The vanity section

About Me

My background, my work, and more.

Ryan McGrath sandboarding Ryan McGrath at Black hat 2022 Ryan on a cliff Ryan on a Motorcycle

Hello!

I'm Ryan McGrath, a full-stack engineer/entrepreneur hybrid who likes to think he's not incapable when it comes to design. I'm self-taught, and so far have worked all over the world, from Berlin, to Tokyo, to the Bay Area, and more. I've consulted with companies of all sizes, from startup to conglomerate, and I'm always interested in new opportunities. These days I can be found in Seattle, and prior to that I hacked on startups in Tokyo and DC (I originally hail from Washington DC).

In addition to all of the above, I really enjoy teaching and mentoring in programming and technology. I use this space to write about whatever I feel like, and to archive my past writing work. I've written for and edited tech magazines in the past, although the content here these days is mostly personal. Depending on how busy I am with other projects, there might be a delay in some of my writing pieces showing up here, but trust me - I'm not dead.

My History

I've been fortunate enough to work with a slew of great companies and startups. I started my professional career at Webs.com (acquired), where I worked for four years on the UI Engineering team, eventually managing it. After I left there I did a brief stint at AngelList, but left as I wanted to travel the world a bit more. I wound up working with Gengo (acquired) in Tokyo shortly afterwards, as both a senior engineer and technical evangelist.

After that, I bounced around with a bunch of consulting and iOS development before moving to try my own startup in Tokyo. I've had the pleasure and privilege of working with some really amazingly talented individuals and companies (Technicolor, DrawQuest, Vice, FastMail, Plaid, 10x Management & Consulting, Atlas Lane, and more) over the course of my career, and I can only hope that trend continues.

In 2019, I founded SecretKeys to focus on building products that focus on user privacy with a high bar for user experience. We consult with companies who work on existing projects in this space as well - if this sounds like you, feel free to get in touch.

To learn more, check out my resume, or email me for more information. If LinkedIn is your thing, you can connect with me here.

Professional Bio

Ryan McGrath is an entrepreneur and engineer with enough experience in UI/UX to be dangerous. He's currently consulting and hacking on his own projects, and has worked and consulted with companies all over the world (Webs.com, Gengo, Technicolor). He enjoys teaching, running, and well-crafted action sequences.

[Keep Alive Packet]

I've kept a personal website for over a decade now, although the domain has changed once or twice. As more and more of the web trends towards social networks, I've found I enjoy having one space that's just totally mine. If you ever happened upon a site named "Veno Designs" (which is a weird name itself), that's where all this content used to live. This entire paragraph may or may not be in here for the sole purpose of ensuring that search engines pick this up for the "Veno Designs" search term.

About This Site

This site is a mostly static endeavor, using a customized variant of the Zola Static Site Generator. It's been modified to pull in my work from Twitter, GitHub and Dribbble, and automatically republishes this site periodically throughout the day to reflect any changes that happen on those profiles. I run most of my personal stuff on a VPS from SSDNodes (affiliate link), who provide stellar VPS deals with rock solid uptime and support.

I use SVG icons throughout here, sourced from The Noun Project. The design is original, and a bit simpler than my past ones - I opted to experiment with flat colors and typography choices instead of intense graphics (the theme changes depending on your system preferences, too - dark mode users rejoice). If you're a font geek, check out the Colophon to learn more. The site should be mobile optimized, but depending on your device it may differ slightly. Go figure.

Looking for a Consultation?

I periodically advise and consult with startups that I find interesting. If you've got a question, problem, or just want some advice, feel free to email me and I'd be happy to take a look.

Ryan around the Web