We’ve been busy over the last two years building the only app new parents need, with features covering the most popular categories in parenting tech - from baby tracking and analysis to child development plans, and routine management to baby day books.
But have you ever wondered who exactly is working on the app, and what drives them to deliver a product to change the lives of parents around the world?
We’re here to answer that question, with a brand new interview series, giving you the opportunity to meet the team behind Onoco!
So, say hello to Jakub, our mobile developer who joined the team nine months ago and has since made huge waves in our features for families…
Hello Jakub, tell us a bit about yourself!
I started my career as a graphic designer but I decided to move quickly to mobile development. As a designer, I worked on many mobile projects which led me to find out more about mobile app development. I always wanted to go deeper and understand how it should work. Therefore after four years of graphic design, I decided to study IT and become a front end developer.
I’m originally from a small town in the North of Poland but I moved to the University of Gdansk which is 200 km from my hometown, and it’s a very nice place by the sea. I started with a bachelor degree in engineering and then a master degree in IT.
At the beginning of my developer career, I was focusing on website development and then I started focusing on mobile app development. I think in the next few years mobile apps will be more important than desktop / web apps.
Great! And tell us a bit more about you personally - what do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I have two passions: football and travel! I love to watch the English premier league and of course for the next few months I will be watching the world cup in Qatar as a Polish national team supporter. Then I will go back to travelling. Every year I try to visit at least two countries. This year, I visited Norway, Austria, the Netherlands to see family, and Spain.
Amazing! And now back to the app - how did you hear about Onoco and why did you join?
I wanted to be part of a company where I don't only have to code. I was looking for a place where I could take part in all aspects of business development. This is what I found in Onoco.
I’m able to work with open minded and happy people, which makes my work easier. A great example is the marketing team; we are always discussing our priorities and our goals to make sure we always understand and help each other.
I also like our remote culture. I have an easy going personality, so I like to be surrounded by my colleagues, so I was initially was afraid that working from home might make me lose this connection. But at Onoco, we are constantly in touch with each other; I can jump on a call with my colleagues any time and have a virtual coffee (or drinks depending on the time!).
What do you do as a mobile developer at Onoco?
We’ve got daily meetings with the dev team and our CEO, to understand what we can do better and improve the product. This meeting helps us to have a clear understanding of our tasks. I also regularly meet with the back end developers and QA to keep up to date with changes and app stability.
We also catch up regularly with the broader Onoco team such as marketing to update each other on our priorities and see how we can support each other.
I love catching up with the team. It makes me feel I’m learning something different every day from my team members.
What is the feature you are the most proud of (so far)?
For now, the feature that I’ve loved building the most is Custom Logs. I built this feature from scratch and I have to admit that I consider it as my child - my baby! I first designed the architecture and worked on mock ups with designers. Once the dev team and our CEO were happy about the feature and plan, I built it entirely.
This feature was also a big step for us as it has been regularly requested by users in different surveys, so it was essential we got it right. I was happy to develop this feature because it really helps parents to track what they want and make their experience more personalised.
I cannot wait to work on new features that will continue to help our customers.
Going back to your earlier point about working remotely, was it joining a company in a fully remote role?
That was my first full remote onboarding so I was stressed at the beginning. However, it was easy to join the Onoco team. During my first week, I received all the help I needed to understand the product, the team and all processes.
The more time passed, the easier it was for me. Like the fact we are constantly communicating on Slack. The team stays very connected via different channels and it can actually be more responsive and fast paced than working in a traditional office environment.
How would you describe life at Onoco?
It’s a company where everyone is responsible for a part while working all together on the same product. I love to say that Onoco is like a human body. Each part of this body if left alone doesn't make sense and cannot function correctly. But the combination of the different parts makes the body functional and operational. In other words we are working well because we are together!
And finally, what's one film or song that describes your life?
The Fast and Furious.