[speedplane]

This isn't for everyone, but after working as a software dev for 3 years I went to law school. Because I had a technical background, I was immediately pegged to be a patent attorney. I know, most software developers hate patents, but most of the work is not as evil as it seems in the press.

There are often real disputes, between real companies, on patented ideas that are incredibly similar. Having a solid technical foundation is necessary to fully understand what's going on. As a patent litigator, you generally get to work on 2 or 3 cases at a time, often involving different technology, and you get to become the expert in them. I personally worked on Bluetooth, H.264, and crazy image processing algorithms, among many others. The downside of course, is that while you deal with tech and learn about it, you're now on the outside. You don't make anything, and the job is stressful, but for the right person, it can be a good fit.

[ablekh]

It seems that you still have found some middle ground between software engineering and law by creating Docket Alarm. :-) Congratulations, it seems like a nice and useful platform. Apparently, it is Django-based, though I'm curious about what are other components of your stack (e.g., for mobile app and analytics).

[speedplane]

> It seems that you still have found some middle ground between software engineering and law by creating Docket Alarm.

Yup, for me, it was the right balance. If you want to start a company, learn engineering, then learn something else, then build something for that something else.

> Apparently, it is Django-based, though I'm curious about what are other components of your stack

I use Django, jquery, elasticsearch, and google app engine 4 years ago. For analytics, I have used so many platforms and have built a bunch of custom stuff. Sadly, no native mobile app, but the site is fully responsive.

I'm pretty skeptical of taking my past decisions and re-applying them today. Today, parts of it (especially jquery) seem outdated, I'd probably choose vue. Even Python, which is generally great, is causing pain today (moving 2.x to 3.x; performance for a number of corner cases). App Engine used to be an incredible platform, but google has stripped so many features from it that it's hard to describe it today as a real PaaS.