My First Personal Website

Personal Website: Post 1

Why a personal website now? I've always wanted one, but aren't they dated now, with most people finding distribution on social media?

Part of it might be egotistical, but I've always wanted a personal website of my own. However, more importantly, with my latest job burning in flames after the company shut down, I'm on the job hunt, and I've discovered a few things.

1. Resumes don't work and in the generative AI boom, their efficacy is likely to go down as well as noise saturates the job market.

2. AI is about to accelerate many things, one of which is the pathway from training or schooling into the job market. It used to be high school or university diplomas that provided a certification that one has acquired sufficient knowledge to contribute meaningfully to society. AI accelerates this path tremendously, and I'm observing founders as young as 14-18 making revenue. This is a global phenomenon.

Competing as a 35 year old in the job market, and yet not having being able to show what I have done, put quite simply, sucks. One important thing I learned at Teleport when talking about an idea or product is "show, don't tell". An interactive demo speaks a million words, and this adage holds even better as AI accelerates time-to-prototype for many ideas, workflows, and apps.

I pivoted from a PhD in computational materials into tech as a Data Scientist in a seed stage crypto startup, and now that that gig is over, I'm honestly finding myself in a situation where I have to re-skill and re-invent myself.

I built this personal website with the intention of it:

• being a learning experience in of itself.
• being a place to journal my learnings from the journey.
• being a portfolio showcase.

"But Thad, everybody's using AI to write now, you're a bit late on that too"

I know, but I also firmly believe that in the midst of generative AI, it is more critical and advantageous to write, both at the individual and species level. This deserves an entirely separate post though.

I have a few ideas about how this website will evolve with AI, but