I am rapidly approaching my first year anniversary at Skype. My how time flies when you’re having fun… I do have to say that I enjoy working at the company. The reason that I joined a year ago was because I really felt something in the way that Skype branded themselves. You could tell that the people behind it were having a good time. Plus they had a really cool cutting edge technology packaged in there which made you think about all the smart engineers they must have behind it.
I liked the vibe that I got from the app. I also liked the fact that they were breaking rules by developing all of this outside of the “Valley”. Basically I really wanted to meet these folks. So I sat down and wrote a semi-long introduction letter gushing over the brand and the geeky things that nerds admire about software and attached my CV.
At that time I wasn’t sure that I wanted to leave Spain and I wasn’t in that much of a rush to grab another job just for the hell of it. Skype was the only place that I applied because it was the only company that gave me a warm fuzzy feeling.
I guess I also missed that old start-up atmosphere of working with people that actually truly enjoyed what they did, worked hard, played hard and had a laugh while they did it. Not the suits and formality of boring old corporate life. And if you know me well, then you should know that I don’t mesh well with that environment. 😉
Well, things worked out, my cv fell into the right hands, I ended up interviewing and being offered the job. Only catch was the moving to London thing. Which I have done and managed quite nicely over the last year.
One of my favourite things at Skype (apart from all the great people) is the culture of multi-chats. Multi-chats are ongoing, bookmarked discussions all fostered through the wonderful Skype technology. And when you work at Skype one of the first things that you realise is that you will be spending a lot of time in multi-chats and on calls because our engineering team are all in Estonia. It’s either that or you are legging it to Gatwick and hopping on the Skype Express (aka Estonian Air flight 101).
Back to the multi-chat experience. I think that some people are probably quite frightened when they get thrown into their first 2-4 multi-chats with about 50 participants in each. It is overwhelming. Everyone typing at once, toolbars blinking, trying to keep up as things scroll by…
But then you become a master of multi-tasking multi-chats. You learn to /alertsoff (a handy little trick) certain chats that you find useless. You know that you can log off and log back in in the morning and find that an entire world of discussion has gone on without you.
But the best part about it is that you don’t get nearly as many emails as you used to get. At least I don’t. And I love that.
Now when I use email it seems so damned slow. And not very interactive. I send it. I sit and wait for a response. Did they receive it. Are they online? What is going on? I’m working on a schedule here. I need realtime answers! And multi-chats are good for that.
I’m not saying that they are the solution to all problems and that they don’t introduce their own little issues, but I am saying that I feel slightly more effective at times thanks to these little guys.
Recently Jaanus Kase posted a little tidbit of how we actually make Skype.
On the Best Ofs that are lurking around somewhere I feel honoured that even little old me gets to be included sometimes…
Should Gideon go buy shoes or come to lunch?
stephanie robesky 07/09/2006 12:17
no shoes for gideon07/09/2006 12:17
screw shoes man07/09/2006 12:17
SCREW EMMalthe 07/09/2006 12:17
SHOES SUCKstephanie robesky 07/09/2006 12:18
they are like little prisons for my feet
stephanie robesky 18.08.06 12:30 can any of your fix a sipout server cpu load? i’ll gladly buy you a hamburger tuesday if you fix it today…
What’s the difference between a nerd, a geek, and a dork?
[12:22:12] stephanie robesky says: http://ask.yahoo.com/20060818.html
[12:22:36] stephanie robesky says: jaanus, stephanie and peter
FROM ONE STEPH TO THE OTHER
[12:18:44] Steph B says: you ok baby?
[12:20:37] Steph B says: sorry testing service
[12:20:40] Steph B says: wrong send
[12:20:43] Steph says: (chuckle)
[12:28:47] stephanie robesky says: ahh – i was feeling the (h) there
[17:14:50] stephanie robesky says: damn – am i adding ammunition to your arsenal?
[17:15:35] E says: don’t worry about it, i have enough ammunition already
[17:15:49] E says: in fact i’m a one-man NATO where intellectual firepower is concerned
[15:27:26] stephanie robesky: sticks and stones may break my bones – but marketing lingo will never hurt me
[17:21:51] J says: I once shared a group, but it wasnt in skype.
[17:21:57] stephanie robesky says: (tmi)
[17:22:23] E says: three mile island?
