Call the Doctor! PhD Turned Coder Looking To Bring His Skills to Startups

Dr. Sam Skinner has done research as a professor (and both published and lectured on that research), ran his own business for many years (while raising a family on his own), and now he's looking for his next great adventure. Skinner is seeking a position working with smart people he can learn from, while utilizing his skills which include back-end development, analytics, finance and sales - to name a few.

Make an offer to this self-described "kid in a candy store" coding student with a dream skill set for a startup. Contact him: samskinnerphd@gmail.com

What tech projects are you currently working on?
I am finishing building a jobs-board website for Tech Talent South which will be used by their students and alumni. Additionally I am working on two freelance projects, both collaborations, in which I am responsible for the back-end development. Both are multi-phase projects that are greatly expanding the range of issues I have had to deal with. These are the kinds of projects I am excited by -- they are just at the edge of what I know so I will have much to learn as I build them.

What past projects have you worked on?
Until recently all the applications I worked on were related to being a student or instructor at TTS. They were built to illustrate or embody a particular principle or concept that was being taught. Over the last couple of months, I finally have found opportunities to put what I’ve learned into real world projects. It’s a welcome change.

What are your best technical or creative skills?
Having been around a while, I’d say I have several! I’m good at data analytics; I’m good at finance; I have years of experience in sales. Probably my best asset though is the ability to put myself in other’s shoes, to see things from other’s perspectives.

In terms of programming, my core skills are around back-end development: databases, models, configuring things to make them work. I’m not so good at making them pretty.

What’s next on your list to learn?
Test driven development (TDD) and agile web development. Within the Rails environment, this is the one area I have yet to have any exposure to. So I’ve bought the books and connected with a couple of people who are experienced at TDD. They have become great mentors and I’m beginning to get this segment under my belt.

Why the interest in startups? What’s your ideal position?
I am not interested only in startups, but I think a startup environment would let me best utilize the full range of my abilities.

When are you looking to start?
The sooner the better!