Leaving Big Tech to Build in Public
From engineering leadership at Equinix to launching products of my own
Hey, thanks a lot for being here. I’m Travis Irby. I recently left my corporate tech job to build my own web products and to connect with people doing the same. |  |
Brief-ish Backstory —
For the last eight years, my Packet & Equinix journey was amazing and demanding. I joined Packet in 2018 (~50 people at the time) as a Senior frontend engineer. My first week was at IFX, Packet’s parking lot conference in Vegas. That was the vibe and it was awesome: Bare Metal servers as a service (before big tech was doing it).🤘
Packet IFX 2018, casino parking lot, shoutout Jacob Smith & Ty Gibbons for your creative minds!
I moved into engineering management while still at Packet, then got thrown into navigating the complex politics of an acquisition and rebrand by Equinix (fortune 500 megacorp). Ultimately, with supportive mentors, I figured it out and was promoted twice at Equinix.
In late 2024, Equinix made the decision to shutdown Equinix Metal as a product. My team was impacted heavily. I had the opportunity to continue my journey at Equinix, but I felt strongly it was time to go in a different direction..
I’m putting myself out there, on youtube, X, and LinkedIn. I want to showcase building software leveraging the latest in AI tooling. I also want to connect with people interested and involved in cutting-edge tech.
Secondly, I’ve formed a small team of developers and designers I know and trust. My goal is to bootstrap our own products and help others build theirs. Please message me if you want to discuss a project. Our niche is delightful, production-ready, full stack web applications.
In this and future VibetoLaunch Weekly Updates, I’ll be sending you the latest on our projects, plus how things are going overall, what we are learning, what is working/not working. Buckle up!
VibetoLaunch Weekly Updates (5/22/25)
Travis-Vibes Youtube channel Launched! 🚀
On my youtube channel I’ll be building web apps publicly, using the latest AI tools. Also showcasing VibetoLaunch projects, and projects made by other cool folks who deserve more exposure.
In my first video series, I am vibe coding a fully working House Painting web app, not coding anything myself. AI is coding it all!
Stay tuned for next week’s update where I’ll dive deeper into my vibe coded web app, the AI tools I’m leveraging and more!
Positive Vibes Always - Travis