Reader,

Yeah, yeah, I know. I talked a big game about "daily emails" and then missed yesterday's.

For good reason, too.

I was recording almost 2 hours of video for the Social QA Bootcamp course.

I was up til 2 in the morning recording video content to accompany several key lessons in the course using my favorite tool, Cap.

Don't be surprised if you find their app a little buggy if you decide to try it. It's free for unlimited video downloads, which beats Loom. That's why they're my favorite. I've also done some QA for them recently after I reported a bug, but maybe that's for another email.

​

There's a meme going around because of some Rolex fanboy:

But I agree with the concept of taking on debt that helps you invest in yourself. Not a dumb watch, an actual investment in your future that can get you to your goals faster.

(again, not a dumb overpriced watch)

At the same time, I can't stand seeing bootcamps gouge hopeful tech professionals with a $4K+ price tag for the exact same result as thousands of other students.

You know what really makes you stand out? Not some bootcamp name anymore. If you don't believe me, don't take my word for it. Ask Evgeny Kim, who put out a banger video about this -- it's only 5 minutes long and tells you everything you need to know about the QA market right now.

and why bootcamps might be a waste of money for you (or not).

It was published a year ago but will ring true for anyone going into the 2025 job market.

​

The tldr; of that video is you don't need a bootcamp...unless you need a bootcamp.

There is no longer a "cheat code" to get a job "faster". Everyone's doing bootcamps now, so they're no longer special.

You're not gonna stand out just because you completed one. But they give you structure, if that's what you need, for much less than a university degree. So if you need that level of accountability and support, you should invest in something like that.

But what if you want to save your hard-earned money?

Why even spend $4000? All the knowledge they teach you in these bootcamps is free.

​

What if I told you you could find your own mentors?

What if you could design your own accountability systems that work for you?

What if you didn't have to settle for "what helps 80% of people" and developed a skill set that freed you from "standardized" curriculums forever?

​

That's what I'm offering in Social QA Bootcamp.

I've made friends with mentors and professionals who don't charge me a dime for asking questions.

I've built custom solutions for myself to solve my own problems.

I've surrounded myself with people who are willing to hold me accountable, and developed my own accountability systems for myself along the way.

​

You see, if you can give yourself everything a bootcamp offers you, their value proposition goes away.

And when I launch Social QA Bootcamp on New Year's Day, you're going to get first dibs on my brand new system for a ridiculous price of $100.

My mentors told me I was extremely undercharging, and now so are my students.

If you think I'll charge $100 next year too when I relaunch it, think again.

​

I'm not just competing with bootcamps. I'm giving you the power to choose your own path.

But yeah, you'll learn some cool skills along the way that won't age out any time soon:

○ Test automation with Playwright & TypeScript for Amazon.com

○ Using Cursor's AI chat & composer tools for writing, learning, and coding tasks

○ Testing a real app (I use it every day, you're testing a clone of it)

○ Writing effective LinkedIn content

○ Contributing to the QA community in a memorable way

​

And more. But it's only gonna be this price once.

Hang on, because it launches on Wednesday at noon.

​

Stay tuned. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go finish narrating the entire course and embedding the dictations as SoundCloud audio players.

​

Cheers,

Steven