My First Tech Job at 18 — And What a Porn Company Taught Me About Career Growth
The real story behind opportunity, rejection, and what it means to put yourself out there
At 18 years old, I was broke in San Francisco.
I had scholarship money for school and just enough for the basics. But I wanted more than survival — I wanted industry experience. Not an internship where you get handed basic tasks. A real job that would put me four years ahead of every engineer who waited until after graduation to start.
So I started applying everywhere. Monster. Craigslist. Anywhere that might take a chance on an 18-year-old whose main credential was placing second in a national web development competition.
I was getting rejected constantly.
The pitch that nobody wanted
This was during the early wave of cannabis culture in San Francisco. Dispensaries were opening everywhere, and I could see that none of them had a real web presence. People had to physically walk in to find out what was on the menu.
So I started going to dispensaries, asking to see the manager, and pitching myself. "I'm going to school for this. I've competed at a national level in web development. You need a web presence — let me build it."
I was getting shut down left and right.
One day I'm at a dispensary in downtown San Francisco. I ask for the manager. He says: "No thanks. We have people." They didn't have people — it was years before they got a real web presence. But that's beside the point.
I sat down at a table, a little dejected. And this gentleman across from me — suited and booted — looked over and said: "It's hard when you're on the outside trying to get in. Tell me about yourself."
The business card I almost dismissed
I gave him my elevator pitch. He handed me his business card and said: "Justin, you ever want a job, call me."
I looked at the card. The company was called Game Link. I thought: gaming company, that's cool.
That night I went to gamelink.com.
It was not a gaming company.
It was a porn company.
I was 18. Working at a porn company sounded interesting. But beyond the novelty — porn companies have high traffic, low latency, and high uptime requirements. These companies have genuinely good tech infrastructure. So I called him.
What I actually learned from that job
This was the early era of responsive web design. CSS3 animations, drop shadows, rounded corners — all the things we used to hack together with image files and sprites. I brought all of that to their application and immediately started seeing improvements in load times and rendering performance.
It was real work, at real scale, at 18. I learned what high-volume traffic actually felt like. I learned that the first job doesn't have to be the perfect job — it just has to give you something to build on.
I eventually transitioned to the California State Parks Foundation — better alignment with my values, better pay. But the foundation I built at that first job made the transition possible.
My opportunity was hidden in a rejection. If I hadn't put myself out there, if I hadn't been rejected in front of someone else, that opportunity may never have presented itself.
What this story is really about
Putting yourself out there is not just applying for jobs on LinkedIn. That's the easiest thing to do. When you put yourself out there — when other people know what you're looking for — they can actually help you.
I was pitching dispensaries, yes. But more importantly, I was visible. I was in rooms. I was making my search known to people who might know someone else. And someone overheard a rejection and saw something worth investing in.
That's how opportunities actually work. Not through the cleanest application or the most polished resume — but through persistence, visibility, and being willing to show up even when you keep getting told no.
Lessons that still guide me
- Your opportunity is often hidden inside a rejection. Stay visible long enough for someone to see it.
- Unconventional paths lead to unconventional advantages. The first job sets up the next one.
- Until you try something, you don't know what you'll like or be good at. Learn fast.
- Putting yourself out there means more than applying online. It means letting people know what you're after.
There are people out there willing to take a chance on you. It starts with you being willing to take a chance on yourself.
Why are you waiting to put yourself out there?