You studied Computer Science at the University of Sussex in the UK. Why did you choose this to study this subject?
I have been passionate about technology since I was a child. I started playing video games when my brother got the first Play Station and always knew that I wanted to go into technology. I always enjoyed IT classes at high school, but never actually had the chance to code until I got to university. It was a lucky surprise – I enjoyed it.

You joined Verve Ventures as a software engineering intern in November 2020, before starting your current role in May 2021. What drew you to the company?
Initially, I was looking for work in Lugano, Switzerland, where I was living at the time. It was peak lockdown and difficult to find a job, so I started searching outside Lugano and found the Verve Ventures website. The company was looking for a software engineer. The culture attracted me: I wanted to be in a small team where I would know everybody and work closely with people. Based on the series of interviews with employees on the website, it looked like a team environment, really friendly and open, so I decided to apply.

Had you been planning to start working in venture capital or was it something that you just decided to try after your studies?
I was initially drawn to the job itself: a software engineer role at a company that was really taking off. Now that I am here, it is really interesting. In this venture capital space, we are investing in cutting-edge technologies and companies.

What does your current role as Software Engineer involve?
At its core, my role involves doing what needs to be done. Our developers tend to specialise in frontend or backend work. I have mostly been doing backend work, which is my bigger interest. To put it simply: I work on everything that you do not see. If there is a feature that requires a full-stack solution – for example, data storage in the backend and things that you interact with in the frontend – then I mainly work on storing that data, retrieving it, manipulating it and making it accessible from the website. When there are full-stack features, they get split in half and I get one half.

What programming languages do you use?
Our backend work is done in Scala. On top of that we use Play Framework; that is our backend API, connecting our website to the database. For the database, I work with Mongo, a type of database. We have a server between the backend and the frontend, which I also work on; that is our Apollo Server.

How have you been able to develop professionally since you joined Verve Ventures, in terms of programming skills or in a broader business sense?
I have definitely developed in both senses. This is my first job – I did the internship for six months, before being hired full time – and there was a huge learning curve. At university, you always work on projects on your own after receiving instructions from your professor. At most, you collaborate with one person, rather than a whole team working on many different projects. In that sense, when it comes to collaboration and working as part of a team, I have developed considerably. Tech-wise, I had never done Scala or TypeScript, another language that we use, before joining Verve Ventures, so there was a lot to learn there as well.

What is it like working with the other Software Engineers at Verve Ventures?
We are a team. We can joke around, but also ask for help whenever we need it. What I love is that there is very much a spirit of collaboration here. You really feel like everyone is pulling in the same direction. You are all on the same side and it is nobody’s fault if something breaks; instead, the question is “how do we fix it?”. It is a very positive environment.

What is it like to apply your computer science skills at an investment company?
The companies that we interact with are really at the cutting edge of technology. You are exposed to many new things and everything is interesting.

Why do you think that interface and usability are so important for an digital investment network, both externally and internally?
Externally, it is really simple. Take Apple, for example – the master of user experience. If you buy a brand-new pair of AirPods, the Bluetooth headphones from Apple, put them next to your iPhone and open them, then you are connected. By making it easy, you keep customers. For me as a developer, I want someone who uses my application to have a pleasant experience. That is my principle when developing software and I am happy that I can apply it to most of my work here. When potential investors visit our website, see the investment opportunities and can easily sign up, it is only logical that they will come back. We want their experience to be as pleasant as possible so that they stick with us and recommend our application to their friends.

Is this part of the wider trend in which digital networks are becoming increasingly user friendly to help attract a new generation of investors armed with smartphones?
Absolutely, but this trend is not limited to finance. If you look at all the biggest companies, they are spending large amounts of time and money focusing on user experience. For them, holding a users’ attention for one more second can make a huge difference.

And internally? How can well-designed software help the team at Verve Ventures do its work?
The better the software I develop for my team, the better the work it can do – it is a win-win situation. When I first joined Verve Ventures, I was given a self-contained project: a Chrome extension used internally to source new companies. When our team members visit a company’s website, it enables them to add the company to our database. This makes it easier for them to source companies on the fly, rather than having to visit our internal application. If they are using the Chrome browser, they can access a lot of information, which makes the process faster. When I joined, this Chrome extension was very basic. I was told to improve it, mimicking the features we have on another application. It is something I did all on my own and that went on to become this big application.

On the visual side, what are some of the things you have done at Verve Ventures?
From the start, I have been given the freedom to add an improvement relating to visual or user experience that I think is needed. For example, I standardised several different pages on our website showing different pieces of data. Before, they had slightly different colours or buttons, which I changed to standard ones. If you expect a button on the website to be in a certain place and it gets moved, you are going to be looking for it. I want things to be visually pleasing, which includes normalising things.

What do you enjoy the most about your work at Verve Ventures?
The variety – every day is different. I am the kind of person who gets bored easily, so having such a diverse set of tasks keeps me motivated. Although I focus on backend work, I am a full stack engineer, so if something comes up, I will do it. Being able to help with whatever comes up is what I enjoy the most.