Q&A with Liam: From being rejected to becoming Ycode's Lead Developer

Meet Liam

• Currently lives in Blackburn, England

• Originally from Blackburn, England

• I'm the Lead Developer for Ycode

• I started at The Remote Company in April 2020

• Why I love my job: I get to do my hobby for a career in a flexible work environment that I can customize to work for me.

You applied in 2018 and did not receive an offer. A year later you applied for Ycode and got the job! 😁 Tell us about that.

Right! I applied for MailerLite in August 2018, and remember being fairly disappointed when I received the rejection email. However, I don’t like to dwell too much on disappointment. I rather take the feedback, learn, and move on.

Then in 2019, I saw the same Laravel & Vue.js Developer position for a no-code tool called Ycode. I did some research and discovered that Ycode was created by the same team that created MailerLite.

I remembered how excited I was the first time I applied, so this time around I HAD to get the job! And I did 🙌

So what made the difference? If you ask me, it was timing and my natural progression. I think my skill set developed a lot between 2018 and 2019. I’m always looking to learn and develop—a little every day.

You played a big role in preparing Ycode's Beta launch. How was it starting at a new company in the middle of a product launch?

Starting at a new company is always a step into the unknown. You can read everything about a company but you don’t actually know what it will be like until you've completed your first day (or rather, week).

That being said, starting at The Remote Company was great from day one.

I spent the first week getting settled, learning about the processes and the project I would be working on. In my second week, we had our first-ever company "Staycation". This is where I learned a lot about the other products, team members, and everything else company-related. It was perfect timing to come on board!

As far as the Ycode launch, that was hectic for sure! Starting a job in the middle of an upcoming launch adds that bit of pressure to come in and perform. You have to start contributing to the product as quickly as you can.

Luckily I love to take that pressure and expectation and turn it into valuable contributions. Being thrown in at the deep end certainly is a technique that works for me.

What did you learn from launching Ycode?

Let's start with the good stuff!

One thing that went really well is that we launched with all the features we had on our wish list.

So many times you have a list of features, but in the back of your mind, you know that one or two features might not make it. With Ycode, this was not the case! We launched on our own terms, on the day we wanted, and with all the features we planned.

Another great thing was the Ycode community we managed to establish.

Many people were genuinely excited about trying Ycode, discussing our no-code tool, and suggesting new features. This rubs off on the team, knowing their work is being appreciated! The people who use your product are the most important thing when launching. Being able to interact with them and recognize their faces (or well… avatars) from day one is awesome.

The most challenging part for me wasn't anything code or Ycode-related, it was to keep active.

We launched Ycode in Beta and the community was growing, but that's only the beginning. We had to keep delivering bug fixes, make improvements, and release app updates. Though it was challenging, I think we tackled it head-on. We started releasing Beta updates every 1-2 days and actively engaged with our audience to collect their feedback.

Within a year you got promoted to Lead Developer because you “were able to make the hard decisions and put in the extra effort”. Such a great achievement! How’s the new role?

Becoming a Lead Developer was going to be the next step in my career, so when the opportunity arose I took it (and I love it)!

I knew what moving up to a lead position meant. Less time coding and more time guiding, planning, and most importantly, being there for the team.

I love helping people daily with whatever they might need. We all work as one to put the pieces together to achieve success. My colleagues are the most important people and it motivates me to make sure they're happy.

With this new title, my tasks also changed. Nowadays, a typical day generally falls into two halves. One half of the day I am helping colleagues, catching up on our progress, reviewing pull requests, and assisting in reviewing and hiring candidates. Things like that. The other half of the day I do some programming, contributing to Ycode at a code level.

Do you have any tips for people looking to progress in their careers?

One of the main things is that you have to love what you are doing!

If you genuinely love your job and have a passion for whatever you're doing on a daily basis, then I genuinely believe the best of your ability will shine through.

It's also important to remember that it really is a marathon, not a sprint. Success won’t come overnight and usually, the success that does come overnight, won’t stick around for very long.

If you have a goal in mind, whether that might be: a product you want to launch, a fitness regime you want to stick to, or a new job role—do something every day to get there. Bettering yourself each day, even if it’s a small amount, will pay off in the long run.

And lastly: Of course, you have to work hard! 😁