Below you’ll find a short synopsis of my professional life to-date. My career path has been nonlinear for the most part, motivated primarily by by what I felt I needed to learn; starting a company, building products, learning how to sell, product management and more.
Origins & Early Career
Born in Germany and raised in Ireland, my tech journey began when I discovered Eric Raymond’s “How to Become a Hacker” at age 14. This sparked a passion that led me from Python programming to building computers and configuring Linux servers. While studying Creative Computing in Dublin, I freelanced as a product engineer, working with modern tech stacks like Ruby on Rails. A pivotal moment came when I joined Contrast, a boutique software shop run by the now co-founders of Intercom. This experience exposed me to startup culture and the art of iterating on business ideas—setting the stage for my future endeavors.
From Engineering to Entrepreneurship
At Engine Yard, I made the unconventional choice to join sales engineering over software development, later joining New Relic as the first Sales Engineer in their EMEA founding team. This led to my first startup, Shake—a three-year journey that began with €50K from friends and family and grew to secure $250K in Silicon Valley funding. Though the company ultimately closed, the experience—including taking on €30K in personal debt to ensure proper closure—provided invaluable lessons in entrepreneurship.
Evolution Through Data & Product
Post-startup, I moved into product management at ChangeX, where I implemented data-driven decision-making to streamline product features. This sparked my interest in data, leading me to Munich where I worked as a Data Architect, building analytics systems for global enterprises including Pampers’ loyalty app. My third venture, Trackplan, emerged from my own challenges in behavioral tracking. Despite strong initial traction and securing commitments for $750K of a planned $2M round, we ultimately fell short of finding a lead investor during final due diligence—a moment that would lead to unexpected new directions.
New Chapter
The timing of Trackplan’s fundraising challenges coincided with the birth of my son, prompting a profound reassessment of priorities. What initially felt like a setback revealed itself as an opportunity to recalibrate both personally and professionally. Today, I’m an Enterprise Solutions Engineer at LaunchDarkly, where I’ve spent the past year with working with devops and data teams.
What’s Next
My passion for AI, Data and Devops continues to evolve as I focus on building products, deepening my expertise in Solutions Engineering, and constant learning. I’m also exploring content creation through my new YouTube Channel and Podcast, sharing my experiences and insights with the broader tech community.
Currently, I am building three micro-SaaS/AI projects: Trackplan.ai, Rentalbuddy.ai and Remindme.vip. I’m also working on three content projects The Untapped Life, Grit, Sweat & Tears and Chasing Rainbows.
Beyond Work
As much as I love working in tech, I equally enjoy getting as far away from my laptop as possible. You’ll find me in the kitchen experimenting with sourdough bread, working in the garden, taking on landscaping projects, or hiking; the perfect balance to a life in tech.