Steve McDougall’s career in tech is a story of self-reliance and mentorship. Without the guidance of a mentor early on, he carved his own path through the industry’s challenges. Now, he’s dedicated to helping others navigate their journeys, drawing from his own experiences.

Learn about Steve’s story to see how his unique background has shaped his impact on the tech community.

Can you share a bit about your background?

I started my tech career as a Linux System Admin, and got hooked on writing code. I worked my way from an Agency Developer to Head of Development in a product company, before joining the startup world and becoming a CTO.

I didn’t enjoy the CTO life and worked my way back to Engineering Manager, so that I could focus on what made me happy which is helping people. I eventually took that further by becoming a Developer Advocate, where I now spend all of my time focusing on helping people build better APIs.

Did you come up through a “traditional” techie route or has your career taken twists and turns along the way?

I have taken more twists and turns than most! I left school and went straight into the world of work as a Butcher. Once the recession hit in 2007, I joined the military.

After a tour of duty in Afghanistan, I left the military injured and with no idea what to do. I fell into being a Linux System Admin and then found code.

Reflecting on your career, is there a specific moment that stands out as pivotal or defining?

The most defining moment for me was when I found frameworks. Beforehand, I was building everything myself and making do. With composer and packagist, I was introduced to a much wider community of developers building a wide array of tools.

What piece of advice would you give your younger self as you embarked on your professional journey?

Trust yourself more, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes; what matters more is how you recover from them rather than the mistake itself.

Looking ahead, what’s your big prediction for the tech landscape in 2024?

With the rise of AI, as well as the rise of compiled WASM, I am predicting that we will be looking at LLMs running as WASM modules in our browser before long.

Considering your involvement in Silicon Brighton and community-building, what does the concept of ‘community’ mean to you personally? How important is it in the tech industry?

Community means everything. It is how we learn, how we validate ourselves, who we turn to when we are struggling, and who we celebrate wins with. A good community can help a simple product excel, whereas a bad community can make a required product fail.

How do you balance staying updated with the latest industry trends while ensuring continuous personal and professional growth? Any specific resources or practices you find particularly valuable?

Part of my job is to keep up with trends, as it is for most developers. I think companies should invest more in the educational budget for their teams – as it pays back massively over time.

As someone who has contributed significantly to the community, how do you see mentorship playing a role in the development of the next generation of tech professionals?

I think mentorship is vital, I didn’t have one as I was getting into tech, and it was a struggle. I do what I can to help mentor others but like any open-source work, it is unpaid and hard to find time. I typically mentor one person at a time so that I can balance my other workload.

Is there any additional wisdom, experience, or anecdotes you’d like to share with our audience?

Trust your instincts, share your work, and don’t be afraid to be wrong. It is easy to think “everyone knows how to do this, so why share it?”. It might be a simple concept but in reality, you might phrase it in a way that really clicks with someone who is struggling.

You could be the person who helps someone to solve a problem they have been struggling to understand. Helping people by passing on knowledge is seen as a privilege, but in our industry it should be a requirement.

Anything else you would like to promote to our community?

If you build APIs, and care about them, check out the work we are doing at Treblle. We are building API tools for developers to help you take yours to the next level.

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