Opening shoot-out

Your guilty pleasure?
Gaming and beer, especially Sour Ale and Berliner Weisse

Podcast worth listening to?
For parents - “13 hříchů rodičovství” (Sorry, Czech only)

iOS or Android - why?
Definitely iOS! Not only am I a big fan of Apple, but the whole ecosystem of all Apple products makes so much sense and there is no equivalent replacement for the combination of macOS + iOS + watchOS.

The first mobile app you open in the morning?
Probably Binance, to check what happened on the crypto market overnight.

How many coffees do you need per day?
Usually 3 coffees and a pinch of guarana.

Jan, you've been working for Sharry as an external software architecture consultant for the last 10 months. Why have you decided to join Sharry full-time since January?

It is no secret, that Vláďa Cibulka (co-founder and CTO of Sharry) wanted me to join the team since we know each other, but I was not available for full-time cooperation at that time. My last contract was ending and I have been deciding what to do next. It is never an easy decision when choosing the next workplace, given that I received some really interesting offers from US corporations, it was an extremely hard decision to make.

But in the end, you decided to join Sharry.

Sharry had a competitive advantage because I knew what to expect as I was an insider already. Basically, I was looking for companies, where we could grow together – preferably small/mid-size startups. I love technical challenges, and there are some in Sharry :-). Since I am a challenge-driven person, and I really liked the plans presented to me and I feel like I have a lot to put on the table to get Sharry there. Actually I was not looking for just another company to work for, but I want it to become my second small family and real-life friends. I believe Sharry is a perfect match!

Could you briefly describe what's your current role and responsibilities and what are you working on?

Officially the role is named Software architect. As I interpret it, my responsibility is to help make good technical decisions, so the dev team can deliver features faster, in higher quality with fewer bugs, educate the team, and overall improve the dev environment. Currently, I am migrating backend microservices into monorepo, which will allow us to maintain all the backend applications much more effectively. It is part of a long-term goal – adopt continuous deployment in Sharry.

When your grandma asks you what you do for a living, what's your answer?

Haha, I say that I am a shaman, just with software. I always prefer to not go into deep discussions about what I do with my family, it always ends up with “Aha, I don’t understand anyways…”

What do you see as your personal work challenge for 2022?

There are two: First one already mentioned earlier, to adopt continuous deployment in Sharry. There is still a long way to go, I believe we can do it! It is one of the best feelings for developers, to have such a high confidence level, so the application can be deployed several times a day!

The second goal is related to my personal hobby project “Peon” which I launched recently. It is a fully open-sourced SaaS to automate repetitive and boring work, continuously improve codebases and help developers focus on what matters the most – delivering features. Currently, it is in closed beta and my goal is to gather enough feedback and validate market fit, so I can launch it publicly this year, onboarding first paying customers.

You have a broad list of working experiences. Could you name a few companies or projects you were working for in the past? Which previous job do you find most interesting?

Yeah, I can not even remember everything I have worked on, since I started writing code for money 20 years ago already. I worked as part of the core dev team on products like Carvago, GLAMI, HotelQuickly. I am part of the freelance network Toptal, it was pretty tough to get through the interview process. I enjoyed the work for the agency Apploud Digital and worked on projects for clients like Coca-Cola, BMW, Sparta. A great experience was writing automated trading systems as part of cooperation with Italian company Directa.

The most interesting experience was definitely building my own startup. As part of the journey, we visited San Francisco and cooperated with Salesforce and Oracle, directly in their headquarters. We exhibited on WebSummit in Lisbon, and were raising money in London’s tallest building The Shard. We learned many valuable lessons and it was a great ride!

Besides work at Sharry, what do you like doing in your spare time?

I have 2 little girls so I am busy with parenting. If there is any spare time (usually when both are sleeping), I am building my hobby open-source project Peon, or contributing to other open-source projects, playing games with my wife (btw I am an ex-pro gamer), or just relaxing by listening to hip-hop music.

Final shoot-out

LinkedIn profile or Twitter account worth following?
“@afilina” - great content about legacy code, or you can follow me “@mikes_honza”, though I do not tweet on a regular basis

‍Your child's hero?
Peppa Pig, and me, hopefully :-)‍

Your first mobile phone?
The best Nokia 3310‍

Tech gadget you've fallen in love with recently?
Not really a gadget, but a technical solution – Docker running on Ubuntu VM on my M1 MacBook, it is totally a game changer and I feel so much more productive thanks to it.‍

The office building anywhere in the world you like?
Salesforce Tower, I love that one!
‍

‍