👋 Start Here

Lessons I’ve learned and shared for your growth:

Tools that I build, use regularly, and that you can access for free:

  • Medium Insight - I built Medium Insights, an analytics tool designed to find out exactly what makes articles succeed on Medium. With these insights, I've already earned over $1,000 just by sharing my words online. Now, you can do the same. It is free to use.

  • Substack Note Scheduler - This script allows you to schedule Substack Notes using a Notion database. Basic coding experience is required to set this up. It is free to use :)

  • More to come…


Thanks for reading The Growing Engineer!

Here are my 5 D’s:

1. What Have I Done?

  • 🇦🇹 Born and raised in Austria, studied in Germany & NYC 🇺🇸, lived in Berlin 🇩🇪, and now based in Dubai 🇦🇪.

  • 🔥 In 2019, I developed the open-source tool gnostic-grpc, which converts OpenAPI specs into protobuf. Mentored by software-engineers from Google.

  • 👨‍💻 I’m currently working at Cresta, a SF-based unicorn startup, where we build AI for call centers at scale. We target fortune 500 companies.

2. What Do I Deliver?

  • Short and insightful articles about technical topics I’ve learned at work. Topics vary based on what I’m currently working on.

  • In-depth articles about topics that I explore or about my company's tech stack, such as this post.

  • Insights on what has helped me grow in my engineering career, relationships, health, and mindset.

  • Access to tools and frameworks I build and use to make my life easier and more productive.

  • Randomness: I don't want to concentrate solely on one specific topic, so expect a bit of variety.

3. What Do I Do For Work and What Do I Do For Fun?

At Work:

  1. Cresta Insights: Enables call center managers to derive insights from thousands of conversations.

  2. E2E Testing Infrastructure: I built Cresta’s end-to-end testing infrastructure from the ground up, ensuring it’s scalable and reliable.

  3. Cresta Opera: I’m the main point of contact for the frontend of this product. However, I’ve shared with my manager that I’m getting bored of frontend work, so I’m pivoting into new technologies.

For Fun:

  • 🇦🇪 Dubai: Dubai is my hustle city. Most of my time here is spent in front of my MacBook—whether working, building side projects, or writing this blog.

  • 🇩🇪 Berlin: Before relocating to Dubai, I lived in Berlin. I still travel there occasionally for work. When I’m in Berlin, I catch up with friends and enjoy the city’s techno parties 🕺.

  • 🇦🇹 Austria: I grew up in Austria, and most of my closest friends are still there. When I visit, we hang out and play volleyball, spikeball, tennis, chess, ski, mountain bike, and have deep conversations about life.

  • 🌍 Travel: I’m fortunate to have traveled extensively with my girlfriend. Together, we’ve been to Bali, the Maldives, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Austria. I’ve also traveled solo to places like Costa Rica, Barcelona, Tenerife, and Portugal.

  • 🏋️ Fitness: Regardless of location, I work out at least four times a week. My routine usually includes bodyweight exercises like planks, push-ups, and pull-ups.

4. What Are My Dreams?

  • Live on the same street as my best friends so I can always go play volleyball in the afternoon and cycle back home during sunset.

  • Learn to dance salsa well enough to join the locals on the streets of Barcelona.

  • Work for the sake of working, not for money—in other words, achieving financial independence. Right now, a Cresta IPO is my biggest bet on this 🙃💰.

5. What Drives Me?

  • I like learning. Keeping my brain active, trying to understand our complex world, and providing value to the people around me is what keeps me motivated.

  • I like growing. Growth is not limited to work. I am focusing on hobbies, relationships, health, and mindset.

  • I like feedback. I value every kind of feedback, whether it comes from you, my SO, my family, my coworkers, or my manager. It helps me become 1% better every day.

🙏 Practicing gratitude at the Saraswati Temple in Bali.