"I was set on being a doctor. Then my dad went to a fortune teller..."
Starting XI with Gajalakshan Mohankumar.
Meet FANZO's Principle Software Engineer.
⚽️ Favourite sporting memory?
2005 Champions League final. One team stacked with stars, the other stacked with Djimi Traore - AC Milan didn’t stand a chance. I’ll never know why I decided to watch that 2nd half but it was one I’ll never forget.
🍻 Favourite venue?
The Market Tavern, Croydon - have some unbelievable memories there.
“Corner taken quickly… Origi!”, springs to mind.
*Cue beers in the air/hugging strangers*
👩💻Your job in a nutshell?
Design, build and maintain functionalities to help our partners, venues and sports fans have the best user experience possible on our platforms. That and ensuring free pints are awarded to the right people and our servers can handle all our user requests.
❤️ Best thing about working at FANZO?
Definitely the people. From engineering to pub sales and our brand teams, we have so many of the best people at what they do. It's a team that helps each other achieve shared and personal goals.
👎 Worst thing about working at FANZO?
Time zones. Australia has 3, across 5 states. But only 2 follow daylight saving. That’s 3 time zones in winter and 5 in summer - a programmer's worst nightmare.
💪 Proudest FANZO achievement?
Our 20/21 CUB Footy Tipping game. It’s not easy convincing people to digitise such a beloved thing. It’s even harder when the engineering team is 17,000km away and doesn’t know a thing about Aussie Rules.
But with plenty of pointers from Jonathan and Fletcher, we had pulled off a successful campaign.
😬 Biggest howler?
Spent my first months here thinking the guy next to me was a graphic designer - turns out he's CFO. Sorry Robert, did think it was odd how much time you spent in Excel…
📈 Biggest area of professional growth?
Joining as a mid-level back-end engineer to now co-leading this amazing team tells you a lot. Leo MacLehose might say it's all his world-leading 1-2-1s, I’d (respectfully) say the culture he and Dominic have built - everyone has permission to take responsibility. It really helps individuals and FANZO grow in the process.
💭 Biggest influence on your career?
I wouldn’t be a software engineer if it wasn’t for Pranav Mistry’s TED talks. He showed me technology didn’t have to be boring and it can be used to make the world a better place.
Also, a special shout-out to Philippe Jung, without whom I wouldn't be an employee at FANZO.
👦 What did you want to be when you were younger?
I was set on being a doctor. Then my dad went to a fortune teller who confirmed this as destiny. From that day forward I made it my life's mission to fight destiny and not become a doctor (duff biology grades may have also contributed).
🧔♂️ Where do you want to be in 10 years?
Writing beautiful code, making tech more accessible to everyone everywhere. Or on a beach, wearing a tux, having a beer with Antoine Auer.