Behind the scenes of innovation: "I'm not going to do the releases on Friday."

Where are you from and how did you start out?

I come from Milovice, but due to studying in Prague I moved there quite quickly. Skipping part-time jobs outside of the industry, I mostly just did databases before Trisbee. Not so much reporting as development in PL/SQL. I worked for a small Czech company and stayed with them for a few years, more or less through my entire university studies. Gradually, through home hobby projects, I came back more and more to Java, which I knew from school, and it quickly captivated me. It became increasingly clear that this was the direction I was going to move in.

How long have you been working at Trisbee?

It'll be 3 years this summer. Although it feels like at least once that long. 

What attracted you to Trisbee? How did it go?

I didn't have any Java reference experience, only my self demo projects, but I wanted to give it a try. I attended two interviews for a junior java backend developer position in two larger Czech IT companies, and honestly, I was overwhelmed. Heaps of tests, case studies and I didn't even know if I would enjoy the job. I was starting to wonder if Java was the way to go and if I should go back to databases. 

Suddenly I came across an ad from Trisbee. I had never heard of the company, read some basic description,s and thought I'd give it another try. On my part, the decision was made right after the interview. No traditional corporate offices, but a spacious brick apartment. Instead of writing in-depth technology tests, I was in for a nice conversation which was mostly about introducing the company, it's vision and finding out what I enjoy and what direction I would like to take. I felt that this was an enthusiastic group of people who were passionate about their cause, and that's something I was very attracted to and wanted to be a part of. After 2 months of testing period, I got my own chair and a mug for a great cup of coffee in the office.

What do you do in your spare time besides shisha in Omerta? 

*Omerta = shisha bar in Prague

I go to the cloud room for shisha! 😀 I really enjoy beach volleyball, which I spend a lot of time doing over the summer. I like badminton, and tennis, I love sauna and wellness. I also like to get really lost in a game with my friends or a TV show with my girlfriend. 

What do you do in Trisbee anyway? I hear you're CTO now.

That got around fast. Yeah, I'm the new CTO now, so I've got a big challenge ahead of me. Digging into the backend all day and mining some interesting data will be replaced by new managerial responsibilities. But I will be able to tell you about that next time, currently, I am just getting used to the new position.

If you're interested in technology, we use Spring Boot, which we've rewritten almost entirely from Java to Kotlin over the last few months. On the frontend, we mostly use React / Typescript, in which we have written our main payment app, merchant app, and our internal backoffice. We also have wrappers in native and are currently flirting with App Clips / Instant App. We also have plans for another new POS app and are creating our own storybook. We use Postgres as our main database and are trying to improve our reporting = playing around with Metabase and Cloud Query. We are running in the cloud. Most in AWS or Google cloud, we use terraform and are starting to tackle scaling and optimization. We are technology enthusiasts and open to new things. We can't wait to properly explore what opportunities Chat GPT will provide in increasing efficiency.

Ok, and what is your usual Monday? 

Mondays are mostly spent in the office. We have absolute freedom to work from home, but I have my own little rule that at least Mondays and Thursdays I go to the office. Which means breakfast at the sandwich shop! Right after a morning chatting with my colleagues about how the weekend was, we switch to standup. Since our sprints end on Monday, I spend the morning mostly catching up on stuff to keep my desk clean. Lunch at AVU and off to planning. Then some planning of new stuff so I know what I'll be doing what day. Newly, Monday is also the day for me to do bigger releases because I won't be doing them on Friday.

What's different about Trisbee than other companies?

Definitely, the garage, after all, tourists come to take pictures of it 😂 I don't have that big of a comparison, but I'm not afraid to say that every voice is heard here. Do you have any cool ideas to push the product? Do you see somewhere we can streamline what we do? We don't have a multi-tiered hierarchy that your idea has to sail through, and you don't have to be at Trisbee for a year to get noticed.

What's the hardest part of your job?

I expect this to change a lot in the next few days because of the new position. Currently, I have the difficult challenge of balancing new responsibilities with the work I've been used to. Finding some sort of balance to get me back on my feet.

What qualities or what kind of person should you be to work at Trisbee? 

I don't think we rely so much on technological knowledge as we do on mutual chemistry and personal character. If you don't know the technology we work with, but you're passionate and understand our vision, we have an open door. 

What do you like most about working at Trisbee?

*THE MEAT FOR EVERYONE*. That's kind of an inside joke that came out of our very popular barbecues together. 

For myself, I'd probably highlight the atmosphere, the work environment, and the passion for the product vision the most. Plus, I appreciate the fact that even those who may not have as much experience get a chance and space with us. We prefer seniors of course, but if you are a skilled junior who is not afraid to learn quickly, you will find your place here.

What kind of team of people is Trisbee? Can you just give me a good badmouthing?

Collective? It's getting bigger and bigger and yet still small. I honestly think we're a great bunch of people who know that work is fun and the world doesn't come crashing down when things go wrong. But that doesn't change the fact that we all do our jobs conscientiously and try to do them to the best of our abilities.