Terms

"I was raised and was born in Southern Vermont," starts Max Mackson of Maximilian Mackson, LLC. I went to homeschool until high school. This provided me with an opportunity to work in front of the computer. I was able to learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript these are the three languages used on the web, and continued to tinker with side projects."

At the age of a teenager, Max entered a play program. "I was taught how to be professional; we were directed by an extremely very strict director. I'm happy we went through as he taught me how to be punctual and ensure that you are well-prepared," he adds. Max's first IT work experience came around at the time of this interview. "Between my junior and sophomore years of high school, I worked at a club for country clubs within the town. I was there twice a week, updating their site. And it was God awful! They were using a bizarre third-party software; it took half an hour to complete tasks that made use of WordPress would take just two minutes." He explains.

Face-to-face conversations with people while fixing the tech certainly helped the process, says he. "I'm addicted to relationships with people. I get a lot of worth from my friendships. During the season at the country club, the club was operating at its peak all the time. This meant that if the printer in the kitchen failed, I needed to get in the kitchen, I had to get in. It was hot and bustling everybody was moving around me. We felt "in the zone' instantly!"

Max enjoyed seeing first-hand the results of the work he was doing, in attempting to overcome the difficult relationship we have with technology sometimes. "When I was working with other people and I would say to them "OK I've put an update on this machine It was my job to find out what the impact of the update was to them, or if they had any questions. I was able to see the different perspectives and discover the reactions of people to technology are. A lot of IT people will simply affirm, "Oh, this is how things work today; there's a new version" which causes a lot of irritation for me. I love working with others."

Max discovered that having an understanding in technology could help the lives of people. During the country club years, his dislike for printers started to surface "They aren't working as you would like they to!" he smiles. He says that a significant part of his working time was comprised of fixing machinery; working with them taught him the architecture of systems "I ended up having to overhaul every system they had throughout the time. Still, I do work for them," he adds.

He's fumbling about completely by himself

For formal education, Max went to Champlain College located in northern Vermont however, he learned much more than what is taught in the traditional syllabus. "I was one of the twelve students studying information technology. This was absolutely hilarious, because when I was in school, they decided that they would end this particular program! We were taken into a room where they said"Hey you guys! So you'll be able to finish your degree. We're just not going to provide your degree after this semester""

Max started working in the field of audio-visual because of his experience at the theatre. "That means more fixing of the technology because all the classrooms relied upon the use of a computer with an electronic processor, projector and projection screen," Max continues. "When the technology failed and we had to walk through classrooms full of people and everybody would look at us. We'd then sit at the table and change for a bulb in the projector!"

"I went to college for just two years; I left due to the fact that I found it extremely unresponsive. The internet is moving fast and once you've finished having to learn something at university, the subject may be outdated and in use. Professors have to learn and to teach it to students, it may take some time," Max adds.

Naturally, the rate of technological development hasn't slowed even a bit - rather, it's increased and the pace and goal of schooling in formal schools ultimately caused Max to start his own business. The reason he quit was due to the fact that his plan for the future were not as clear as those of his school: "They liked to say that they had 99percent of their students working immediately after graduation - that's awesome. They are however, determined to ensure that all students are able to get into work. I like having a conversation with others, but not due to that as it was not appealing to me."

So, Max struck out by himself and began the search to find his first potential client. He'd just attended an online training course, and the instructor wanted to hear feedback from his students. Max recalls: "I sent one in to practice my writing skills. However, on the back I added 'PS- If you could help someone, would please let me know'. The man then replied "Well, what's the best thing you've got to accomplish?'"

Max went through the site and wrote a logical set of modifications: "No BS, just direct to the point" and Max received a prompt response: "Text me" along with a number. "That was how I got the job I was looking for. To this day, he's one of my most loyal clients!" Max smiles.

Services and projects

"You must deal with all these diverse components of software that power businesses, but none of them is talking to each other. I'm the person who can see that software communicating perfectly," Max says. Max explains how this results in an efficient system that is able to increase business productivity while cutting the amount of time and energy. "I consider myself to be an integrator of systems and systems architects. A lot of people, including my parents simply call me the IT person!" the joke goes.

Max claims that the typical person's stack of tech could include 100 pieces of software in silos. "You must connect all of them to each other in order for them to speak to each other. My first project was working with a few customers on designing websites, and I began to focus on integration in April of 2021 as one of my clients wanted to create a membership-only community."

Max was working with that client, who was a health influencer as well as an evangelist for a few months and was having an amazing time. Max did not have any prior experience regarding memberships. However, the fact that he had some knowledge of what the issues were going to be. "I found myself researching a bunch of software to join. I've developed a system for conducting my research. I go through diverse lists of what's the best software. Then I'll mix them all together."

Max picks the right software that provides the most optimal experience for users both from the admin and the client's perspective to reduce customers time in the course of time. Simplicity is crucial. "I am able to operate in a more complicated setting, but I can observe once something gets to an extent that it's no longer usable to everyday citizens. There are people who want to purchase some item, and would like to be able to get it. It's normal: whenever one registers on the site I'd be able to observe the expression on their face. I'd then begin explaining what they were doing and their eyes were glazed!"

The ways of integration, and the future

"Integrations may appear to be complicated," Max muses. "They come in different forms and different types and levels. So, to get an native connection like Mailchimp you click a few buttons and your integration is accepted and ready to go. It's possible to create integrated systems that don't require code, like Zapier's Zaps; and entirely custom ground-up connections where you create everything from the beginning."

"Generally I am in the area of low-code that is not to be because it's generally beneficial for my customers. In one instance, my client wanted me to go into great detail on the integration. They were looking to get the same features that native integration offers, however through Zapier. I had to use several dozen Zaps to get the whole system wired to appear native. I needed to insert certain code that was customized."

What was remarkable was the amount of people that took part. "The the first day that we started the initiative, we had over 50,000 jobs in the process, which was crazy! It needed to be improved substantially to ensure it was profitable. I got it down to an average of less than 5000 jobs per day. This is pretty impressive."

He adds: "That was the first time I was able to work on such a large-scale project using Zapier. I've had the privilege of working on a variety of projects over the years including those that focused on design as well as others that were more technical, but this one was the most notable."

This larger scale of innovation is the driving force behind Max's future. Max says that: "Longer term, I intend to design software specifically that is designed for businesses." Max says that his opinions on software is a bit broader due to the fact that it is a major component of his career and because a lot of software programs have gotten worse with time. "It is getting heavy and slow. It's difficult to use anymore. The software is constantly making UI adjustments that make it more difficult. As of now, a lot of people think that software is just a prank!"

He says he's trying to offer a better user experience that is simpler and more intuitive for the end-user. "It's at the beginning of the development stagebut I've got several interesting ideas. It's likely to be about six months off, since I work on my own most often. I'm not keen on dealing with agencies. They offer an idea to an unknown developer, and then lock inside the closet! I'm not happy in that setting and prefer working with people only one-on-one."

Max shares his latest thoughts to subscribers of his List (which Max affectionately refers to by the name of "#MilianFam"). Additionally, as an exclusive offer to those who are new to the list, he's created an exclusive bonus course in the time of writing this blog, isn't available elsewhere, for any price.

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