Tom

I've been thinking about what it means to be a "𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁" software engineer. My answer? It's not about clean code or system design. It's about being someone 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 — an engineer who builds with purpose and contributes something real to the world. Here's what's bugging me: → Entry-level dev jobs dropped 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝟲𝟬% since 2022 → CS grads now have 𝟲%+ unemployment — 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳𝘴 → 𝟴𝟯% of companies use AI to screen resumes But talent didn't disappear. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻. Qualified engineers are getting filtered out for ridiculous reasons — wrong keywords, wrong format, wrong name. Before a human ever sees their work. And if we kill the junior pipeline? There's 𝗻𝗼 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 of senior engineers. That's not just unfair — it's a problem for the 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 industry. So I stopped thinking and started building. Teamed up with Claude and made applr.ai — helping talented people get past broken hiring filters. Week one: 1. 100 users 2. 3% paid conversion 𝘚𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮. The bigger dream? Take a big portion of the revenue and 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿 people — fund someone's first laptop, cover their course fees, give a talented kid in a rough situation an actual shot at a tech career. The best engineer isn't the smartest coder. It's the one who uses tech to solve problems that 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿.

Add an IP to my product. I believe this helps create a stronger connection between users and the product, making it feel more relatable.

《It's difficult to find a job》 The world didn't see you today. But that says nothing about who you are. Opportunity is skill meeting luck — and luck always comes around. YOU are the best in the world.

@matt_gray_ That's true.

When you choose to build a personal brand, you choose to build infinite leverage.

Adding canary wharf in my video, lol where I worked before.

@julianweisser @solofounders So great, if I am in US, I must apply!

Solo founding is different. We've built the place for it. Applications open for @solofounders program's 4th cohort. • 10 solo founders building "solo, together" • 3 months in SF (+ optional housing) • work closely with me + alumni • $100k investment Apply!

I don't know how AI is going to change this world — so crazy!!! So easy to make — I've never even touched video editing before!