Scott Tolinski

Syntax podcast co-host and creator of Level Up Tutorials

@stolinski United States64K followersEducators & Course Creators Creators & Writers

About Scott Tolinski

Scott Tolinski is a web developer, educator and podcaster based in Colorado. He co-created Level Up Tutorials in March 2012 with Ben Schaaf while they worked together at an agency in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He had been sidelined by a concussion from a breakdancing injury and wanted to fix the poor documentation and training he kept running into on web projects. Ben soon stepped away, and Scott carried on alone, publishing thousands of free and premium tutorials on YouTube and later through a paid Level Up Tutorials subscription covering React, Svelte, Node and more.

Around 2015 he met Wes Bos, since both had made React courses, and the two joined a mastermind group together. That led to Syntax, a web development podcast they launched in mid-2017. It grew from twice-weekly audio shows, with Tasty Treats and Hasty Treats, into one of the most popular podcasts for web developers, adding live shows, interviews and a YouTube channel.

In April 2023, on its 600th episode, Syntax announced it had joined Sentry. After the deal, the Level Up Tutorials library was made free, Scott's YouTube channel was rebranded as the Syntax channel, and the team grew with a dedicated producer and more creators. His X bio now lists Level Up Tutorials as a previous project. Its archive of 800+ free videos lives on at levelup.video.

Scott also hosts Phases, a parenting podcast, and speaks regularly at conferences such as JSNation, Svelte Summit and React Summit on topics like local-first apps and building with as few dependencies as possible. He is a dedicated b-boy, and his X bio also points to Standard Agents' Agent Builder, a platform for building custom AI agents.

Products by Scott Tolinski

Level Up Tutorials

levelup.video

acquired

Web development video tutorial library, formerly a paid subscription, made free after Syntax joined Sentry.

Syntax

syntax.fm

acquired

Web development podcast and YouTube channel co-hosted with Wes Bos; part of Sentry since 2023.

Phases

phases.fm

Parenting podcast.

Agent Builder

standardagentbuilder.com

Standard Agents' platform for building, hosting and integrating custom AI agents, which Scott promotes in his X bio; in waitlist early access.

Exit stories

Level Up Tutorials

→ Sentry · 2023

by Scott Tolinski

Syntax

→ Sentry · 2023

Producing the show took a full recording day each week plus time on sponsorships and editing, so Wes and Scott lacked the time and resources for what they wanted to do. Joining Sentry, a longtime sponsor, gave them a team and freed them from selling ads.

by Scott Tolinski & Wes Bos

Scott Tolinski's journey, 2012–20256 milestones · self-reported

First product
Exit
Launch / milestone
Started 2012

2012First product: Co-created Level Up Tutorials with Ben Schaaf in March after…
2017Launch: Launched the Syntax podcast with Wes Bos
2018Milestone: Recorded the first Syntax Live shows
2023Exit: Syntax joined Sentry
2024Milestone: Gave the talk Install Nothing at JSNation
2025Milestone: Spoke on real-world local-first apps at Svelte Summit

Timeline

2012 — Co-created Level Up Tutorials with Ben Schaaf in March after a breakdancing concussion, and started his YouTube channel.
2017 — Launched the Syntax podcast with Wes Bos.
2018 — Recorded the first Syntax Live shows, including at Jamstack Conf, the first time he and Wes met in person.
2023 — Announced on Syntax's 600th episode in April that the show had joined Sentry; Level Up Tutorials was later made free.
2024 — Gave the talk Install Nothing at JSNation.
2025 — Spoke on real-world local-first apps at Svelte Summit.