Talk to a Tykling – getting to know Jayvardhan Deshmukh, Junior Front End Developer
We’re both proud and humbled, here at Tyk, to work with such a talented team of Tyklings. Our product exists to make things better for our users, and this is a core focus of our staff as well. From client-facing roles to those beavering away behind the scenes, every day is about delivering a superb experience for Tyk’s customers.
One of our Tyklings who makes the magic happen behind the scenes is our Junior Front End Developer Jayvardhan Deshmukh. We caught up with Jay over a (virtual) cup of coffee recently and asked him to spill the beans on what it’s like working for Tyk.
What do you do at Tyk?
I work mostly on the front end of Tyk. I’m responsible for enhancing the user interface area and the way that users experience our dashboard. Tyk has a great team of senior developers and researchers, who make it possible for me and the team to work on improving the users’ experience of the front end.
Where are you based when working remotely?
I like to work from a mix of locations – sometimes from home, other times from different cities across India, where I’m based. Before the pandemic, I would work from Goa, from the beach, or from Bangalore.
Was it the flexibility to work anywhere that attracted you to the role at Tyk?
Knowing that Tyk was a remote first organisation was definitely a big plus point. I really notice the difference when I talk to friends who work in commercial roles. I’ve worked remotely for most of my career. In fact, since I started working as a developer, I’ve only been office-based for about five or six months. Other than that, I’ve worked remotely.
What is it that led you to work at Tyk?
The product itself is really interesting. That was what motivated me to apply to work for Tyk in the first place.
The previous company I worked for was also working with APIs, but not in as fully fledged a way as Tyk. It was a also a start-up and served to fire up my interest in APIs and that’s ultimately what led me to Tyk.
What was your career path before Tyk?
I’ve had two or three roles before coming to work at Tyk. In the first role, we started as an office-based team building API solutions. My remote working journey started when the company shifted from having staff in the office to having them work remotely.
After that, I worked remotely as a freelancer mainly, then took up the role with Tyk.
What did you want to be when you were little?
I was always interested in working in tech. I remember being wowed by it when I first got a computer and my interest just grew from there, so a career in tech is perfect for me.
Is there a particular pain point in the tech industry that you would like to fix?
I think that Tyk is already solving some serious pain points for developers. That was one of the reasons I wanted to work for Tyk – it’s making life easier for developers and improving their workflows.
Let’s say, for example, that Company A wants to develop an API. If they have Tyk, it’s so much easier for them to make their APIs publicly available and to scale them. Tyk is the solution for anything workflow-related when it comes to APIs!
What do you like about working for Tyk?
One of the main things I like is that I get to work with some really intelligent folks! I also love that everyone on the team is so empathetic. It’s one of the biggest plus points of working for Tyk.
When I came across the job at Tyk, I was looking not just for a more challenging role but also for the potential for mentorship. I wanted to work with intelligent people from whom I would be able to learn. I definitely have that at Tyk.
What are your tips for working in a remote-first organisation?
Communication is key when you work remotely, whether you’re a developer or in any other role. It’s better to over-communicate than to not communicate at all. Once you’re communicating well, remote working will flow much more easily.
How does Tyk facilitate that communication?
We handle communication really well at Tyk. As a company, we practice asynchronous communication. That means you don’t have pressure to reply immediately when a colleague sends you a message. We’ve had some really good sessions on this, to ensure that everyone’s on the same page.
It’s also easy to get hold of anyone you want and to ask them anything you want. There are no stupid questions at Tyk, which makes for a really open learning environment.
Our internal communication channels are really good. We use Slack for short communications, but for trickier or more in-depth matters we’ll jump straight onto a Zoom call. We’ve also created some great Slack channels – there’s one called ‘ask a contributor’ where you can ask anything you want and people will contribute and answer your questions. It’s a great resource both to ask questions and simply to scroll through to understand the Tyk product in more depth – it’s like a company knowledge base.
What is a mistake that you made early on in your career and what did you learn from it?
One of the mistakes I made earlier in my career was not asking a lot of questions. The policy of there are no stupid questions at Tyk has helped me to change this. Tyk made it easier for me to ask questions, which is great.
What are the values that drive you personally? What’s important to you?
Honesty. Transparency. Authenticity. Empathy. These four are so important. Tyk is a perfect fit for these values.
What are your three favourite books and/or podcasts?
Only three? That’s tough!
For books, my first choice would be The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It was one of the first really good fiction books I read as a kid. It’s stayed with me ever since.
My second choice would be Principles by Ray Dalio. He shares some really good life and work-related lessons – it’s a fabulous book.
Then I’d go with Hooked by Nir Eyal. It’s about habit-forming products and user-engaging products that serve really useful purposes.
For the podcasts, I would choose The Tim Ferriss Show. He interviews a range of inspirational people who’ve had a really good impact in their industries.
I recently explored another interesting podcast called Command Line Heroes. It’s a technical podcast, all about the open source community.
What do you like doing when you’re not working?
I like to go trekking and bouldering. When I’m in Bangalore, there’s a really cool bouldering station that I go to. Bouldering is like rock climbing but without climbing on actual rocks. You climb up artificial rock walls, with proper matting and equipment. It’s like rock climbing in a studio environment.
