Particularities & Peculiarities of a Pixion Developer

Pixion is a company that values graceful solutions, and our approach internally is no different. We want to grow as engineers and the best way to do that is to surround yourself with only the motivated and the intelligent. End goal? Well, becoming a status symbol among development agencies seems worth our while. What Pixion is doing can hardly be described as revolutionary. After all, we are together to get some satisfaction in knowing that we’re doing something meaningful.

Time to meet the Team Lead at Pixion, Stipan!

Why did you join Pixion, and what has kept you here?

Ummm, you mean besides the best bunch of colleagues a person could wish for?

Just kidding, I didn't know anyone at the time.

I happened to find myself on a drink with one of the directors of the firm who, after hearing that I'm a developer with basically the same tech stack they were using, proposed for me to come to an informal interview. I wasn't looking for a job at the time but I said yes out of courtesy since he was a friend of a friend and I wanted to keep myself sharp in handling job interviews.

Fast forward to that interview and I'm kinda hoping to be over with it fast since some major opportunities were opening up for me at my previous job, but 10 minutes in and I'm interested, 30 minutes in and I'm sold on this whole Pixion story. We followed up with a technical interview straight away and I guess they were sold on me as well.

The thing that did it for me was the enthusiasm with which these guys talked about their work and their company. Just like me, they were just a bunch of developers who after years of work were fed up with the ways of big business in IT and they figured they can do it better. I got hooked on the idea of being a part of a company like that and being able to help grow it.

Successful sprint face

What are your primary responsibilities and what does your day-to-day look like?

Being a lead my first and foremost responsibility is that the work that my team is assigned to is going as smooth as possible.

Before kicking a new project or a feature off, I refine and groom the backlog written by the product team to try and see how to implement what the clients have envisioned. We prioritize the work and break it into smaller chunks and devise a roadmap of how to get from an idea to an actual product. The team then, together with PM, plans a sprint where we split the work among us based on skillsets, domain know-how and personal preferences.

After the sprint kicks off, my responsibility is to make sure we stay within scope and on schedule. If anyone is having some questions it's upon me to try and answer them or if it's beyond me, find someone who can. Reviewing the code and maintaining a certain level of code quality is a big one. Also, a major part of being a team lead is to communicate any potential issues and roadblocks across to all the stakeholders so everyone included is properly informed.

What is on your wishlist for the next 5 years with Pixion?

I wish to keep on working on my goal of becoming a solution architect. I think that's the ultimate goal for most developers, to master all the necessary skills needed for a person to design truly complex applications from top to bottom. Ideally, I would like to prove myself enough to get a new project to lead and an opportunity to design the app myself. I believe that challenges are the best way to learn and the only way to really master something.

How do you describe your work personality vs. your home life personality?

They're basically the same, although I'm quite an extroverted person so in a work environment I sometimes tend to tune myself down a little not to overwhelm people and allow others to express themselves as well. This is one of the major things that I value in Pixion. The feeling that I can really be who I am without the fear of how I may be perceived or how it may affect my career.

Brothers by code

What is the best vacation you’ve been to?

Back in the days when I was in college, most of my days were planned out for a long time ahead, since I was basically working full time as a developer while also doing my studies.

After living for a long time like that, a person gets sick of all the plans, schedules and timeframes so each summer, me and my girlfriend who lived in the same strict way as me, would take a month-long vacation where we would hitch-hike all along the Adriatic coast, each summer starting off from the point where we left off last year. After an entire year where your every day is planned out, having a vacation like that where you don't really know where you'll sleep that night is a perfect antithesis. It makes you feel completely free, after a yearlong entrapment within confinements of your schedule.

I could pick any of those vacations as the perfect one.

What's your favorite quote, or motto?

Oftentimes my friends tease me that I'm a lucky bastard because I love my job and it was almost like my job found me rather than the other way around. Not to be pretentious I never say it out loud but I always think of my favorite quote: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

Get to know Stipan and the rest of the Pixion team!

We’re delighted that Stipan decided to join Pixion – it’s been great having them on board! If you have any questions or want to get to know Stipan or one of their colleagues from the Pixion team, we can put you in touch. Don’t hesitate to reach out!