Employee Spotlight: Lyudmil

Driven, fun, talented, and thoughtful are just a few of the traits of the people who make up our Engineering team. We asked some of our engineering experts to tell us a little more about how they work their magic. Here’s what they had to say about what it’s like to work at LucidLink.

Meet Lyudmil Grigorov

Position: C++ developer
Joined: October 2018
Location: Bulgaria

Can you share your background experience before joining LucidLink?

I’ve always been fascinated by technology and computers. I started programming when I was only in fifth grade. Web and game development inspired me, and I pulled all-nighters on personal projects long before I had any real deadlines.

My first encounter with LucidLink was while I was studying at Sofia University, Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics. One of the company’s earliest members was an assistant teacher there. He told me all about the idea behind a file system based on modern cloud computing environments. At the time, I was still working elsewhere and was not looking for anything. After some months, I decided to make the call (the only call I made back then) and got to meet the LucidLink team. We scheduled the interviews, and that is how my story began.

What did you find attractive about starting a career with LucidLink?

At LucidLink, everyone is super intelligent, and the company is genuinely transparent. When I joined, I felt like a goldmine of knowledge surrounded me. I still feel this way. The environment was the perfect place to expand my technical skills, vastly improve my decision-making cross-team communication, and learn what it’s like to own the continuous delivery of a robust and resilient service. Everyone knows the “wear many hats” term, which initially was how it was for me when I started at LucidLink. As we scale, that is changing some. However, the team is still a size that allows any individual an opportunity to have a significant value and impact. You can see the effects of your contribution. That makes all the difference to me.

Describe LucidLink in one word.

Is there even such a word? I say that because it’s more like a feeling. It’s awesome, but that doesn’t encompass it. I come to work and feel a strong sense of trust and ease because my colleagues always have my back. I did work in other environments, and I can tell you that I will be a part of LucidLink for a while. 

Describe what a typical day is like for you at LucidLink.

My focus time happens early in the day. We have a remote work culture, so I usually work from home in the mornings until lunchtime. I attend a standup after that to sync with colleagues. We identify blockers and then plan for the day to ensure we are collaborating efficiently. I like going into the office around lunchtime because there are many opportunities to connect and work with team members.

What type of projects are you working on, and across which teams do you collaborate?

I spent my first four years working on our dynamic infrastructure provisioning. On this project, I supported the deployment of the core product along with any web-related business needs. However, I’ve recently become interested in diving deeper into the core product. At LucidLink, we have that kind of flexibility. Once you join our company, there’s room to grow and expand your skills across teams and specialties. I’ve collaborated often and learned much from our DevOps, design, and core teams. Everyone loves sharing and helping out!

What are some of the technical challenges you’ve worked on at LucidLink?

What’s great is my work helps ensure there’s less downtime for our customers. When I think about a specific company, like Netflix, it makes me happy to consider how my work supports our customers. I personally watch Netflix, so I’m like, yeah, I helped save them time, so they can focus on producing good work. I love movies, so ultimately, if their job is more manageable, I can access more movies and more enjoyable content.  

What is your favorite thing about the Culture at LucidLink?

If you need help, you can ask anybody. It’s pretty hard to remain stuck. We’ve built a culture around teamwork and collaboration. If someone needs help, another team member or multiple team members are ready and willing to jump in and assist them.. Also, I like that the company promotes complete transparency. Leadership maintains an open-door policy and is always clear about how company projections affect the overall team and business. The structure is flat, so there is no need to wait two weeks to talk to a manager, product owner, or even the CTO and CEO!

Outside of work, what do you like to do in your free time?

Honestly, I like to work on my custom Linux setup and improve my tech skills. By the way, I use Arch, so you can guess where some of my free time goes. Lol!

I also play guitar. Many talented musicians work at LucidLink, making the culture and atmosphere in the office even more fantastic. Sometimes, we’ll get together and sing or have small group performances. It’s a lot of fun, and the entire team enjoys it.

What is a must-have for you to get your work day going?

My coffee, my noise-canceling headphones, and setting my intentions on my next goal.

What advice would you give future engineers?

Above all, stay curious. It’s really important to stay ahead and improve yourself. Secondly, be conscientious. And last but not least, be result driven. As an engineer, your value is the value you deliver to the company. Finding the right balance between long-term flexibility and understanding the business’s priorities is crucial—especially with startups.

Want to work together with Lyudmil? Check out our open positions here.