[jqcoffey]

I started doing impactful things by listening to friends express a need for something (like a shopping cart for their auto parts catalog circa 1998) and just doing it (they of course offered to pay me). I had no real clue what I was doing in code at that time, and had to learn a ton to get the job done.

Looking back on my career, taking vague requirements and turning them into something useful after a hard slog through unfamiliar territory is pretty much the common thread in all my successes.