Competitive Programming Changed My Life Forever 💭💡🎈

Here’s How Leveraging Your Information Advantage Can Change Yours Too.

Dec 26, 2024

I’m writing to you from Gothenburg, Sweden—a place where I’ve found the perfect balance between meaningful work and a fulfilling life.

This journey didn’t happen by accident.

I owe most of it to my relentless pursuit of becoming one of the best competitive programmers in the world.

From competing in two ICPC World Finals to solving algorithmic challenges that tested my limits, competitive programming shaped my career, opened doors I never imagined, and gave me the confidence to chase bigger goals.

Here are five ways competitive programming transformed my life—and how leveraging your information advantage can transform yours too.

Me and my teammate during ICPC World Finals 2019 in Porto, Portugal

In February 2022, I Landed a Top-Tier Software Engineering Job in Sweden 🚀

I grew up in Cuba—a small island in the Caribbean Sea. Not exactly the tech hub of the world, right?

Yet in February 2022, I received an offer for a software engineering role in Sweden that included relocation.

This opportunity increased my income by 100x compared to my salary as a university teacher and brought me to a country thriving on innovation and work-life balance.

How did I get here?

Years of solving algorithmic puzzles and competing with the best in the world.

Competitive programming taught me how to think critically, break down problems, and deliver solutions—skills that companies value deeply.

The investment you make in yourself today can pay off in ways you can’t imagine.

In February 2023, I Made My First Dollar on the Internet—Writing About Competitive Programming ✍

Writing is often overlooked by tech professionals, but it can be a game-changer.

In February 2023, I joined a Hashnode Writeathon and earned $449 for an article on how my team debugged code during live competitions.

It wasn’t groundbreaking in my eyes, but readers loved it because it offered a fresh perspective they hadn’t seen before.

This taught me an important lesson: the skills you take for granted might be exactly what someone else needs.

In April 2023, I Launched My Paid Newsletter 📝

Building on the success of my Hashnode article, I launched Smarter Engineers💡.

You already know this is my weekly newsletter where I dive into:

🎈 Competitive programming,
⚡ Modern software engineering,
And the intersection of work 🚀, health 🧠, and relationships 🧡 in tech.

What started as a small experiment has led to incredible connections, unexpected opportunities, and a growing audience of engineers eager to learn.

Not to mention an additional income stream.

In August 2024, I Published “The Competitive Programmer’s Guide to Graph Theory” 📙

I realized I could package my competitive programming knowledge into something more tangible.

That’s how The Competitive Programmer's Guide to Graph Theory was born.

With over 100 pages (and growing), this book has already helped countless readers level up their understanding of one of the trickiest topics in computer science.

Creating it not only validated my expertise but also became a sustainable way to support my work.

In November 2024, I Started 1-to-1 Coaching 👨‍🏫

I wanted to make a bigger impact.

So, I started coaching a small group of subscribers to this newsletter in two key areas where I have an information advantage:

💪 Crushing technical interviews at top-tier companies.
👷‍♂️ Building an online personal brand that attracts opportunities.

By keeping my coaching limited to a few mentees, I’ve been able to dive deep into their unique challenges and help them achieve tangible results.

What’s Next in 2025?

Here’s where I’m heading:

📚 Build a $1K digital product shelf.
🚀 Help 50 software engineers land jobs at top-tier companies.
💰 Scale my 1-to-1 coaching to $5K monthly recurring revenue.
📈 Grow my newsletter, Smarter Engineers 💡, to 10K free and 100 paid subscribers.

If you’ve ever doubted that being a great problem-solver could change your life, let me be the proof.