My First 'No Pay, No Work' Moment at 17

In 2013, at 17, I worked for a tiny 7-person company building complex web forms for a Mexican renewable energy project. The project involved intricate business rules, multi-stage applications, and heavy calculations. I used PHP DSL, jQuery, and JavaScript, gaining experience with metaprogramming, early debugging tools like Firebug, and PhoneGap cross-platform app development. However, due to client payment delays, I ultimately left, learning a crucial career lesson: no pay, no work.