Work
I run Survant James. We are a high-end boutique software consulting firm—an engine that turns heaping piles of money into highly refined software ingots. We are weird as hell, and we’re insanely good at what we do.
I’ve been getting paid to sling software for quite some time. I’ve worked with startups, government, agencies, non-profits, and megacorps. I have an unusual breadth and depth of software engineering experience across languages, platforms, and paradigms. You name it, I’ve probably worked with it.
These days, I leverage over 15 years of design, engineering, and project management experience to lead teams that consistently deliver quality software. I am both rigorously detail-oriented and capable of executing on large, high-level initiatives.
I think strategically about organizational goals and relationships, advise and mentor engineers, and help groups of people working toward a common goal make good decisions.
Play
I like to ride bikes. I ride fast, take the lane, track-stand at intersections, and drag race motorists up hills. I’m that idiot in all black, with no lights and no brakes, whip-skidding around corners in the rain and beating a whole line of cars to the next intersection.
Aviation has fascinated me since I was a small child. I own a sailplane and I am on the board of the Willamette Valley Soaring Club for 2016. Soaring is a hell of a thing—an unpowered glider can remain aloft for hours, climb tens of thousands of feet, and cover hundreds of miles of ground. I like to say it gets me closer to God, and it feels like breaking every possible rule.
Principles
Biodiversity and wild, open, unfarmed spaces are important to me. I support the Portland Audubon Society and the Oregon Sierra Club.
I encourage people to examine what they really want out of life, stop asking for permission, take control over their situations, and empower those around them.
I recognize and am sensitive to issues of systemic injustice in our society.
Contact
Twitter: @bvanderveen
Github: @bvanderveen
Instagram: @bvanderveen
Email: b c/o bvanderveen.com