It’s been five years and a couple of jobs since I’ve had business cards, but as Unified.to’sSupreme Developer Advocate, I’ve been issued a set, and they arrived in the mail earlier this week.
They came in nice packaging…
…and rather than the traditional rectangular design, ours are square. On the front is Unified.to’s octopus logo and mascot…
…and on the back in Unified.to’s QR code and URL:
And, damn, do I like that box. It reminds me of this tweet about boxes and being a grown-up:
I don’t know much about Jukebox, the company that made these cards, but it seems that they’ve matched MOO (whose cards I’m familiar with from a handful of previous companies) and beaten them at the unboxing experience.
And hey, I work for a company with an octopus mascot! I knew that office art would come in handy.
Long story short: I’m joining Unified API — or “Unified” for short, online at unified.to —as their Supreme Leader of All Things Developer Relations. That’s not my official title, but it’s the most accurate description of my role.
Unified’s product, like the best startup products, is something its founders needed but couldn’t find, so they made it: a unified API.
It’s a way to call all a whole lot of SaaS APIs from all sorts of categories — HR, ATS, CRM, marketing, authentication — from a single API.
If you’re going to join a startup, you had better believe in the founders, and I believe in Unified’s founders, CEO Roy Pereira and CTO Alexey Adamsky. I know them from when I live in Toronto — Roy from Toronto’s strong startup scene and its then-monthly DemoCamp gatherings…
…and Alexey, who developed one of the apps that I regularly showcased when I was Microsoft Canada’s breadth developer advocate for Windows Phone 7:
I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting and being vetted by Unified’s Head of Marketing, Kailah Bharath and Head of Sales Michelle Tomicic:
And yes, with the addition of Yours Truly, that’s the entire company. I’m back in startup mode!
The Pragmatic Engineer’s chart comparing working at a startup vs. working in big tech. Tap to view the source.
It’s going to be an interesting change of pace, moving from a big tech company to a small and scrappy startup, but part of the allure is the adventure. As Gergely “Pragmatic Engineer” Orosz puts it, the good part about startups is that they’re are amazing places to learn in, and you can make a large impact and directly influence the company.
Of course, adventure doesn’t come without a “risk tax.” Being in a startup can be unsettling: there’s less financial stability, you can’t “coast,” and you’re always looking over your shoulder for the ever-present spectre of potential failure. But I prefer to live by this Venn diagram:
Unified is based in Toronto, but I will remain based here in “The Other Bay Area,” Tampa Bay, operating from my home office, pictured below…
My home office, where the developer relations magic happens!
I’m going to spend a lot of time going over Unified’s documentation, SDKs, blog, white papers, dashboard, and every other part of the developer experience and do what I can to make a great developer tool even better!
I’m looking forward to the adventure with Unified!
