Time for a new adventure

This week I’ve handed in my resignation letter, marking my last working day as February 28, 2019. After 4.5 years as a Chief Technology Officer at Qobo, I feel it’s time for a new adventure.

Looking back at the last 4.5 years, it feels like there is enough to fill several lifetimes – so much has been done, so much has changed, so many people met, so many ideas tried, and so many things accomplished!

Have a look at my annual posts summarizing just the most noticeable changes:

• One year at Qobo
• Two years at Qobo
• Three years at Qobo
• Four years at Qobo

Or, if you feel like it, take a deeper dive into more blog posts, varying from Instagram pictures to some deep technical brainstorming and solutions.

Obviously, I can go on and on for hours, but here are a few high-level points just to keep things in context:

• Offices. We’ve opened a new office, or moved to a new office, pretty much every year. First, Nicosia office was moved and expanded. Then Limassol office opened. Then London office opened. Then Limassol office moved and expanded.
• People. From a small team of 7 when I joined, we’ve expanded to over 20 now. But it wasn’t only about the headcount. We’ve grown the number of roles in the company as well – sales, support, QA, etc.
• Clients. We’ve built an impressive portfolio, with many large, medium, and small clients, across a variety of industries from a several countries.
• Technology. We’ve built an impressive set of technology, both internally and externally. Our Amazon AWS cloud infrastructure nearly doubles every year. We have integrated a number of excellent tools to help with project management, quality assurance, development cycle and continuous delivery. And we’ve made Qobrix from scratch into a recognizable brand and force to be reckoned with.
• Open Source. True to our Open Source believes, we have made significant contributions to Open Source, both via our own repositories, and through the tools and libraries that we use and build on top.

I have met and worked with some really amazing people and teams, true professionals, and inspiring individuals. I have learned a great deal over the years, and have grown both personally and professionally.

So, why am I leaving then? I feel it’s time. It’s time for a change both the company and for myself.

When I joined Qobo, it was a tiny startup, like many others, trying to find its identity, develop, and grasp some luck. It was also still trying to survive the catastrophic consequences of the “Cyprus haircut“, which killed many stronger, more mature businesses. Gladly, we managed to pull through all of that. It wasn’t easy by any means, but we’ve done that. The company has survived, grown, and matured.

It is now well on the way to success, with a clear vision, great products, strong client portfolio, good reputation, and an amazing team.

I think I have done enough to help Qobo to get here. There are now many new people, ideas, and approaches, which will take it forward in a smoother, faster, and more efficient way.

As for myself, it’s also been quite a ride. There has been countless nights and weekends of tight deadlines, non-stop work, lack of sleep, nervous breakdowns, alcohol abuse, emotional highs and lows, and so on. (All kind of expected in a startup.) But I need to step back and recover a bit. On top of that, over the last few month, my focus was mostly needed in non-technical areas. I want to get back to my routes for a bit, and dive into the hands-on technology – things that I like the most: writing code and administrating infrastructure.

Where am I going then? To tell you the truth, right this moment – I don’t know yet. The decision to step down as a CTO and to leave Qobo took quite a bit of thinking, consideration, and preparation. I haven’t looked at my new options or opportunities yet. But given the state of the IT industry in Cyprus and a growing deficit of developers, devops and system administrators, I’m sure I’ll find my next adventure soon enough. (If you have any suggestions or recommendations, please do ping me either here or via LinkedIn).

I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank to you to everyone I’ve met and worked with while my years in Qobo. I am truly humbled and honored to have had the opportunity to work with you and to learn from you! I’m sure our paths will cross again.