people listen to podcasts. This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.

Joaquim Torres is the author of the Leanpub book Digital Transformation and Product Culture: How to put technology at the center of your company’s strategy. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Joca about his background and career, managing digital transformations in different industries, including internet services, real estate, and more, as well as his book, Digital Transformation and Product Culture; and at the end, he talks about his approach to writing books. This interview was recorded on January 25, 2024. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM285-Joaquim-Torres-2024-01-25.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, and almost everywhere else people listen to podcasts. This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.

Helene Gidley is the author of the Leanpub book The Art of Agile Living: A Simple And Powerful Approach To Tame Your Overwhelm. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Helene about her background and career, how she gained expertise in Agile and how you can apply it to your day-to-day life to become more productive, her book, and her experience as an author. This interview was recorded on December 28, 2023. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM284-Helene-Gidley-2023-12-28.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137 or with this direct link https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, on Spotify here https://open.spotify.com/show/00DiOFL9aJPIx8c2ALxUdz, and almost everywhere people listen to podcasts. This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.

Wim Deblauwe is the author of the Leanpub book Modern frontends with htmx: Use htmx with Spring Boot and Thymeleaf to build dynamic and interactive web applications. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Wim about his background and career, his book, the revolutionary promise of htmx, a technology that redefines frontend development, and his experience as an author. This interview was recorded on December 13, 2023. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM283-Wim-Deblauwe-2023-12-13.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, on Spotify here https://open.spotify.com/show/00DiOFL9aJPIx8c2ALxUdz, and almost everywhere people listen to podcasts. This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity. #leanpublishing #selfpublishing #leanpub #books #writing #software #programming #webdevelopment #htmx #writing

In this special year-end episode of the podcast, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with special guest Dan Holloway about some of the major events in the book publishing industry in 2023, including many of the questions raised and the opportunities presented by the rise of AI. As promised in the episode, here’s a link to Dan’s great project WhatWeNeed.Support. The aim of this project is to describe the changes, reasonable adjustments, and support needs that disabled and vulnerable consumers want firms, businesses, and institutions to meet, and to describe them in such a way that organizations are able to act on them straightaway. This interview was recorded on December 15, 2023. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM282-Dan-Holloway-2023-12-15.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, on Spotify here https://open.spotify.com/show/00DiOFL9aJPIx8c2ALxUdz, and almost everywhere people listen to podcasts. This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.

Barret Nobel and Jake Montalbano are the authors of the Leanpub book The DadFit Dynasty Manual: Daily Modern Strategies. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Barret and Jake about their backgrounds, how they approach being fit dads, the challenges that come with fatherhood and marriage, and how they’re writing a book together to reach more people with their ideas. This interview was recorded on December 8, 2023. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM281-Barret-Nobel-and-Jake-Montalbano-2023-12-08.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, on Spotify here https://open.spotify.com/show/00DiOFL9aJPIx8c2ALxUdz, and almost everywhere people listen to podcasts.

Luca Berton is the author of the Leanpub book Ansible Cookbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Unleashing the Power of Ansible via Best Practices, Troubleshooting, and Linting Rules. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Luca about his background and career, Ansible and automation and open source software, and his experience as a content creator. This interview was recorded on November 29, 2023. The full audio for the interview is here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/leanpub_podcasts/FM280-Luca-Berton-2023-11-29.mp3. The Frontmatter podcast is available on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/leanpub, in Apple Podcasts here https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/frontmatter/id517117137, on Spotify here https://open.spotify.com/show/00DiOFL9aJPIx8c2ALxUdz, and almost everywhere people listen to podcasts.