I want the team to function independently and everyone has an effort to improve it

Martin, we never talked about where your trip to Futured led. Now is finally the opportunity to ask you about it.

After my undergraduate studies, I moved from Slovakia to Brno to finish my master's degree. I had experience with mobile application development, albeit small, but I enjoyed it, so I started looking for a company that I would be good at. To this day, I remember that at Futured I was intrigued by the offices and the team of young people who wanted to build great things together. That was in September 2016.

So you joined us as Junior, who worked his way up to Lead.

It's like that. There were actually only a few of us on the Android team back then. In retrospect, I see it as a huge added value that we are still working on a wide range of projects to this day. A person learns quickly because he gets to many opportunities. Suddenly he looks back and finds that he has tried a lot of things in a fairly short time, that he has accumulated not only experience, but also competence. That's something a job in a corporation probably wouldn't give me.

I already indicated that you took over the role of Android Lead a few months ago, what does that mean for you?

Lukáš Sztefek, who was Lead before me, decided to move to another position within the company and offered me his. I'll admit that I was intrigued from the very beginning, but I took the time to explore what it really means. I needed to find out what all this role involves and whether these are areas I feel good in or want to develop in. We talked a lot about it both with Luke and the people in the team. In the end, two things decided, namely that I like to take on challenges, and also that I have been sanctified as a Leader by colleagues who have known me for years.

There are a lot of definitions of who Lead is. But who is Lead with us?

I see two planes. The first is technical, to be a Lead Developer, that is, a person who constantly follows trends and sets the technological direction of the company. For us at Futured, this includes, for example, participating in the creation of offers. The second level is Team Leader, that is, the one who takes care of the team, on the one hand, to be satisfied, and on the other, and on the other, I want to focus a lot on this in order to educate and grow professionally and humanly.

Thus, Lead is no longer just a developer, but to some extent becomes a manager.

Yes. I'm still working on one project, which is something I'd like to keep because I don't want to leave the code. In a managerial role, I look up and recognize myself in it. So far, I have to say that it amuses and fulfills me.

What values do you think Lead should have?

For the company and me, they are important colleagues. After all, our HR Simča said in an interview that without people we would be just a nice logo. If you have that attitude, it's important to know the people in your team well, perceive their potential, and work with their strengths and weaknesses. To be more specific, it is the ability to estimate how to set a person's challenges correctly or how to further develop them in areas that they enjoy and can be interesting not only for their personal growth, but also for the company as a whole. I would like people to always work with us on projects that they enjoy and that resonate with them in some way.

What are you most looking forward to in your new role?

As for the technical part, I look forward to continuing to introduce innovative approaches and constantly apply new technologies. This is one of the things that we at Futured are based on: that we look for the best solutions for each client and cope with any challenge.
‍

We're not looking for people who just bang code, we're interested in their overlap.

And if we touch that human plane?

I am very much looking forward to the training of the team already mentioned. When I think of an ideal team, there are people who have an overlap in different things — they have a perfect understanding of the technologies they work with, and they also have an overlap in other areas, such as encryption, AI or AR. I would like to achieve this through, for example, internal and external mentoring, working within the framework of open-source or on internal applications.

Internal applications are popular in Futured, we use several of them.

You're right. This is how Funtaster was created, for example, a tool that we have been using for a long time to distribute applications. We see the internal application as a great opportunity to learn from something that we actually use ourselves and it makes our company processes more efficient.

Imagine a little bit of the technology you work with as part of the Android team.

We always try to work with new technologies that benefit us. A few years ago we switched from Java to Kotlin, then from RxJava to Coroutines, and last year we decided to gradually move from Android View to Jetpack Compose. When we looked back a year later, we found that it had become a new standard that we quite naturally started using.

Going forward, I see potential in Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile, which allows parts of code to be shared between applications without having to give up native way of development. We already have some practical experience with KMM and are looking for the right way to use it in the future.

At the same time, you described the direction of the industry. Where will your/our team go?

Futured has always focused primarily on developing native mobile applications, but I believe that we will increasingly focus on smart devices such as smartwatches and wristbands, augmented reality apps or technologies such as Android Auto that mirror the functions of Android devices on the car dashboard.

When we're on the team, what's a word for youteammeans?

For me, this is a group of people who can pull together, have good relationships, communicate with each other and achieve a common goal. In a team it is important to think more in categories we than just selves. Therefore, quality relationships are important, which we strive to achieve with our relaxed corporate culture. Even during the selection process, we will determine how a person fits in with us humanely. Although we are not averse to remote cooperation, we want to see each other, chat, give ourselves space to disagree, but also to have a laugh together over beer or at one of the parties that we have a lot and that are popular.

‍

I want the team to operate independently and everyone has an effort to improve it.

‍

Quite often you meet in the Android team even at work.

Every week we have Android Talk, a format in which we talk about what we have tried, what we have implemented. In short, we share experiences with each other and give each other space to discuss. I think it's a great teaching format that allows you to learn practical information even about things that were dealt with in another project.

In addition to corporate teambuilding, I would like to introduce more regular teambuilding within individual teams. So far we have managed to organize one beer evening for the Android team, but it would be great to make it a minor tradition. We would like to bring back public Android Meet-ups, which are also great training for the entire team on how to present experiences outside the company.

What is important to you when choosing colleagues? What do you put on during interviews?

We're not looking for people who just bang code, we're interested in their overlap. We often talk about their experiences, how they think about issues, and try to see if they are team players. If you were expecting me to give you some magical advice for a successful interview, alas.

Open-source has already sounded here. You are also one of the most active contributors on our blog, you recently wrote an article about mobile application security. Why do you find it important to share experiences?

When you create a library that collects stars on GitHub, it's a great feeling, all the more so when we use the tools ourselves on projects. Caring for open-source makes sense not only for our team, but it is appreciated by clients as well. I feel the same way about writing articles. In addition, I enjoyed writing since elementary school, but I never developed it, so I take the opportunity.

What sources do you follow yourself? Where do you learn, where do you get inspiration?

The full basis is newsletters Android Weekly and Kotlin Weekly. And, of course, the conference. I'm watching Android Developers Blog and various Slack channels, where specific topics are addressed and often there a person discovers interesting ideas and directions.

Would you recommend any specific Slack Channels?

I'm sure Kotlinlang and Android United.

> Note: At Futured, we like to share experiences and follow trends and news so you don't have to. On our blog each month, we bring out the biggest ones that have caught our iOS, Android, Web and QA team.

Do you have someone you look up to in the industry?

That I would have a picture of Jake Wharton next to my bed, I can't say. I'm more like following a group of people on Twitter. Now they think of me for example Doris Liu, Jorge Castillo, Leland Richardson or Zac Sweers.

What projects do you enjoy the most? What are you proud of?

Currently, it is an application for Jablotron, which has the potential to be used daily by a huge number of people. The idea of successfully completing such a large project would certainly be a great feeling.

What don't your colleagues know about you?

That I live in the center of the universe and the world Vrbové, a small town in western Slovakia. The center of the Earth was calculated and designed by one of the geniuses of Vrba, Roman Víťazoslav Klčo, who brought humanity to the idea of why this very place is known for excessive accumulation of intelligence. (Martin, of course, says this with a smile. — editor's note)

That I like to travel and eat, and that my wife and I really like to travel for food, is not a complete secret. That I would choose India if I had to choose only one country might surprise someone. I enjoy learning about foreign cultures. Even while traveling, I try to listen to what people say and understand their world through it. _ Note: Martin is Slovak, for the convenience of Czech readers and the one-person editorial staff, his answers were recorded in Czech. the

----

Would you like to join us? We are currently looking for a few colleagues.

Get in touch with Simona and talk about the possibilities of cooperation: simona.sadecka@futured.app & +420 735 040 126