Solving puzzles and invisible architecture: Filipe Tavares’ journey to becoming a lead software engineer at Pipedrive
When Filipe Tavares finished high school, he interned at a local company in Lisbon. Eventually, the company hired him as a support agent, beginning his exciting journey in the tech world. Today, he works as the lead software engineer at Pipedrive and solves technological puzzles every single day.
Thinking back, Filipe realizes that becoming a developer was partly down to chance. His first employer was a small company with few people handling many processes and tasks. Filipe learned software development by searching for workarounds for their customers. So, building things to satisfy customer requests was the next logical step in his career. From networker to collaboration specialist to team manager, Filipe found himself building a central tool for the company to manage customer relationships, inventory, invoices and other business-critical processes.
Ten fast years forward, he decided it was time to make another leap in his career. A professional adventure called Pipedrive was waiting just around the corner.
Solving puzzles with IT
Filipe’s first interview at Pipedrive Lisbon was far from his initial interaction with the company. Even before being contacted by a Pipedrive recruiter, he’d stumbled upon former Pipedrive CTO Sergei Anikin’s post about restructuring the company from engineering teams to tribes.
“I was so impressed with what I read, and I was thinking to myself that this is exactly how software development should be done. I started to ponder that maybe I should join the company, and when the recruiter contacted me, I did not hesitate for a minute. The interview process was so smooth, and communication about the next steps was great. So, by the end of it, I knew for sure that I wanted to work at Pipedrive as it aligned with my personal beliefs and career goals,” recalls Filipe.
Filipe joined Pipedrive in July 2019 as a mid-developer. Having never worked in a software company, he wanted to develop his engineering skills, and he realized the need to step back to move his career forward. So, he dedicated his time to learning new skills and finding solutions to everyday challenges. Working with more experienced colleagues didn’t faze Filipe. For him, it was a learning opportunity.
“I love to code, but that’s not all. It’s amazing how far technology has evolved, and I have always wanted to be part of the journey. IT is just like solving puzzles piece by piece — only if you make sure that the pieces fit together will you see the bigger picture behind it. Understanding how things actually work is still my favorite part about software development. But what I have learned from the very best in this field is that IT is not about knowing everything. Rather, it’s about being curious and understanding how to search for the right solutions,” explains Filipe.
Constructive feedback is a powerful tool
Filipe says that he fell in love with software development for two reasons. Firstly, he’s really into processes since translating structures into concrete actions helps save time. Secondly, he likes imagining how to build things and to him, software development is like architecture — only without physical constructions. Building with a purpose, for example, making automations that save users time and money, is professionally motivating to him.
At Pipedrive, Filipe continues to discover facets he likes about his work. “I came from a corporate environment and was surprised by how open Pipedrive’s culture is. A lot of information is internally public, and this makes the company so available. I think that it comes down to our awesome feedback culture. It’s not only about giving but also receiving constructive evaluation to work. I haven’t seen it anywhere else. It probably has a strong connection with Estonia as Estonians are more direct than Portuguese. But having a voice and learning to listen to other people can be a powerful tool in your personal development,” says Filipe.
Filipe appreciates a certain level of openness in his everyday work as well. He recalls a collaborative project centered on a problem some users were facing. Although the product manager had some ideas for resolving the issue, he encouraged team collaboration without forcing his opinion. Even though they ended up working longer to find a solution, each team member learned valuable lessons from each other.
Succeeding in sports and software development
Filipe’s love for structures was, perhaps, how he discovered the sport of calisthenics. Rather than keeping it as a hobby, he decided to go competitive — and the results speak for themselves. In 2021, Filipe won 7th place in the Portuguese national calisthenics competition. Last year, he climbed to 6th place. And, if everything goes well this year, he hopes to represent Portugal at the world championship.
“Most people work out for the sake of working out,” reflects Filipe. “It’s a great way to relieve stress, so it’s a rational choice for finding balance in your life. But if you want to see your body changing and achieve results, then you have to set up a plan and work consistently towards the goal. From this point of view, calisthenics and software development are surprisingly similar. If something doesn’t work out, then you have to change the plan or adapt to the new situation. Otherwise, writing code would be just a random act with no specific end goal.”
“What makes it even more challenging is the fact that the same recipe does not work for every single person. To excel, you have to monitor what’s happening — if the plan is working — and, if needed, figure out a better solution,” Filipe adds.
How to build a successful career in tech? Filipe’s advice on turning lessons and challenges into opportunities:
- Be curious. A lot of people believe that you need to be good at math for a successful career in software engineering. Instead, you need a lot of curiosity, creativity and courage to search for the right answers and not give up.
- Don’t be afraid of feedback. Constructive criticism helps you understand how you are developing as a professional and what the next steps in your career could be. Use the career framework as a personal guide to set your professional goals.
- Take every opportunity to learn from the best. Being the best software developer doesn’t mean knowing how to write the perfect code. Instead, it means recognizing that it’s almost impossible to build successful solutions without proof of concepts, team collaboration or feedback from real users. Each step in the process is a valuable source of information for planning and executing the next moves.
- Change before you have to. The tech world is constantly evolving. Be open to trying and assessing new technologies. By recognizing where the tech world is going, you’ll be more prepared when it’s actually time to change.
- Get out of your comfort zone. Being a great software engineer is so much more than being great technically. To grow your career and jump onto the next level, you need to work with different teams and different people in multiple ways. Adapt yourself to new situations and absorb as much as possible from each experience. In the end, we are the experiences we live, and we evolve more when we get out of our comfort zone.
- Grow from mistakes. To learn, you need to be open to making mistakes. Reflecting on your experiences and taking the most important lessons with you helps you grow professionally and personally.
Filipe’s advice on what to keep in mind when looking for your dream job (just like Pipedrive!):
- It’s the people that matter. A company is only as good as its people. Look for a company where people are the greatest asset and the leadership values employees — and their growth potential — professionally and personally.
- The company values employer branding. It’s the art of providing a great professional and collaborative environment and a sign that the company is on a mission to provide a world-class experience for its employees.
- State-of-the-art technology makes a difference. As a software engineer, you will be using it daily, so make sure it’s up to date! A software company using outdated technology will likely lose out to the competition.
- And finally, don’t hesitate to search for career opportunities in a global, growth-driven company with an international team and customer base. Change happens faster when a company grows, leading to unique challenges and learning opportunities.
