Recent content on Jevin Maltais
I was a Staff Engineer at a small, quickly growing start-up. Our new VP eng pulled me aside: 
 
 it seems like you care a lot about developer experience and observability, but I need you to invest more in the feature work. 
 
 I understood where he was coming from, we were in a critical time of growing the business and the features were the clear path to growing revenue. However,…



 Years ago, I wrote up all my notes on how to get gmail working with neomutt Gmail is slow! Make it fast with using Neomutt . It’s become my most popular post on my site by far. 
 While it gave lots of info on how the pipeline works, it didn’t make it easy to ge it all working and I wanted to improve things for folks wanting to get started. 
 After a few days of…



 
 


Librechat getting context from Obsidian 
 Obsidian + LLM Life Coach 
 For as long as I can remember, I’ve been making notes, journaling and having those feed into planning. 
 Since 2023, I’ve become a pretty heavy ChatGPT user, using it for therapy, coding, research and all kinds of other weird things to see how I can push it’s…
I did my systems engineering undergraduate back in 2002 when our software design professors were convinced that, in a few years, we wouldn’t be writing code anymore—that UML would somehow generate all the code we’d ever need. 
 While they were wrong about that, they were right about a lot of things I didn’t fully appreciate until later in my career. 
 
 Engineering is trade-offs…
Check out last year’s 2023 in review 
 Coach Home 
 Our rental property is conveniently located across the street from our personal residence. A few years back, the Ontario government and the city of Ottawa introduced a new policy allowing homeowners to build “Coach Homes” - small, separate houses - on their properties. After careful consideration and thorough research,…
Planning 
 Two years ago, we traveled as a family to Portugal and the Netherlands for two weeks. That trip was great, but we learned a couple of things: 
 
 Moving between cities can take a whole day if going via airplane or if the trains aren’t close to where we were staying. 
 Prioritizing convenient public transit (as we saw in Amsterdam) really makes everything very…
My History with Linux 
 In 1999, I installed Fedora 5.2 on my parents’ computer and started down the deep path of exploring technology in this fundamentally different alternative operating system. 
 I remember joining IRC: 
 
 Jevin: I remember typing in a password during the install, but what’s the username?
Friendly Linux Person: Oh, your username is root . 
…
TL;DR 
 
 I took on too much this year and it took a toll on my mental health. 
 I started making electronic music and found it to be a great outlet. 
 Unfortunately, I got caught up in some work drama at Humi, leading me taking on a new role as a Staff Engineer at Clio . 
 
 Check out last year’s 2022 in review 
 Fun 
 Technical Project - Cabinet Lights 
…
I’m careful about jumping on technology bandwagons too early. With ChatGPT though, I’ve been finding powerful ways to incorporate it into my daily life. 
 Below I’ll talk about how it helps me to take my rough ideas, and iterate quickly to come up with a strong result. 
 Key ideas below: 
 
 Pulling out the most convincing ideas, and emphasizing those 
…
I have a ravenous hunger to build and tinker with stuff. However, there are a few things that slow me down from being able to crush projects: 
 
 Lack of usable energy in the evenings - I work hard during the day, and prioritize spending time with my family. 
 Setup time for projects before being able to be productive. 
 Not having big blocks of time to make massive progress. 
…
Need an intro to ADHD? The most endorsed source I’ve seen is Dr. Russell Barkley’s Lecture . It’s 1.5 hours but solid level of technical depth and highly engaging. 
 Co-mobidities 
 
 Co-morbidity of ADHD and Anxiety is 25% 1 
 Adult ADHD is significantly comorbid with anxiety disorders (up to 25%) and major depression (5-20%) 2 
 oppositional defiant disorder…
Whenever I’ve joined the engineering leadership for a company and I start meeting my colleagues, the top question seems to always be: 
 Slow Delivery and Stakeholder Perceptions 
 “Why is the development of new features always so slow!?!?”. Usually what they mean is: “I have expectations that new features should be delivered faster, and it impacts my department. I…
TL;DR 
 Renovations took 5 months of my life, but the result is lovely. I’m loving 3D printing and learning about myself through the lens of being neurodiverse with ADHD. 
 Check out last year’s 2021 in review 
 Fun 
 3D Printing 
 For years, I would have a situation every two weeks where I thought to myself: 
 
 I could really use a 3D Printer to solve…

 As a family, we had not made a significant trip since going to Florida in Jan 2019. We decided in May that this was our year! I wanted to record some of the logistical stuff we tried since it might be helpful to others attempting similar travel. 
 The Actual Trip 
 Ashley likes beaches/hot places. I enjoy urban biking. We decided that Lisbon, Albufeira, and the Netherlands would fit…

 
 Repo Available 
 
 
 October 2025 - This article got so popular, I decided to put together a repo to make it even easier. Check it out and start a discussion over there: neomutt-for-gmail . Also my announcement post .
TL;DR 
 
 ADHD Diagnosis and medication was a lifechanging experience for me. I never would have guessed this was a root of a number of my life challenges 
 I tried working at a larger tech company (Zapier.com), found it too big so I’m going to an earlier stage company in January (Humi.ca) 
 
 Last year: Check out my 2020 year in review 
 Professional 
 Joining…

 How an insurance executive turned his vision for chatbot-assisted insurance quotes into a prototype to attract partners and investors 
 OVERVIEW 
 Throughout more than a decade spent in the insurance industry, Alexandre Guilbert—entrepreneur and owner of GC Assurances—had built a business case around his vision for a new automation solution. His idea was a big one: to provide…
The Danger of Hybrid Teams 
 There are some positive things about working in an office with other people: 
 
 People can have coffee/lunch together to build friendships; 
 There are watercooler conversations that could turn into “aha” moments for the team; 
 Information can be shared easily with a team member by simply walking over to someone else or standing up to…
Background 
 When someone has a software product idea they often have some sort of rough deliverable that they feel will give a clear picture of their idea to a development team. They bring me things like: 
 
 A prototype made in Word, Excel, on paper or Microsoft Paint (yes, it happens). 
 A massive spec list of features 
 A link to another established product with a rough…
Note: I have no idea why I (Jevin) sound like a robot in this episode. Sorry y’all! 
 Follow Metabase on Twitter 
 Jevin: [00:00:00] Welcome everyone to building remote teams. I’m
here with Samir from Metabase. Hello, Samir. 
 [00:00:07] Sameer: [00:00:07] Hey, Jevin, how’s it going? 
 [00:00:09] Jevin: [00:00:09] Am doing well, yes, we are still
living in…
Follow Lucile on Twitter 
 Jevin: [00:00:00] Hey, everyone. Welcome back to building remote
teams. I'm here with Lucille Foroni from Doist where you might know
them from Todoist, which is pretty popular todo list management, project
management app Lucile welcome to the show. 
 Lucile: [00:00:16] Thank you. 
 Jevin: [00:00:18] Tell us a little bit about, first of all,…
Well, shucks. 2020 was.. (insert random terrible COVID buzz words). 
 TL;DR: 
 
 Started a Covid related business that did well 
 Rough mental health issues with my family 
 
 Ref: 2019 in Review 
 Business 
 Professionally, I had both a) terrible foresight and b) ended up to be pretty lucky. 
 From my review last year, you’ll see that I spent much energy…
2019 started with a fizzle. After working with at startup as their CTO, I was abruptly let go. 
 Did it suck? Of course. 
 Was it for the best? Yes, for sure. 
 So how did the rest of the year go? 
 Business 
 Shift to “Remote Work” Consulting 
 Instead of defaulting back to my standard “Consulting CTO” offering, I decided to see if there is…

 Whether you’re a remote worker escaping the office monotony or an entrepreneur starting up your own business, managing your time when working from home is not as easy as it seems. It can take only seconds to veer off course, shifting your focus off work and landing you squarely in the realm of unproductivity. 
 To stay focused on work, you’ll have to make some sacrifices and…
Collaborating in Real-Time While Working Remotely 
 So you’ve accepted that remote employees are, or will become, a critical puzzle piece in your business’ success. Yet legitimate concerns remain, encapsulated by the general question: how will I maintain clear communication channels and quality standards without in-person access to employees and co-workers? 
 It’s a fair question. 
…
Transitioning 20 people from in-office to fully remote 
#13: Jennifer Raines-Loring( **@**jenrainesloring ) 
 Commercially-oriented human resources executive. Combining strong strategic, operational and managerial background with a true passion for people and talent functions. Experience developing comprehensive, scalable, highly efficient people operations from the ground up. Specialize…
#12: Liam Martin (@vtamethodman) 
 Liam Martin went from pro-figure skater to building a business with hundreds of remote employees. Pioneering remote work, 
Time Doctor and Staff.com not only serve employers looking to empower their remote teams but also digging into incredible 
research around the movement. 
 Find out more about his companies here: 
 
 
 Time Doctor :…
Marvin Liao (@marvinliao) 
 Marvin Liao is a Partner at 500 Startups, a global Seed Venture Capital Firm and Startup Accelerator based in San Francisco. 
 The business sectors Marvin is interested to invest include FinTech, Digital Marketing, Digital Health, IoT, Marketplace, 
 Enterprise sales, and SaaS. 
 500 Startups 
 [00:00:00] Jevin: [00:00:00] Hey everyone. We’re…

 69% of managers are afraid to communicate with their team: https://getlighthouse.com/blog/afraid-at-work-communication-feedback/ 
 Our complete guide to 1 on 1s (starting, making the most of them, etc): 
 https://getlighthouse.com/blog/one-on-one-meetings-template-great-leaders/ 
 Some of our popular remote-specific advice: 
 
 
 12 things you didn’t plan for…
Remote Team Building 
 You’re busy. Your time is precious. It would be best if you didn’t spend it on unimportant posts when you’ve got a team to run. And yet, here you are. Because you recognize how your team’s performance could improve if your team members were able to cooperate more. Maybe you have a new employee and you need some virtual team icebreakers to get them…
In professions like computer programming, writing, web design, graphic design, and many others, working remotely is rapidly becoming more common. It’s an arrangement that benefits both the employer and the employee: employees get to work from home, so they can enjoy a more relaxed schedule and can often spend more time working since they no longer have to commute. In addition, employers can move…
Shweta Saraf ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/shwetasaraf/ ) is passionate about People and Technology. She manages a team of 30+ engineers at Digital Ocean. Listen in to hear about her transition to remote and how she manages her day to day.
Daniel Pupius (@dpup) he worked on Google+ and Gmail, and co-founded the Closure library. He has an MA in Industrial Design from Sheffield University, and a BSc in Artificial Intelligence from The University of Manchester. In past lives Dan raced snowboards, jumped out of planes, and lived in the jungle. 
 Braden Kowitz (@kowitz) is passionate about creating great user experiences on the Web.…
https://dangerouslyawesome.com/ 
 Alex Hillman (@alexhillman) builds communities, started one of the longest-running coworking communities in the world, write a crapload of words every day, tweet a little too much, coach people to be the best version of themselves possible, can’t stop learning new things, and does his very best not to take himself too seriously.
Matt Davey has been at 1Password for the past 6 years, he leads design, content and marketing as Chief Operations Optimist. He helped create 1Password Families, Teams and Business, designing a completely new way to use 1Password with a web management site, including business features like reporting and a complete redesign for handling larger teams.
Leonard Souza ( **@**jslauthor ) A creative who codes. A coder who creates. A writer. A lively problem-solver with logic bending analytical skills and clever design thinking. Leonard Souza is a life-long learner helplessly drawn to the sublime space where design, technology and narrative intersect. He’s written a fun tale , hosts a writing podcast (Bleeding Ink, no longer online), builds killer…
Kyle Zappitell ( **@**kylezapp ) Is an entrepreneur who loves making software, hardware, and small businesses. Currently running a start up full-time, Portal Spaces, who’s mission is to bring people thousands of miles away from each other, together to collaborate. He is also experienced in software development, product management and design.
“Mild positive and mild negative feedback helps build trust.” - Taylor Jacobson 
 https://www.focusmate.com/ 
 Taylor Jacobson ( **@**TaylorJacobson ) is the Founder & CEO of FocusMate (@focusmate) a tool changes the way you work by connecting you to other professionals who have committed to being accountable for finishing their most important work. 
 A startup founder,…
“Mild positive and mild negative feedback helps build trust.” - Ryan Sydnor 
 Ryan Sydnor(@rtsydnor) Is the Co-Founder of Grow (no longer online), a slack tool that facilitates personal growth through continuous and actionable feedback. 
 In this Episode, Ryan and Jevin Discuss how getting feedback as an employee and especially remote employees are essential to growing the team…
“Face to face video calls builds relationships more than text.” - Dan Manian 
 Dan Manian(@danmanian) Experienced entrepreneur and leader with expertise in product strategy and roadmap development, design thinking, rapid prototyping, customer development, and building and leading teams. best known for co-founding Donut an app that is changing the way companies onboard, engage, and…