Adrian wears two hats as a web developer and guitarist. I became aware of his work when he created one of the first mashups, overlaying Google Maps with Chicago crime data. The second time I saw his work was when his guitar cover of the MacGyver theme song was featured on the YouTube homepage in 2007. It wasn’t until his talk that I realized he was responsible for both things.

Adrian ended up recording and uploading many more guitar covers to YouTube, racking up over 17 million views. Over the years he was bombarded with constant requests for tabs from other guitarists, eventually leading him to found Soundslice. Soundslice offers the best learning material for guitarists I’ve ever seen, combining notation, tabs, and interactivity in a way that’s only be possible on the web.

Adrian’s story is inspiring not only because he found a way to combine two unique skills, but also because he managed to turn a daily annoyance (”TABS PLS” comments on his videos) into a living. He’s the perfect example of how to be happy in business.

My hard̕ d͡ri͡v̕e̢ ͡cr̸ashe̕d̸.