DV Faces: Timothy Clifford, Sr. Engineer
“Owning the venture all the way from idea to launch.”
This piece originally appeared on DV Pollen.
Our engineer’s design, develop and maintain the technology which is at the core of our products, solving challenging problems with radically simple solutions. They build products from scratch and create testable software which delivers maximum value for our ventures.
Before joining DV, Timothy was working as a technical architect for a digital agency between London and Shanghai, working with clients in the banking, automotive and e-commerce sectors. Timothy spoke to us about what drove his decision to join the Berlin team, career development opportunities at DV and his typical day in the office.
“What stood out for me at DV firstly was their approach — owning the venture all the way from idea to launch. “
When I arrived in Berlin I interviewed at a number of startups, tech consultancies, and DV. What stood out for me at DV firstly was their approach — owning the venture all the way from idea to launch. This approach provides the team with a great deal of autonomy and as such, we are constantly challenging our assumptions and evolving our methodologies and tech stack. Every venture is a fresh opportunity to build on previous learnings, test new technologies and grow your skills.
On top of this, I was also excited at the prospect of working across a huge range of industries and markets. One week we may be building a micro-service in Scala for a banking venture in Berlin and the next week deploying an Apache Spark cluster for a logistics venture in Amsterdam. Each new venture brings with it a different set of business and technical challenges and as engineers at DV we assist in solving both.
“We are not simply turning requirements into code, but instead working closely alongside corporate partners, product managers and designers to build a venture from the ground up.”
What sealed my decision, was the final interview when DV flew me out to the Berlin office. I was able to experience the office first hand and meet people from each of the different cohorts to discuss our backgrounds, venture work and more in-depth questions I had around DV. I was impressed by the process as a whole and also the caliber and diversity of people working at DV.
While other companies are attempting to emulate what DV is doing, they aren’t able to compete at the same velocity while producing the same quality. Our partners understand they need to modernize in order to stay competitive and that this can be difficult to achieve alone. DV has built a strong reputation in this space which will grow exponentially as we continue to launch successful ventures.
“Seeing a venture go from nothing to a fully functional product or platform in a matter of months gives a great sense of achievement.”
With teams comprised of such varied backgrounds and experience, the ideas generated are amazing. Driving these from idea to a fully functional product in a matter of months and seeing the effect these have for our partners gives a great sense of achievement. Each venture team also generates a unique culture and I enjoy how mindful DV is of this; we’re working hard but we also make sure to plan time for fun, games and nights out.
DV places a huge amount of importance on personal growth and development. The processes around performance and training are incomparable with anything I’ve experienced previously and this freedom creates a very open environment where ambitious people thrive.
“People are given freedom to drive their career path and objectives rather than these being passed down by management.”
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