Hear It From The OGs!: Going from 0 to 1 at Nymble (#4)

A SERIES OF TEAM MEMBER JOURNEYS‍

“It takes genius and courage to invent transformative new technology that creates abundance and prosperity”‍

This has famously been defined by the entrepreneur, Peter Thiel, as the journey of building something from 0 to 1. It takes no less than this, to be envisioning a product from scratch, or more so, to be making the bold claim of building the future.

We at Nymble have been on quite a journey ourselves, in building this moonshot of a product. Some team members have also been with us for some time on this journey and while we're going from 0 to 1 - they themselves have been experiencing unique journeys of their own. A journey laden with uncertainties - where they have taken up a lot of responsibilities and where the scope of their work has expanded in unimaginable ways. These stories & journeys demand to be captured and brought to everyone!

The fantastic fourth and Nymble's very own software ninja - Abarajithan comes in strong with his nifty Android nunchucks and tech stacks. With his head in the 'cloud' systems, but a strong footing otherwise; Abara is no less than Nymble ka Allu Arjun - what with his good looks and multiple talents!

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When did you join Nymble? 

I joined Nymble on October 22nd, 2019. So my tenure started well before the pandemic hit and has crossed 2 years now!

What were your responsibilities when you joined Nymble? 

I joined Nymble as an Android Engineer. To put it simply,  when I joined, my main responsibility was to write the code for the recipe engine/ logic that enables our robot Julia to cook any recipe.

How have these changed or expanded over the course of time?

Yeah, absolutely! My role has expanded and zoomed out to a wider looking frame. After joining on the android front, we explored further - the concepts of API, cloud based systems, user interfaces, internal tools have now come under my ambit, apart from the previously mentioned work on the Android front and cooking logic. I think one thing that has seen me a long way in keeping up with this expansion is context-switching and compartmentalisation.

What are some hard truths you've learned which you didn't know before Nymble?

Hard truths? Well, I can’t think of anything other than the fact that ESOPs exist…but so does tax filing. (laughs) 

I think for me it’s more about all that I have learnt and embraced after coming to Nymble. The ‘hard’ bit always melted away with the help I got here. 

One instance where I put myself on the spot and to the challenge, was when I implemented new technologies to Nymble 's tech stack. This not only ensured that I could expand my skills, but future proof the existing systems in place, for Nymble to scale up when the time comes.

What has been your most challenging time at Nymble?

One of the most challenging times was when an immediate deadline of a month cropped up for the deployment of our alpha prototypes before Bangalore trials. We had to finish quite a lot of things and also keep testing, simultaneously and rigorously.

During the US trials - Shubam and I, both of us had our plates full with fixing bugs and creating new features for the prototype. This time around things were different as all debugging was done remotely. Half of our team was already in the SF Bay Area for the next set of deployments. Fixing bugs is one thing, but doing it remotely and with a 13.5+ time difference is another!

To counter that, what would you say has been the most enjoyable time or aspect at Nymble?

I have enjoyed every bit of work and learning that I encountered here at Nymble. The joy of trying new things, pushing myself out of my comfort zone has seen to a rewarding personal journey of growth and learning. 

I undermined this for a long time - but delegating work, splitting tasks and better management overall, has ensured that I can divert equal capacities of mine as an effective individual contributor which is great!‍

How have you impacted Nymble? ‍

I think I have pushed Nymble to a comfortable level wherein people don’t have to think, yet alone worry about software. Like we have eliminated any doubts and concerns of the software being half baked or whether it would work or not. We’ve been able to strengthen the software aspects quite thoroughly which I’m quite happy about!‍

What's next for you, what's next for Julia? ‍

To see Julia go to every home and household! I also envision our product stemming to something much bigger - an ecosystem, if you will. Quite similar to Apple's ecosystem, I see Nymble growing and building more products that will be compatible with Julia; and there will be a seamless cross-functional stream. A very Nymble ecosystem - that's what I see in the future!
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