Hello World

The reality behind the headlines

Cloudquery just raised $16M and doubled their team size. The tech press covered it as another startup success story. What the headlines didn't mention was the 35% reduction in force that came a few weeks later.

If you've worked in startups long enough, this probably doesn't surprise you. There's often a disconnect between the public narrative and internal reality; especially when investor revenue targets meet product-market fit challenges. But experiencing it firsthand still hits different.

Hi, I'm Stephen (Steve) Morgan, and welcome to my corner of the internet.

Who I am (and where I'm at)

I'm a Software, DevOps, and Infrastructure Engineer who's spent the better part of the last decade building systems that scale. I work primarily in Go, Rust, and various IAC/config management tools, mostly in AWS with some GCP and Azure thrown in over the years. I deploy applications to Kubernetes, store data in Postgres and Clickhouse, and monitor everything with Grafana and Prometheus-based tools.

Currently, I'm navigating that weird space between "what was" and "what's next." You know the feeling—when your LinkedIn shows "Open to Work" but your brain is still processing what just happened.

Yes, I'm starting a consultancy and SaaS company called Vexara Labs. But this blog isn't about that. Vexara Labs will have its own space for business content. This is stevemorgan.dev; my personal space to think out loud about being a software engineer in 2025, complete with all the messy, non-linear parts of a technical career.

The layoff story (because context matters)

Getting laid off from a company that just raised funding is a special kind of cognitive dissonance. On paper, everything looks great. In reality, the product we'd been building wasn't generating the revenue growth that apparently came with some very specific expectations attached to that $16M.

The math is pretty simple: investors expect returns, returns require revenue, and when the numbers don't add up fast enough, people become the variable that gets adjusted. Thirty-five percent of us, to be exact.

I'm not bitter about it, honestly, it might be exactly what I needed. Sometimes the universe pushes you out of comfort zones you didn't even realize you were in. But I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a weird emotional cocktail of "this sucks" and "maybe this is my shot."

If you've been through something similar, you know the feeling. If you haven't yet, well... welcome to tech. It happens to most of us eventually.

What this blog is (and isn't)

This blog is:

Personal reflections on being a software engineer in 2025
Technical deep-dives on problems I'm solving (both professionally and in side projects)
Career navigation through the messy, non-linear reality of working in tech
Honest takes on industry trends, tools, and technologies from someone who's actually using them
Learning in public—sharing both successes and spectacular failures

This blog isn't:

A Vexara Labs marketing channel (seriously, that has its own space)
Only about entrepreneurship or starting companies
Always serious (expect some levity and probably some rants about Terraform state management)
A place where I pretend to have all the answers

I'm figuring things out in real-time, just like most of us.

What you can expect

Technical content

I'll write about infrastructure problems I'm actually solving. Kubernetes deployments that work, AWS configurations that don't make you cry, Terraform modules that other humans can understand. I'll also share adventures from my home lab—I run Proxmox at home and use it as a playground for testing infrastructure ideas without the fear of breaking production systems.

Career and industry reality

The startup world is wild, and I think we need more honest conversations about what it's actually like to work in tech. Layoffs, remote work dynamics, technical debt politics, the job search as a senior engineer—all fair game.

Personal projects and learning

Side projects keep me sane and learning. I'll document what I'm building, why I'm building it, and what I learn along the way. Open source contributions, conference talks I'm working on, books I'm reading—the stuff that happens when you're passionate about technology beyond just your day job.

Why I'm doing this

Writing helps me process and learn. The tech industry needs more human voices and honest perspectives about what it's actually like to build software for a living. If my experiences help even one engineer navigate similar challenges, it's worth the time investment.

Plus, building in public creates accountability. When you say you're going to learn something or build something, having an audience (even a small one) makes you more likely to follow through.

What's coming next

I've got a few posts already outlined:

"The Layoff Retrospective" - What I learned from the Cloudquery experience, both technical and personal "My Home Lab Setup" - Proxmox, networking, and the infrastructure experiments that keep me busy "The Job Search as a Senior Engineer" - Real talk about interviewing, negotiations, and what companies actually want

I'm aiming for consistency over frequency. Better to write something valuable monthly than to burn out trying to post weekly.

Building community

I'd love to hear from folks who are navigating similar transitions or just want to discuss the technical challenges we all face. While this static site doesn't have comments, I'm always up for real conversations about technology, careers, and the intersection of the two.

If you're dealing with layoffs, considering career changes, or just want honest technical content without the marketing fluff, you're in the right place. Reach out using the Contact link above—I actually read and respond to messages.

Connect with me

Want to know more about my background? Check out the About page where you can also download my resume. If you want to reach out directly, use the Contact link in the header. I'm always interested in connecting with fellow engineers, whether you're looking to discuss technical challenges, career transitions, or just want to say hello.

The bigger picture

This blog exists because careers aren't linear and the industry doesn't always prepare us for that reality. Whether you're dealing with layoffs, considering career changes, building side projects, or just want to read about infrastructure without vendor pitch decks, you're welcome here.

Let's figure this out together; the technology parts and the human parts.

Thanks for reading, and welcome to the journey.

Steve Morgan
Software, DevOps, and Infrastructure Engineer
Currently: Figuring it out in North Carolina