In November of 2019 I moved into a role as a software developer for Boom Fantasy, a small (~10 person) sports software development company in New York City. I joined the team just as the company was entering a major partnership with NBC Sports. In my time at the company, I developed components of a new product for NBC called NBC Sports Predictor. I primarily worked with React, React Native, Node.js, and MongoDB. Agile principles were used during development to ensure high visibility of progress and roadblocks. Over the course of just a few months, we were able to build an Android/IOS applications and a full website with games for the English Premier League, PGA, and Nascar. We developed these products at a breakneck pace, taking full advantage of React Native and React's ability to reuse code where possible.
I involved myself as much as possible with project planning process and was even given opportunities to dip my toes into project management. Towards the end of my time at the company, I performed a project post-mortem to uncover pain points and inefficiencies in the development process. In my report, I recommended several improvements to communication and project planning that the company acted on even after my departure.
Software development at Boom Fantasy was a bit of a professional detour for me, because my true interests continue to lie in robotics, hardware, and medical devices. Despite its lack of relevance to my particular field of interest, I was able to learn a great deal about extremely small startups. I made it a point to think about the business and its operations. I had monthly conversations with the CEO about his vision and the direction of the company. These conversations and though experiments were productive towards expanding my professional capabilities.
The software development itself was also fairly productive towards my professional development. The team encouraged new ideas and had a strong continuous improvement mindset. If one approach to a problem wasn't working, we would try another. If one member hit a roadblock that roadblock was brought up within a short time period, and other team members were able to help out. This type of teamwork is broadly applicable to any project-driven industry, and I will strive to promote and implement in my future roles.