Author: mastashake08

Jyrone Parker is an American software engineer and entrepreneur from Louisville, KY. He is the owner and CEO of J Computer Solutions LLC, a full-scale IT agency that deals with hardware, networking, and software development. He is also a tech rapper and producer that goes by the name Mastashake.
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CodeLife 2020

2020 Is Going To Be Monumental

I have spent the last few years of my life creating the building blocks for this year. All of the late nights building prototypes, time spent building my social media presence on Twitter and Youtube and time spent networking has all culminated to this year. All the pieces are here and it is time to put it into action.

With my apps in place I am not creating any NEW projects in 2020, all my time will be spent augmenting and improving the apps I already have on my servers and Android developer account. This includes spending more time blogging on this very website. This website will serve as a central hub for my progress this year on all my entrepreneurial endeavors in 2020 it’s all about ownership and controlling the narrative.

CloudMed Billing, Trusts Generator, QF Credit, TMAH, 401K Apps

These are the apps that I am focused on for 2020, all of them have brought me income or are in the position to bring income in 2020. CloudMed Billing was the first app that ever brought me residual income and is the center piece in my article from a couple years ago. It is a web app used by healthcare clinics to collect post-insurance payments on medical collections. It’s still going strong and I haven’t made any improvements to the app in about a year. My goal for 2020 is to make it a PWA and gather at least 3 additional clinics as clients. I actually do not plan on this being a long term asset that I scale up, right now it’s just a cool residual stream. If anything my exit strategy is to try and sell the app once I acquire 10 clinics.

Trusts Generator has done VERY well in its first few months of existence, I am really proud of the progress it has made and even prouder that I have created a product that directly helps the lives of people. Trust Generator is a PWA and Android application that allows for anyone to create a trust. The feedback I have gotten from those who have used my service is heart-warming. Especially in the black community we lose a lot of what little wealth we have to death and probate so to be able to provide a solution to that and make it affordable is a win-win. In 2020 my plan is to improve the UI/UX and do some targeted marketing campaigns.

QF Credit was the last app I put out in 2019. It too is a web app and Android application that assists with removing fraudulent and negative items from your credit report. Simply fill out the form and we will take care of reaching out to your creditors for you! All for the low cost of $9.99! The feedback for this has also been phenomenal and as a result I will be focused on rebuilding the UI/UX and doing heavy marketing campaigns.

Treat Me At Home took a back seat this year as I was figuring out legality issues with service providers in specific fields. Now that that has been sorted out I am spending this year growing my provider list in the Louisville area and FINALLY rolling out the product. The PWA and Android app are live and the iOS app will be finished soon.

Lastly there is 401K Apps! This is probably going to be my long term baby! It’s an investment app that allows you to own percentages of apps and websites and will be verified on the blockchain! It will be open to accredited and non-accredited investors! The app is being developed currently and more details will emerge over this next 2 quarters.

Stay Tuned!

I feel like I have finally mastered this codelife thing 🙂 I will be keeping everyone posted on here and my Youtube page as well as Twitter. If I can live this life, you can too and I want to serve as motivation, here is to a clear 2020!

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Recap Of 2019 & What’s Next For 2020

2019 Has Been A Wild Ride

That is an understatement! 2019 has been heaven as well as hell. Both professionally and personally I have been through a lot, learned a lot, built a lot and reaped a lot. I owe a great deal of my success this year to you, my subscribers and followers. Without further ado this is my recap of 2019.

My Patreon Is Live

I have created a patreon to support my content creation and side projects, I am asking my followers to give at least $1 and become a patron. If 10% of my followers do this I can dedicate all my time to creating free tutorials and live streams dedicated to open source technologies and entrepreneurship. Not only that but patrons at the $10/month level and up get first look access to all of my side projects and startups before anyone else!

Apps Apps APPS!

I have been putting out PWAs (progressive web apps) and Android apps out like nobody’s business! I found out about this awesome website that allows me to generate an APK from a PWA in a few simple clicks! This has honestly been good for me mentally to get these ideas out of my head and clear my backlog. In 2020 I am looking forward to renewing my Apple developer account and port over these NativeScript apps over to iOS.

To check out my android apps head over to my android developer page. Two of my most proud web/mobile apps I made were Trusts Generator which allows anyone to easily create a trust for estate planning purposes; and Quick Fix Credit which allows anyone to dispute fraudulent items on their credit report with ease.

Twitch Was Fun….I’m Going Back To Youtube

If you haven’t subscribed to my channel head on over and do so. I will be doing more in depth computer science videos such as explaining various algorithms and design patterns. I will go more into the theory of computer science as well. This is because these topics transcend things such as what is the best web framework to learn for 2020.

With that being said I will still be doing live stream coding sessions but they will be reserved for my patrons. These livestreams will be focused on full scale projects, everything from the coding, to the deployment, to the marketing campaigns.

2020 Is Focused On Me

I had an epiphany this year. I’ve spent most of my life writing code for other people, and haven’t spent any time growing what I have that already works. I already have apps that are making me money without me putting in any advertising or redevelopment. I’ve been lazy and just collecting the checks but I have opportunities to let these fully take care of me….I’M SLIPPING!

With that being said I am no longer taking any additional clients for 2020. I am fully committed to growing my brand and my businesses. As much as I enjoy writing code, I cannot continue to give my time and energy to others and forsake my calling. 2020 is looking like a clear vision and I cannot wait to go into it with you all my followers and fans.

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How To Make Money As A Programmer

Programming Gives You A Unique Skill

Not only can you go work for a company and work your way up to a high six figure salary, but there are a few other ways you can make extra income as a coder. In this article I will explain some of these ways and if you have any I haven’t touched please leave it as a comment!

1) Work A Standard 9-5

This is the obvious option and what most people do. You find a company and either work as a freelancer or full time employee and exchange your time for your money. Nothing wrong with this method, especially since software engineers have such high earning capacity. However there are some other things that you can do to increase your earning potential, some more passive than others.

2) Tutoring

Each one teach one

There is a plethora of people who want to learn how to code and you have the knowledge they desire. Personally I do this and have put together packages such as: video game programming, blockchain programming, web apps and mobile apps. You have total control of your schedule and can charge your fair rate. In my opinion this is one of the most lucrative side hustles and even if you just have 1 or 2 students a month it’s a nice chunk of change.

3) Sell Courses

While doing one on one tutoring sessions can be lucrative, it is not scalable! What is scalable is creating your own video or text courses and selling those online! That’s exactly what I do for things such as my Intro To Web Development eCourse. What’s even better is that you can choose to sell the courses on a platform such as Udemy or do it on your own platform (and keep more profit). This tactic can bring you long term residual income off a product you only created one time.

4) Write An App

This of course is probably my favorite! There are few things more rewarding than getting paid for an app that you built with your own grit and own two hands! App money can replace your current income and what’s even better is you can sell your app for a larger lump sum payment. It requires the most time up front but it can definitely make the most money.

Conclusion

There are many ways to make extra money as a programmer outside of a standard 9-5 working shift. If you have more ideas please don’t hesitate to leave them as comments below! If you haven’t checked out or subscribed to my YouTube page head over and do so. I do entrepreneur and engineering videos weekly!

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Living Off App Income, How Much Do I Need?

How Much App Income Do I Need To Live Off Of?

This is probably the number one question I get from people looking to invest in apps. First off let me iterate that I am not a financial advisor and this is not financial advice. This is simply the techniques I employ in my own life to achieve financial independence from app income.

Everyone’s ideal situation is different. For some people a $40,000 a year lifestyle is sufficient while for others a $1,000,000 a year lifestyle is what is mandatory. With this is mind there is a bunch of different factors to consider that I am not personally equipped to granularly help you decide.

What I can do however is tell you the strategy that I am implementing in my own life while I build my app empire. A lot of it is inspired by the FIRE investing method. It is broken into a few basic steps:

  1. Take care of your bills
  2. Monthly revenue equal to 3 months worth of your existence
  3. Run successfully for 12 months

Don’t worry I’m going to break it down.

1) Take Care Of Your Bills

First and foremost don’t even start thinking about retiring off of app income if your app revenue isn’t paying your bills. For me the minimum bills I need paid are:

  • Mortgage
  • Phone
  • Utilities (electric/water/trash)
  • Student Loans
  • Groceries
  • Gas/Ride Sharing

If I don’t have all of these things paid for from my app portfolio then I can’t really retire in any sense of the word. This is because these are my necessities and if my necessities are not met then I have to actively go get them, thus trading my time for money, thus working. When I can eat and sleep without worry then it’s on to the next step which is building up the app income.

2) Monthly Revenue Equal To 3 Months Worth Of Your Existence

What I mean by this is besides my bills I also have miscellaneous expenses such as entertainment, contributions to my investment portfolio, eating out, etc. I want to have fun just like everyone else, so in order to retire I have to quantify that and come up with a total monthly figure. Now in order for me to feel comfortable retiring entirely off of my app income, my portfolio needs to make 3x what that total monthly figure is per month. Once again this is what my ideal retirement is, it make not be the same for you. However I know if it dries up, I still can maintain my current lifestyle for 3 months at the minimum. Part of the idea of retirement is the peace of mind and security of knowing your money will not run out and you can live the lifestyle you want to live.

This is where the type of lifestyle I want to live comes into play. I don’t really want much in life $10,000 USD per month. Why? $40,000 a year is equal to $3,333.33 per month. Multiply that by 3 and that comes to 9,999.99 per month (add a penny for kicks and giggles). I need $10K per month and then I won’t have any worries about paying for the things that I want to pay for.

3) Run Successfully For 12 Months

So there was a point in time where I was living completely from app income and it was great however it eventually slowed down and put me in a bind for a period of time because it wasn’t following rule #2. App income can be very variable and as a result you need to build a track record of running your app portfolio successfully before you give everyone at your job the middle finger and quit your job. Enjoy the extra income while you still work for a year….and then quit.

In all seriousness if my portfolio steadily generates app income for a year at these numbers I will have 3 years worth of your lifestyle at the end of those 12 months. With that in mind I know I can actually sit back and maintain my apps.

App Income Is Addictive

It is an amazing cash vehicle that can give you financial freedom. That being said it’s not as easy as just putting out an app and collecting a check. If you are interested in adding apps into your investment portfolio and need some advice on where to get started, schedule a 1 on 1 consultation with me today!

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401KApps & The Future Of Investing

401KApps Is Almost Ready

Those of you who follow my Twitter might remember my thread about 401KApps

Ricky Mason and I put on a 3 month case study with 6 participants to buy some apps and gather the data. Needless to say the model worked so we went straight to creating the prototype.

I Don’t Follow You On Twitter WTH Is 401KApps

My apologies everyone! Let me back up. 401KApps is a new partnership I am working on with Ricky that is a private investment group that buys, holds and sells apps. The apps are bought from the owners (we only buy apps that have a current positive cash flow) and we enhance the applications, increase the marketing and promotion and share the profits. Unlike stocks, bonds, rental property where you get paid once a month, apps make money from day one. Using the app, you can invest in investment pools that are categorized. Each pool will hold 10-15 apps. After the vesting period you can choose to receive your payouts on a daily, weekly, month or yearly basis!

How Is Investing In Apps Smart?

Like I said apps make money daily. In addition to traditional investments such as stocks, bonds, real estate and precious metals I believe it is good to have an investment vehicle that gives you consistent stable cash flow. At one point in my personal life I was living completely off of my app income, which freed my other income to be used how I wish. The apps that we are buying are already complete and have a positive cash flow, by applying the power of group economics the collective can generate a sizable amount of free flowing cash to help enrich their lives.

What Is The Minimum Amount To Invest?

The minimum to invest in an app pool will be $20 with a maximum investment of $10,000. Each investment pool will raise between $30,000 and $250,000. This will allow investors to diversify their exposure to the markets and give newer investors with less capital the opportunity to get into the space.

When Will The App Be Released?

You can currently sign up for the waiting list at https://401k-apps.com but the beta MVP will be available before the end of the year so look for a Xmas gift 😉

Want To Learn How To Code In The Meantime?

Another way to invest into apps is to write one yourself! If you are wanting to learn how to code check out my video course “Intro To Web Development” In it you will learn the basics of web development and get started learning the skills needed to create rock star web applications! Perhaps you are already a coder and want to get started in test driven design? If so check out my course Test Driven Design W/ Laravel and Vue.js. Into web dev but want to switch over to mobile development? Check out Nativescript with my course Nativescript, Vue & Laravel SAAS Master Class

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Why I Wrote A Trust Generator And What’s Next

If You Follow Me On Twitter I Talk About My Trust A Lot

My latest video on Trusts Generator

You have probably seen me talk about my trust that I set up for my family earlier this year. All in all it was not a long process, the longest part was figuring out what to do and what exactly a trust is legally. Once I understood this and consulted with lawyers I finally had a trust. I was at the bank setting up a trust account and the thought hit me

Why isn’t there an app that could have done this for me?

Oh wait! I can write it!

Thoughts while talking to the banker.

So after leaving the bank I immediately went home, grabbed my laptop and started coding the MVP. Within 30 minutes I had an app that generated a .docx trust document that was formatted using data grabbed from a vue.js frontend and charges $50. I used my trust document as a template and showed the app to a lawyer. They loved it, I just need to be sure to let people know I am not a lawyer and advise them to always consult with a lawyer. So after changing some verbiage to cover my bases I was ready to put the app out to world and get feedback. I wanted trustgenerator.com or trust-generator.com but both of those were taken so I decided on trustsgenerator.com

When I put it out I actually got my first sale on my first day and a few more on the second day. However I felt $50 was still too high for a lot of people and I didn’t want to just appeal to those who could afford an estate lawyer in the first place. I wanted this app to be for the people.

So Far This App Has Given A Nice Residual

This goes back into my investment strategy I speak about which is having a portion of your portfolio to include monetized apps. My investment goal is to have 60% of my income to come from applications. Trusts Generator is a complete self-contained system that handles file management, billing and email. I have to spend < 1 hour a month maintaining this application. This setup is the motivation behind my venture 401K Apps.

Considering that I spend so little time doing maintenance, this app can potentially give me a better return than most of my other apps. I will definitely be paying attention to the analytics heavily.

What’s Next?

I recently added an affiliate network to the system. Allowing them to share a custom link to create a new trust. I share my profits 50/50 and can pay out via Paypal or Cash App!

I am also adding the ability to generate your trusts through text message using a SMS chat bot! However currently I’m working on ad campaigns to help get the word out. My goal is to generate 1000 trust documents by the end of 2020, so we’ll see how it goes.

Analytics is huge to me so I will be adding the code to track more metrics and use that data to determine what areas of the app I need to tweak and fix. Lastly I need to crank up the marketing! If I want to reach that 1000 trust generated mark I’m going to have to make some very targeted ads and get busy. I will be updating everyone on my journey as it continues and if you haven’t already check out the app and let me know what you think!

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How Much Do Software Developers Make?

We All Know Software Is Lucrative But How Much Do Software Developers Get Paid?

We all read the headlines and the stories about mega rich tech CEOs who started out in their mother’s basement or garage and built their empire. What about the average software developer? How much do software developers make?

Factors In Compensation

When talking about financial compensation as a software developer there is a need to clarify some things. Firstly your geographical location will affect how much money you make. Engineers in Silicon Valley or New York or Dallas area are going to be paid multitudes more than an engineer from Louisville, Kentucky. That being said you must also factor in the adjusted cost of living based on the area which you reside. $100,000 in San Fransisco is not the same as $100,000 in Louisville.

How Much Do Entry Level Software Developers Get Paid?

If you are an entry or junior level developer you can expect $60,000 – $80,000 depending on your geographical location (you can expect more in the Bay Area or New York areas or any other major tech city). While this is low for the software engineering field, but it’s higher than most average salaries in The United States.

How Much Do Mid Level Software Developers Get Paid?

At this level you are starting to see the six figure range going from 100k – 120k. Once again this will widely depend on geographical location.

How Much Do Senior Level Developers Get Paid?

This is where the money starts rolling in. At this point total compensation can reach $300,000 plus! Me personally as a business owner I charge $150 per hour when working on Laravel and Vue.js projects. This is where most engineers will cap if they do nothing else but fulltime/client work.

What About Beyond Senior Level?

When I say beyond senior level I am talking entrepreneurship. Think writing your own monetized apps or creating Udemy courses. This residual income is usually combined with some active work like a 9-5. This scalability can allow a software developer to make 10s – 100s of thousands extra a year if executed correctly.

Conclusion

If you decide to go down the route of becoming a software developer, then money ultimately should not be an issue. If you want quality content on software and entrepreneur best practices, follow me on Twitter. If you want to get started with some quality courses I suggest heading over to my store and purchasing a video series!

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Setting Up A CI Laravel Pipeline Using Bitbucket

Continuous Integration

Is a must in today’s software architecture. Setting up a solid CI/CD pipeline will save you countless hours and money immediately and down the line.

There are plenty of tools that can accomplish your CI/CD goals from Jenkins, to CircleCI however in today’s tutorial I will be showing you how to accomplish this using Bitbucket pipelines.

Editing The YAML File

Bitbucket’s pipeline system uses yml files to spin up docker instances and run your scripts. This is an example file that runs composer, generates keys, runs migrations, installs passport and runs the tests. It also only runs when deploying to master branch and sets up a mysql instance and sets the environment keys.

# This is a sample build configuration for PHP.
# Check our guides at https://confluence.atlassian.com/x/e8YWN for more examples.
# Only use spaces to indent your .yml configuration.
# -----
# You can specify a custom docker image from Docker Hub as your build environment.
image: lorisleiva/laravel-docker
pipelines:
  branches:
    master:
      - step:
          caches:
            - composer
          script:
            - composer install --prefer-dist --no-ansi --no-interaction --no-progress --no-scripts
            - cp .env.example .env
            - php artisan key:generate
            - php artisan migrate
            - php artisan passport:install
            - vendor/bin/phpunit
          services:
            - mysql
      - step:
          name: Deploy to prod
          deployment: production
          # trigger: manual  # Uncomment to make this a manual deployment.
          script:
            - echo "Deploying to prod environment"
            - curl -X GET https://forge.laravel.com/servers/148653/sites/653797/deploy/http?token=4Q8e1kFPmFsHbxOBek7jcqikAvGVTbiX50tsPUPK
definitions:
    services:
      mysql:
        image: mysql:5.7
        variables:
          MYSQL_DATABASE: 'ben'
          MYSQL_RANDOM_ROOT_PASSWORD: 'yes'
          MYSQL_USER: 'homestead'
          MYSQL_PASSWORD: 'secret'

Why Is Continuous Integration Important?

I did an article about why continuous integration is important to the solo developer and I suggest everyone take a few moments and read that article. It outlines why having a solid CI/CD plan in your architecture, however the TL;DR is that is saves you time, money, effort and stress by spending the little bit of time up front to ensure you have tested and tried code before you ship to production.

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How I Landed My First Conference Talk

I have been applying to CFPs (Call For Papers) for tech conferences off and on for the last 5 years unsuccessfully. Honestly I had all but given up and just settled for the media passes and going to cover conferences instead (whilst I cried inside). However that is no longer the case! I have been invited to speak at APIDays at San Francisco July 16th – 17th.

What Will I Speak About?

My talk is titled “Building Scalable APIs From The Beginning” and will be focused on the algorithmic and architechtural best practices needed to build enterprise level APIs from scratch instead of refactoring and redoing design down the line when experiencing rapid or hypergrowth.

What Is APIDays?

APIDays is the world’s leading API conference series. 15,000 attendees, 40 events, 1,350 speakers, 11 countries is what they advertise on their website. I also was invited to contribute to their API influencer program APIScene, where I will be providing blog content about API best practices.

How Did You Land It?

My reaction when I opened my offer email.

Well I kind of owe a lot of it to my best friend Tae’lur Alexis because she introduced me to the website CFPLand. She kept getting picked for conferences and I was like “Yo where are finding all these CFPs?”. You have to love Twitter I swear. Anywho I went on there and APIDays was the first one I applied for, I didn’t hear anything back so I assumed I wasn’t going to get picked then a couple weeks ago I got my offer email. My advice to those looking to speak at tech conferences is to use resources such as CFPLand and just submit until your wrists hurt. Make sure you pick conferences where your talk will provide value to the demographic that will be attending and speak only on things you know. I will upload my talk to my YouTube channel after I present and if you are in the Bay Area and want to meet up while I am in town July 14th – July 18th email me at jyrone.parker@gmail.com to link up with me or DM me on Twitter.

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How To Land Your First Gig As A Self Taught Developer

Coding Is Hard As Is

Add on top that you are teaching yourself and you have a level of difficulty few humans understand. However the satisfaction it brings cannot be compared to anything else either. That being said it can be tremendously difficult landing your first gig ( I’m speaking from the position of freelancers, however the same advice applies to those who are looking for full time W-2 employment). Here are 3 things you can do as a self taught developer to increase your chances of landing your first gig as a self taught developer.

Do 2-3 Solid Personal Projects

The first question any potential client is going to ask you is “What past projects have you worked on?” Obviously if you are looking for your first paid gig, then you won’t have any past client work to show off. To compensate for this I highly advise that you focus on creating 2-3 complete thorough projects of your OWN design to show to potential clients.

Doing this will not only highlight your skills as a developer and show you deserve a shot, but it also highlights your entrepreneurial prowess and remember if you are a freelancer, you are an entrepreneur. You are working for yourself.

Go To Networking Events & Put Yourself Out There

You can be the greatest freelancer developer in the world, but if no one knows who you are then it really doesn’t matter. If you want to work for yourself you have to put yourself out there. This can come in the form of finding a meetup, going to a tech conference, speaking to managers at career fairs (a lot of companies are contractor friendly), etc. Humans are social creatures and building rapport is always the first step in business dealings. Remember social capital is more important than financial capital, you need the first to attain the latter.

Go to these events with the understanding that you have to follow up on the connections you make at these events. Business negotiations often take weeks to months, don’t expect to go to a conference and walk out with a contract (although I have seen it happen).

Stay Persistent, Resist Imposter Syndrome

Expect a ton of nos before you receive your first yes, this is to be expected especially when searching for your first contract. That being said it’s very important that you stay persistent! I have a mantra that I always tell myself when I face rejection.

I do not fail, I either win or I learn

Perspective is everything, don’t look at the rejections as failures. Ask for feedback and learn from the experience so when you do the next contract bid you have more wisdom to go by. Imposter syndrome is something I see a lot of new developers, especially self taught, deal with on a regular basis. Don’t fall into it! You became and validated yourself as a developer the moment you took it upon yourself to write your first line of code. You don’t need a company or university to deify your position. Keep grinding YOU GOT THIS.