Vanessa Henson

I recently signed up for a business networking event, even though I don't own a business, because I wanted to meet people outside the usual tech meetups. The event confirmation email said to bring a business card. A business card? I thought. It's just me — I'm not selling a business. But then I remembered a talk I went to early in my career, given by a powerhouse entrepreneur, about personal branding and how it's so vital for everyone to be able to sell themselves in their career. I looked at what was already out there for digital business cards — scan a QR code and call it done. Except that QR code points to someone else's server, someone else's branding, someone else's app they now have to download. I already have a website. I didn't want a third-party middleman standing between me and the person I just met. So I built my own with Claude. It's a page on my own site — vanessahenson.com/businesscard — with a QR code that scans straight to...