Alex Suzuki

Alex shares real-life lessons from his journey through multiple forms of self-employment — from freelancing and running a small agency to building and marketing his own product. You’ll get honest insights, practical tips, and a clear-eyed look at the ups and downs of each stage.

The core themes covered:

• Making the leap: transitioning from full-time employment to self-employment
• The ups & downs of self-employment, tips for success
• From client work to building your own product, a.k.a. ‘Living the dream’

Whether you're seriously considering quitting your job or just curious about what it’s really like to go independent, this talk is for you.

What does it take to turn a JavaScript side project into a product people will actually pay for?

In this talk, Alex shares the story behind STRICH, a barcode scanning SDK built as a solo developer. He’ll cover the technical, business, and product decisions that went into building, launching, and monetizing a developer tool, along with the lessons learned along the way.

Whether you’re building your own side project or curious about the realities of indie software, you’ll leave with practical insights into creating a sustainable JavaScript business.