Interview with Fotios Hatzis, Senior Software Engineer at N26 in NYC
From amateur game creator to full-stack developer, N26 Senior Software Engineer Fotios Hatzis joined the US team to make a big impact while building an innovative, mobile consumer banking product. We recently sat down with him to find out how he became a software engineer, why he likes living in New York City, and what his first two months working at N26 have been like.
Can you introduce yourself and what you do at N26?
My name is Fotios Hatzis, and I’m a senior software engineer at N26 on the US team.
Where are you originally from?
I’m originally from San Antonio, Texas. I grew up there and went to school at the University of Texas at San Antonio. I’ve also lived in Austin.
What made you choose to pursue a career as a developer?
I originally went to school for a degree in game development — I always enjoyed playing video games and thought I could have a hand in creating them. My first actual college course was an intro to programming class, and the instructor blew my mind. He was really, really awesome, and I felt like I was absorbing everything he said, even though other kids in the room acted as if he were speaking Greek. It all made sense to me, so I wound up switching my major to a full-time computer science degree.
How did you become a full-stack developer in the first place?
Basically out of necessity. My first job required front-end work, so I took it up. Doing any front-end or full stack means Javascript. When I first began pursuing a computer science degree, I hated Javascript, but I knew I needed to learn it at some point. It’s now one of my favorite programming languages. The beauty of it is this is that not everything needs to be super robust and well thought out, which I think evokes more creativity. Your work can be molded over time and built into a huge system. Javascript is versatile, friendly, easy to use, and ubiquitous. However, as in any programming language, not everything wins — Javascript is a perfect example of that. You really have to dig deep into it, take ownership of your code, and have a passion for what you’re trying to accomplish. The more you use it, the deeper you get, and the learning never stops.
What do you find to be most challenging about back-end development?
Front-end deals with things people can actually see and interact with; back-end is the starkest of contrasts, people don’t have any kind of visual or tangible response to your work. You have to find different satisfactions over things like storing and organizing data, analyzing and refining complex algorithms, structural management, and security optimization. This stuff may sound boring, but without it, nothing you use would ever work!
In the front-end, all of the code you write and test is your own. It does exactly what you want it to do. It’s this shiny, presentable, tangible thing versus the back-end which can be far more ugly. Especially in the context of building an online bank, a lot of the back-end systems are antiquated, difficult to interpret, and in general hard to work with. You need to turn the ugly stuff into something you can actually use. That includes working with third-party code, other systems that you have to deal with and so forth. The biggest challenge is figuring out a way to modernize these systems and turning your code into a fully usable, versatile product. It’s far more complex and difficult in my opinion. If it were easy, it would have been done already!
What drew you to N26?
The product itself is one of the main things. I really liked N26’s approach to building a complete mobile-based solution for banking, which not a lot of players are doing in the US. Some of our competitors seem to be making only a half step — they offer a single feature that may be great, but they don’t offer a holistic product.
Also, the people here are awesome! I’m passionate about transparency, information sharing, the free-flowing exchange of ideas: no one holds back here and there are no dumb questions. Everyone at N26 is very upfront and direct, especially our CEO. He’s very straightforward, honest, and always open for feedback. As a technical person who’s worked on lots of small teams, that’s something I value greatly.
And of course, there are some really cool company perks. We get free coffee and beer, have weekly team lunches at local restaurants and have brown bag learning sessions. We also have these things called Getting Stuff Done Days, or GSDDs, where we get to explore new ideas unrelated to our daily tasks and work on any side projects we want without distractions.
I understand you spent time in Berlin for training when you first joined N26. What was that like?
My time in Berlin was very interesting. What surprised me most was how big and how diverse the teams are in terms of nationalities and backgrounds. It was a much different experience than my previous employers, which were a mix of both small tech startups and large corporations.
The other thing that stood out was that even though the Berlin office is rapidly growing, there was still a feeling of familiarity and connectedness among colleagues. I instantly made friends with many of the people there. Everyone was extremely welcoming, which was a great feeling. It’s also nice that the company language is English — I don’t know a lick of German yet.
Describe N26 in three words:
Chill, inviting, ambitious.
What makes N26’s company culture unique?
In my short time here, the main thing I’ve noticed is that there are a lot of different people here from many different places. When I lived in Austin, everyone I met was either from Austin or from the surrounding area. I value the fact that N26 is truly an international company. I’ve been impressed by the diversity both in Berlin and New York, as well as the high level of talent — it makes it a special place to work. You have a place where you can make an immediate impact, you can make a change, and new ideas are always being floated around.
How long have you been in NYC? What do you like, or don’t like, about living and working here?
I’ve been living in NYC for three years now. I started off in Harlem, and I currently live in Spanish Harlem. It’s got a different vibe from the rest of the city, and I like the fact that it’s a bit outside of the tech bubble (DUMBO, Williamsburg, Silicon Alley).
I both love and hate how fast-paced, hustle and bustle this place is. Sometimes I feel lazy because people are always going places and doing adventurous things. The ability to jump in at any time, however, and enjoy the craziness is something I appreciate. There is always something to do in New York City, no matter the time of day. The city brings so many different people and cultures together at once. Compared to Texas, there is so much more variety here, which is refreshing.
There’s also so much good food. There are cuisines from all over the world, you really can’t compete. I don’t want to hear anyone say that New York doesn’t have the best food.
What is the vision for N26 in the US? How are you contributing to that vision?
I’m building the damn thing! [laughs] The vision, first and foremost, is to launch our product and be competitive. It’s an uber-competitive space, and we want something to compete against both the big banks as well as other fintech players. We’re not going to blow every bank out of the water, but with healthy competition, creating an app that solves the financial needs for people of all ages and backgrounds will drive our overall success as a company. I want to make a product that I can be proud of, share with others, a product that I myself would use.
What’s been the most challenging thing about working at N26?
The most challenging aspect for us is bringing in the right people. We view ourselves as a small startup within a much larger, successful startup, and it’s important that we assemble a team that’s highly motivated, creative, and passionate about their work. Hiring is hard — you can round up tons of great, well-qualified candidates, but finding the right mix of personality, drive and qualifications is a tough balance to achieve.
Many skilled programmers work in organizations where everything is very clearly laid out in front of them — things come to them, they work on it, then things go out. The cycle is constantly repeating itself. In this environment, priorities change quickly and then don’t change for a while. We also wear multiple hats, so some days I’m writing code, other times I’m analyzing user stories. Being at a small startup means getting your hands in a lot of different things, regularly generating new ideas, and always being open to change.
What makes the N26 product special?
The app has a fantastic, user-friendly design that just works. It’s very action based, every screen has its purpose. In today’s design language, there’s always a call to action, like large buttons that get the user to the exact place they need to be in accomplishing a task. The N26 app is very purposeful, with great features which are beautifully and simplistically displayed. Nothing is hidden.
When was the last time you visited a bank branch?
A long, long time ago! I guess I still like to physically hand in a check rather than using mobile deposit, mostly because I have the worst luck in the world when it comes to those things. But I really don’t need to use a bank branch, I couldn’t even tell you about the specific services that they offer. Plus they always charge you fees — no one likes fees.
What qualities do you look for in other potential developers joining the team here at N26 USA?
Not to be biased, but we’ve got a really great thing going here. We’ve got a young, energetic, ambitious, move-quick-break-stuff mentality. In terms of the engineers we look for, we hope to see candidates who care about what they’re crafting, take pride in their work, and always have an open ear for suggestions. You need to be as open to being wrong as you are to being right. We’re building a high-quality product that is usable for millions of people and will last beyond your years here at N26 — a good rule of thumb for engineers is to leave the place better than you found it, preservation is so important. You don’t own it or hold onto it forever, and at the end of the day, we’re building something that is much bigger than ourselves.
Interested in joining one of our teams as we grow?
If you’d like to join us on the journey of building the mobile bank the world loves to use have a look at some of the roles we’re looking for here.
