A Phoenix's Path to Principal

05/12/25 • 97 min

From implementing minesweeper on a TI calculator to becoming a prolific open source maintainer, Evan Phoenix has had quite the journey. In this week's episode, Matt & Angelica sit down with Evan to discuss his journey, from his early days writing basic on his TI calculator, to writing an alternative implementation of Ruby, being GitHub user #7, becoming a Principal Engineer at Hashicorp, starting his own company (with his wife!), and so much more. This episode is packed with life lessons and advice helpful for everyone, from the most junior of engineers to the most seasoned VPs.

A few of the chapters of this week's episode are supporter only content, including long conversations about Evan's involvement with Ruby and a deep discussion of his interesting habit of being an early adopter. Get access by signing up at https://fallthrough.fm/subscribe.

Thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

Notes:

Table of Contents:

Prologue (01:11)
Chapter 1: The Beginning (02:34)
Chapter 2: Building In Open Source [Supporter Exclusive] (28:26)
Chapter 3: The Path To Principal (29:27)
Chapter 4: Post Hashicorp (54:21)
Chapter 5: Miren (01:00:31)
Chapter 6: Being Early [Supporter Exclusive] (01:05:37)
Chapter 7: East vs West [Supporter Exclusive] (01:05:37)
Chapter 8: Remote vs In Office [Supporter Exclusive] (01:05:37)
Chapter 9: Life With Work (01:07:09)
Chapter 10: The Open Source Funding Problem (01:25:36)
Epilogue (01:34:16)

Hosts

Matthew Sanabria - Host
Angelica Hill - Producer
Kris Brandow - Producer
Evan Phoenix - Guest

Socials:

Website
Bluesky
Threads
X/Twitter
LinkedIn
Instagram
(01:11) - Prologue
(02:34) - Chapter 1: The Beginning
(28:26) - Chapter 2: Building In Open Source [Supporter Exclusive]
(29:27) - Chapter 3: The Path To Principal
(54:21) - Chapter 4: Post Hashicorp
(01:00:31) - Chapter 5: Miren
(01:05:37) - Chapter 6: Being Early [Supporter Exclusive]
(01:05:37) - Chapter 7: East vs West [Supporter Exclusive]
(01:05:37) - Chapter 8: Remote vs In Office [Supporter Exclusive]
(01:07:09) - Chapter 9: Life With Work
(01:25:36) - Chapter 10: The Open Source Funding Problem
(01:34:16) - Epilogue

Thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

Notes:

Table of Contents:

Prologue (01:11)
Chapter 1: The Beginning (02:34)
Chapter 2: Building In Open Source [Supporter Exclusive] (28:26)
Chapter 3: The Path To Principal (29:27)
Chapter 4: Post Hashicorp (54:21)
Chapter 5: Miren (01:00:31)
Chapter 6: Being Early [Supporter Exclusive] (01:05:37)
Chapter 7: East vs West [Supporter Exclusive] (01:05:37)
Chapter 8: Remote vs In Office [Supporter Exclusive] (01:05:37)
Chapter 9: Life With Work (01:07:09)
Chapter 10: The Open Source Funding Problem (01:25:36)
Epilogue (01:34:16)

Hosts

Matthew Sanabria - Host
Angelica Hill - Producer
Kris Brandow - Producer
Evan Phoenix - Guest

Socials:

Website
Bluesky
Threads
X/Twitter
LinkedIn
Instagram
(01:11) - Prologue
(02:34) - Chapter 1: The Beginning
(28:26) - Chapter 2: Building In Open Source [Supporter Exclusive]
(29:27) - Chapter 3: The Path To Principal
(54:21) - Chapter 4: Post Hashicorp
(01:00:31) - Chapter 5: Miren
(01:05:37) - Chapter 6: Being Early [Supporter Exclusive]
(01:05:37) - Chapter 7: East vs West [Supporter Exclusive]
(01:05:37) - Chapter 8: Remote vs In Office [Supporter Exclusive]
(01:07:09) - Chapter 9: Life With Work
(01:25:36) - Chapter 10: The Open Source Funding Problem
(01:34:16) - Epilogue

Previous Episode

The Language of Data Visualization

Little languages are powerful. From text processing with AWK to calculations with APL, domain specific languages help us do things more concisely and with more precision than with other languages. Anthony Starks knows this well, as he's designed several little languages, including decksh, the focus of this episode, which allows users to create powerful presentations without the hassle of pushing around pixels in Powerpoint. He joins Angelica and Matt to discuss the background of why he created these languages, how they work, and so much more. And we have some fantastic unpopular opinions to round out the episode.

This episode's supporter content is truly fantastic. It includes an extended conversation where the group discusses data visualization in depth, including how Anthony was able to recreate graphics from W. E. B. Du Bois that are challenging or impossible to recreate with regular data visualization tools. Get access by signing up at https://fallthrough.fm/subscribe.

Thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

Notes:

Table of Contents:

Prologue (01:29)
Chapter 1: Why Make DSLs? (04:49)
Chapter 2: decksh (09:57)
Chapter 3: Visualizing Data [Supporter Only] (23:34)
Chapter 4: Documentation (24:22)
Chapter 5: Metaprogramming (37:33)
Chpater 6: Good Tools (45:13)
Appendix UNPOP: Unpopular Opinions (54:23)
Epilogue (01:08:21)

Hosts

Anthony Starks - Guest
Angelica Hill - Producer
Matthew Sanabria - Host
Kris Brandow - Producer

Socials:

Website
Bluesky
Threads
X/Twitter
LinkedIn
Instagram
(01:29) - Prologue
(04:49) - Chapter 1: Why Make DSLs?
(09:57) - Chapter 2: decksh

Next Episode

Blown Glass Half-Full of WebAssembly & SQLite

From deploying WebAssembly all over the world, to using SQLite to keep track of distributed data, to blowing glass, this episode is quite the adventure! Your co-hosting power duo of Matt and Angelica are joined by Danielle Lancashire, a Principal Engineer at Fermyon, to navigate this discussion filled with insights and advice.

This episode's extended content includes two chapters: one about the groups thoughts on artificial intelligence and another on the local tech scenes across the world. Get access by signing up at https://fallthrough.fm/subscribe.

Thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

Notes: