Josh Barker
CEO at ThinkTank Thought Leadership
Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
Summary
👤
Senior🎓
Top SchoolJosh Barker is a software engineer turned founder and CEO who has spent 13 years translating engineering rigor into market traction for startups and enterprises. After a decade in code and a Silicon Valley startup that failed spectacularly, he codified that lesson into Traction First™, a methodology and #1 best-selling book series used to accelerate validated growth. He now leads City Innovations, Traction Labs, ThinkTank, and Hivemind AI, building systems that turn $1 into $10 by compressing months of guesswork into weeks of rapid experimentation and AI-powered validation. Trusted by universities and corporations like Consumers Energy and the University of Chicago, he focuses on stalled growth, new venture launches, AI adoption, and M&A rollouts. A mentor at the University of Chicago and holder of an MBA in Global Business, he blends hands-on product experience with operator-level playbooks for leaders who need predictable traction. Less obvious: his practice treats traction as an engineering discipline—complete with repeatable OS, certifications, and studio models—rather than a marketing campaign.
14 years of coding experience
17 years of employment as a software developer
Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) Global Business, Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) Global Business at Cornerstone UniversityGrand Valley State UniversityBachelor's Degree Computer Information Systems, Bachelor's Degree Computer Information Systems at Davenport UniversityHudsonville High School
English
Stackoverflow
1,223reputation
69kreached
26answers
19questions
Github Skills (23)
stored-procedures10
code-coverage10
sql-server9
sql8
openai6
domain-driven-design6
oauth6
inversion-of-control6
api6
java6
cordova6
anthropic5
cordova-plugin5
codepush4
python1
Programming languages (3)
Github contributions (5)
jbarker7/sqlcc
Aug 2012 - Oct 2015
SQL Code Coverage - SQLCC is a code coverage tool that allows developers the ability to track which lines of code within stored procedures, functions, and triggers have been tested in SQL server by integration tests written by the developer.
Contributions:22 commits, 2 pushes, 10 comments in 3 years 2 months
code-coveragesqlsql-serverstored-procedures
RallyAll/momy
Jun 2016 - Sep 2016
Contributions:4 pushes in 2 months
mysql-replicationmysqldatabasereplicationmongodb
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