Robert Kushner IV, a participant in DigitalCrafts’ March 2020 Full Stack Immersive Cohort, is clearly an entrepreneurial optimist who is also eager to learn. He’s launched two companies the good, old-fashioned boot-strappy way, after having worked in real estate during the Great Recession.
He’s managed teams of more than 50, which has informed his openness to career possibilities and working with others, as opposed to shouldering all the startup burden alone. That readiness to tackle team efforts is what he says makes him a worthy candidate for anyone on the hunt for a hungry developer.
“I love working and have a lot of experience with start-ups,” Kushner says. “Being your own boss and creating a business from scratch is quite an experience. Conversely, it’s nice to work in an environment where all aspects of the business and its success do not lie directly on your shoulders!”
So what else makes this real-world educated DigitalCrafts grad tick? Learn more below!
What startup/tech projects have you worked on?
I founded BuffBoxx, a fitness subscription box company, in 2015, and ATL CBD Supplements in early 2017. I was directly involved with all website development, branding and operations. Since starting my journey in tech, I have created several websites for small businesses and entrepreneurs that were hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
What tech/tools are essential to you as a developer?
In addition to documentation and Google, I love the different learning websites that are available. From FreeCodeCamp to CodeAcademy to Codewars. They do a great job of laying a nice foundation of the languages you are trying to learn. Also, gotta shoutout VSCode and their awesome extensions! It makes writing your code easier to read and debug.
How do you stay informed and on top of emerging trends?
I follow a lot of coding accounts on social media. Everyday I learn something new or get clarification in the posts I see in my feed. Additionally, I read books, listen to podcasts and follow tech blogs (like Hypepotamus!)
What are your best tech and creative skills?
My biggest creative skills are branding and digital marketing. I also really enjoy JavaScript! There’s so much you can do with JS and its robust community makes it easy to learn new methods and keep up with trends.
What’s next on your list to learn?
I’d really like to get acquainted with PHP, Java & C++. There are some massive companies running on and utilizing these languages, and it just seems like a good career choice to have a basic understanding of these languages.
Why the interest in technology field?
Tech is such a huge field with so many opportunities. As time progresses, the world will only become more and more reliant on technology. The technology fields offers me multiple paths of interest, has great demand, and it pays well!
Interested in looking at Robert’s credentials? Here you go! GitHub, Portfolio, and LinkedIn.
