If it wasn't obvious from our last two team features (the first of our Operations Manager Mars, then followed up by our Performance Marketer Joon Mann), the folks here at Cococart are extremely proud of our diverse international team.
Our product and company would be nothing without the passionate, hardworking people behind it, so it only seems fitting for you to get to know one of the people that actually builds things for Cococart.
So meet Junaid (he/him), one of Cococart's earliest Software Engineers, football enthusiasts, and a local legend to the Cococart team for his daring choices in any game of Would You Rather.
Meet Junaid
Hi, Junaid! So you are one of the earliest engineers here at Cococart. You've been here over a year now, and back when you joined us, we obviously didn't have the reach we have now.
So I'm interested to know: what made you want to be an engineer for a young, then-unknown startup like Cococart?
Junaid: So at the time, it was kind of random. I was looking for something new for work. Of course, I wanted to try something remote and all that.
Back [when I was applying], Cococart didn't have a lot press—it was hard to hard to find stuff about the company, and the only thing that I did [later learn] about them was through [Cococart's cofounder and CTO] Z from the interview.
My impression was that Cococart was a very different startup than the rest because the conversation that we had [during the interview] was a lot more transparent. And I got the vibe that this—this really is the place that I'd like to work.
And Z and Derek were very ambitious about Cococart. They had this vision, and it felt like I had to be there! Like I had to tag along and I had to see where they took this. So that was kind of how I got convinced to join.
First of all, I totally agree. Our vision to make online business simple and easy is why a lot of us are here! So my next question would have to be: why don't you tell the audience what it's like being an engineer in Cococart?
Junaid: Since I've been here, I've focused a lot on payments-related features. Like that's so far been a huge chunk of my job. As well as UI too.
For example, I built out the integration that we have right now with Stripe, with Rapyd, which means PayNow, Gcash, and some other billing methods.
As an engineer, a lot of my time is spent on building new features, fixing bugs, and making sure we can build our vision with engineering work.
And what's the coolest part about being an engineer at our company?
Junaid: The coolest part about being an engineer at Cococart compared to any other company is that it's very rewarding to work here.
For example, when you work on a feature, and then you release it, once you see that people are using it, that's like, so awesome—because something you just worked just two or three weeks ago that you put all your hard work into, put all the hours into, now exists.
And I love that feeling: once a feature's launched, and people start using it, they like it, and you know it helps them achieve something. That's really rewarding.
Awesome. Makes me want to be an engineer here myself—kidding! And what does a day in your life look like? Anything interesting aside from squashing bugs and making big new features come to life?
Junaid: So because of the company's remote-first culture, one interesting thing about a day in my life is I'm able to get a good night's sleep and recover from a long day's work. :D
That is actually so important because we [engineers] have to focus a lot in the next few hours after we get up.
Other than that, most of my week, I start off the day with stand-up meetings and all that. There's then a lot of hours of code, which I'm sure you know is obvious—you have to have a lot of time to focus as an engineer, and I'm able to do so because I'm alone and there are no distractions.
But the coolest part is throughout all this, I'm able to travel; like these last few weeks, I've been traveling and been to a couple of countries. I wouldn't have been able to do that if I hadn't been working remotely with Cococart.
Traveling engineers seems to be a recurring theme at this company! So what would you say is your favorite part about working for Cococart?
Junaid: First, I think it has to be the people that I work with. Because everyone is fun. And that's nice.
Your coworkers are fun, light-hearted; we have these jokes that we do and everything.
I actually enjoy the team meetings and the one-on-ones because we always have a lot of jokes around. Even if it's something serious, it doesn't always feel like something serious.
And even if the team is going through a problem, and we're all looking for solutions, even that part is fun. So yeah, that's probably the best part: the people that I work with, the conversations and everything, the inside jokes that we have...
As someone who works with these people every day too, I couldn't agree more! And now we’ve reached the just-for-fun question. You were just named Cococart ruler of the day! What's your first decree?
Junaid: Definitely more happy hours. Just because happy hours are still a team meeting but there's no proper agenda to it. I think those kinds of team meetings are a lot of fun because we get to play games and all that while also having some discussions.
More about Cococart
Did you enjoy reading about a day in the life of an engineer at Cococart? Lucky for you, that's not where the great reads end!
Check out our other posts to peek into Cococart’s culture as a startup:
