David Lockie: First question, how did you come to work in technology? Tell us your story!
I think it started when I was a kid. My parents bought me a computer. And instead of sitting down and playing video games, the first thing I did was open the computer and see what was inside. Then I started playing around, just playing with the hardware and trying to figure out what it all was. My dad got mad a couple of times because I broke something and he had to take it to the computer repair shop.
That was the first real contact with the hardware. After that I started playing video games and then I played with some editing programmes and explored the operating system. Of course, I ended up breaking my Windows operating system. So I had to reinstall it, and that’s when I got hooked on technology.
This got me interested in technology, so I started studying computer science. I also studied this subject in college but unfortunately I dropped out because I was young and stupid, maybe too much energy, but not the energy to learn!
DL: Young and stupid!
Yes, exactly.
After that I started working at my father’s company which is a metalworking company and I worked there for a couple of years. But I didn’t like to be always dirty! So I started learning web development and got my first freelance jobs which were for some smaller companies, and one thing led to another.
One day I thought, why don’t I open an agency, start hiring people and do more work like that. So that’s what I did. I hired a few people and we worked on a few projects, and the company grew. But I noticed that the company started taking all my free time. And at first it was okay, I knew I was growing and needed to go through this. But I also stopped programming, and I think that was the thing that affected me the most. I wasn’t doing anything anymore that I loved to do.
After that, I closed the company and tried to find a job as a developer. I found a job developing a WordPress site, which I had also done in my company but at a more basic level. I became a full-time developer!
DL: That’s a cool story. I talk to a ton of people who taught themselves how to make money with computers as a way to escape other jobs that they didn’t want to do. I think it’s a very common thing. I’m sorry the agency didn’t bring you the joy you were looking for, but obviously glad this eventually led to you joining Angry!
Nothing to be sad about, it was a great experience. As I said at one point, I just got tired of it and wanted to try a new side to my life.
DL: That was enough. Yes, I can certainly see that. So you’ve run your own agency, and you’ve worked at another agency as well. Tell me, what has been different? What stands out about Angry Creative compared to other places you’ve worked? What is particularly noteworthy?
I would say that the other agencies I worked at were creative agencies. We worked with clients from all over the world but I wanted to try something new, I wanted to see what it’s like to work with a multinational company with people all over the world. So this is what got me most excited about joining Angry. I also wanted to try some product development.
DL: Those were your reasons for starting, but now that you’ve joined us, what has been different about your experience compared to say working at your previous agency? Obviously, running an agency and being a developer at an agency is different, but with both of those experiences compared to Angry, what’s different? Better? Worse?
Oh, better. What I would say is that I am faced with challenging tasks that I have to deal with. I like it when something makes me feel like I really need to figure it out.
From a bad perspective. I would say maybe teleworking. That’s what I wanted. But after a while, it can feel a bit empty and lonely. I know we have the opportunity to go and work with the team face to face in Sweden or the UK and that would be great. I would say that covid is the reason for the bad part. So let’s say covid is bad!
DL: I think we can all agree that covid is bad. It’s a shame we haven’t had a chance to meet yet. I look forward to when we do. So you’ve shifted roles from being an agency developer to a product developer role. What has that changed for you on a day-to-day basis? It’s still writing code, still development. How does it feel different?
What changed from day to day? I would say the task flow. Now I’m working on one feature, and it’s a big feature and it’s just one thing that keeps me busy, so it’s not like when you work on the agency side that you have multiple clients with multiple requests and multiple cases. So you have, like all these cases flying around!“I need to do this for this client” and then“I need to do that for that client.” So I would say it’s more calm to have a focus. One feature that I’m working on and I can really concentrate on it.
DL: Yeah that’s cool, I can really understand that. So tell us a little bit about the feature that you’re working on and the product. What’s the name of the broader product and what’s the feature that you’re working on right now.
So the product (DL: actually two products) are called Qala Elastic Enterprise Search and Qala Elastic Enterprise Filters. Basically, it’s an add-on that allows integration with Elasticsearch so that we can utilise the benefits of Elasticsearch, not only through search but also to filter products. So basically we now have a view with a bunch of filters that the client sets up, and everything works instantly. So this is a really, really nice addition for any ecommerce client.
DL: Great. Yeah, I’m a big fan of Elasticsearch and anything that makes websites feel a little bit faster. So tell me what is a day in the life of Kristiaan?
Yes, so I start my day with morning coffee.
DL: Standard morning for a developer…
Kristijan: Yeah, exactly. While the coffee is brewing, I do some little workouts. I have these videos on YouTube that I like that are great for working from home, quick workout routines. So I do one of those, or some stretching and push-ups or something like that. Once the coffee is ready, I sit at my computer, go through some news, some emails and stuff and then slowly get into my work day. We kick off with some daily meetings where everyone just tells me what they’re working on, if there are any blockers, and stuff like that. After that, it depends on the day; if it’s a meeting day, I basically go from meeting to meeting with developers and I’m doing development, all day. Then it’s lunchtime.
DL: What do you do at lunchtime? Do you just sort of sit and have a sandwich or do you go out and walk around or is there a good café nearby that you go to?
It depends on the day. If it’s a nice day, I try to have lunch somewhere outside, bring my laptop and drink some coffee outside. When the battery runs out, I go back home to my office. Food depends – I try to eat different things every day, I also try to eat healthy. I’m not a big fan of fast food. It only happens if it’s a Netflix film night or something like that, then I might go for McDonald’s, KFC or something like that. During the day I try to eat healthy and get some exercise too. I used to take a few breaks during the day, just to go for a walk. Now it depends. Sometimes I run into a problem that I need to troubleshoot and it can make my head spin. I feel like the best thing is to just walk away from it and take a walk, some fresh air and then go back to it.
DL: And if you fail, do you sleep on it overnight and wake up with the answer or?
Yes, sometimes it’s like that, so I try to sleep well. But it depends on what the problem is.
DL: These training videos, do you want to share them with me? I think others would probably like to see them.
Sure. (DL: Kristijan sent me this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKJstVC2mF4 – I tried it. Good effective training 🙂 )
DL: I’m probably the opposite, I always have the same low carb smoothie for lunch. And I find that useful because it means I know it’s good for me and I don’t have to spend time thinking about it. What is a good lunch for you?
I love eating soup for lunch. Most of the time I order things. We have good restaurants here in Zagreb in Croatia where I come from. They deliver really delicious food and they are also healthy. Basically, I try to change my meal every day. Sometimes it’s chicken salad, some steak or salad. Fridays mostly Mediterranean food, some fish or similar. For the weekends I usually cook, I find some recipes and then cook these with my girlfriend, we really love to cook during the weekend.
DL: What is the best new recipe you have tried recently?
We recently made a steak with mashed potatoes and green peppercorn sauce which was amazing.
DL: Okay so you’ve had a healthy lunch, you’ve been out in the beautiful Croatian sunshine and then you come back in the afternoon. What about now?
It depends. It depends on what time, what season it is. I really love wakeboarding. So basically when it’s summer, I’m actually not so much in Zagreb, I have a small holiday home on the coast of Croatia, and I spend the days working remotely from there. As soon as the working day is over, I immediately take my wakeboard and go to the park and spend the rest of the day there, basically just wakeboarding, having some beers with friends and so on.
DL: That sounds amazing. And how do you keep busy in the winter when it’s a bit too cold for that?
During winter I become like a bear! I just lock myself in my cave! I just eat. I try to exercise a bit but I mainly just play video games during the winter. In summer, I try to avoid being at home as much as possible. And when winter comes, I try to avoid being outside as much as possible.
DL: It’s a pretty good balance! What is your favourite game?
I am part of the“PC master race“. But recently I got PlayStation 5, and I got hooked on it, so now I play PlayStation games like God of War, Assassin’s Creed or I really love the Souls games like Dark Souls, Bloodborne etc, really challenging games. On PC I play mostly first person shooters.
DL: I play Call of Duty (really bad). So I’m looking forward to the next one coming out.
Yes, I tried it and that kind of game is good if I want to stress myself out a bit. Try Escape from Tarkov! It’s a bit addictive. It’s like this stress that you can’t let go of so you have to try again and try again. I encourage everyone to try Escape, but not to get stuck on it.
DL: Great advice! Okay, so… So in the summer you’re outdoors and active. And then, in the winter, you’re huddled over your PS-5 keeping warm and shooting some 12-year-olds (or getting shot by them!)
Yes, that’s true.
DL: That sounds like a very good life! So my final question is, if you were to tell a potential client or workmate one thing about Angry Creative, what would you say to them? To give people some insight into what it’s like to be here.
I would say that it’s very nice to be here. We’re work colleagues, and even if you’re disconnected physically, we still have a community. Everyone is really helpful. What I will also say is that the HR team is organising these team activities (DL: we are organising regular online social team activities!) and they are really nice and it’s a different approach that I haven’t seen anywhere before. Also, the feeling that I can’t wait to meet all these people live. Because when I talk to them, everyone is so nice and I feel really connected to them and then I just want to meet them and talk.
DL: Perfect. Okay, yeah. I actually have one last question. I’m going to test this out on you because I’m borrowing this from another podcast that I listen to (UpOnly TV). The last question they always ask is: What advice or wisdom, what “alpha” can you offer people; someone who wants to make it in the world of being a developer, or just be a happier, wiser person. What advice or insight can you give?
I will say this. Don’t tell yourself, I will do it, just go and do it. I would say this is the best advice I can give, because I noticed a lot of people struggle with“oh, I want to be a developer” or“I want to start this.” Then start today Then start today. When I started, it was not that easy. There weren’t that many YouTube tutorials and all the self-learning resources you have now. Now you have material everywhere. So just…
DL: …do or don’t, there’s no try. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, that’s great! Thanks for sharing Kristijan!
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