The co-founder of ng-conf built HeroDevs around a problem software likes to leave behind: people still depend on the old version. His route there ran through support calls, JavaScript meetups and a conference he wanted to attend.

An eight-week software delay taught Aaron Mitchell what “free” could cost. Now the HeroDevs co-founder and CEO is building a business around the work everyone hopes can wait.

After three decades in B2B technology, the HeroDevs CMO has reduced her operating philosophy to a clean test: keep what works, remove what does not, and never lose the people inside the system.