About · Matt Murphy

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Collecting the cards needs JavaScript. Here’s the whole story without it.

The whole story

Hi, I’m Matt. I build programs, products, and the occasional thing that probably didn’t need to exist. I like figuring out how things work, and I’d rather make something you can click than describe it in a meeting. I live in Iowa. Eastern Iowa is home. It’s where I work, build things and run a small business, and it’s a good place to start a road trip from.

I build programs. Mostly education and training programs. Sometimes software. Occasionally both at the same time. I’m interested in the point where someone says, “We should probably offer something for that,” and somebody actually has to figure out what “that” should be. I use AI a lot. Not because everything needs AI. Mostly because research is slow and I am impatient. Most of what’s on this site was built with AI coding agents, under a release process I wrote, where anything that matters needs my sign-off.

I run a trading-card vending business. I own Corridor Cards: card vending machines, an online shop and an eBay store. It’s the part of my week with actual inventory in it. I collect trading cards. It’s why this site is built out of them.

I love live music. Jam bands especially, where the setlist is a surprise and no two nights are the same. On repeat: the Grateful Dead, Goose, STS9, Widespread Panic, Billy Strings, Yonder Mountain String Band, Khruangbin, Tyler Childers, Band of Horses, Sublime and SUSTO. I love dogs. Labradors most of all. That’s Griff on the card. I like to travel. Road trips especially. I even started building a trip planner for getting from one show to the next. I follow Hawkeye sports. Fall Saturdays are spoken for.

I overthink things. It’s also where my favorite question comes from: is this worth building, before anyone builds it?

I’m building toward a life with more room for meaningful work, good people, and my family.

Set checklist

The collection

No. 001
Card 001: Not found yet
Where to look Everyone starts with this one. It’s on the home page.
Take me there
No. 002
Card 002: Not found yet
Where to look You’re standing on it. This page hands it over.
Take me there
No. 003
Card 003: Not found yet
Where to look Read the story about mapping training to degrees.
Take me there
No. 004
Card 004: Not found yet
Where to look Read the story about deciding which programs are worth building.
Take me there
No. 005
Card 005: Not found yet
Where to look Read the story about the trading-card business.
Take me there
No. 006
Card 006: Not found yet
Where to look Read the story about turning card photos into listings.
Take me there
No. 007
Card 007: Not found yet
Where to look There’s a project named after the best part of a show.
Take me there
No. 008
Card 008: Not found yet
Where to look One of the projects is for people who work with dogs.
Take me there
No. 009
Card 009: Not found yet
Where to look Look through the side projects. One of them plans road trips.
Take me there
No. 010
Card 010: Not found yet
Where to look Find the playbook: the page about working with me.
Take me there
No. 011
Card 011: Not found yet
Where to look Go somewhere that doesn’t exist.
Take me there
No. 012
Card 012: Not found yet
Where to look This one finds you, once you’ve found the other eleven.

Get in touch

Tell me what you’re trying to get done and where things stand. A few plain sentences is plenty.

Want to make something together?Or look around the work first

Who am I?

The collection

Card 001: Not found yet

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Card 004: Not found yet

Card 005: Not found yet

Card 006: Not found yet

Card 007: Not found yet

Card 008: Not found yet

Card 009: Not found yet

Card 010: Not found yet

Card 011: Not found yet

Card 012: Not found yet

Get in touch