Matt Caswell: Developing Software And His Career at Vinolytics
Matt Caswell is a rising Junior at UMass Amherst majoring in Computer System Engineering. During the summer he was a software developer at Vinolytics. He shared with us his intern experience with this startup.
What about Vinolytics stood out to you when you were looking for internships?
It was a perfect fit. They had a software development position in Boston, and Vinolytics is an interesting company, too. It’s a startup with a really cool idea that no one has brought up and executed before.
Where did you intern in the past?
I worked at a small business on Beacon Hill called The Smoke House and they do advertising for small boutique hotels. They wanted to make an app for a hotel so that when you hit a button the concierge comes and like gives you a towel or something like that. That was what I did in my past internship.
What is a day like at Vinolytics?
I came in as a software developer, and I was part of the team with 2 other guys who just graduated from UMass. Usually, I go into the office and work on the product, like right now we are trying to push through a new UI design and that’s been our major task for the past couple of weeks. We are a very small company in a shared office space at Copley. There are usually only 4 or 5 people sitting at the desk and we are all working on different things, but we communicate a lot in the process. Sometimes I’ll show them the UI and see how they like it or if I missed anything. It’s a small, nice community and I like it. I work from home a lot, too. I am only in the office on Mondays and Wednesdays and work from where I live the rest of the time.
Is it the first time you have that remote working experience?
Yes. It’s really nice but also challenging. You definitely have to be on top of not getting distracted. Sometimes you are on a couch and something good comes on TV, and my cat at home attacks me a lot.
How have you been able to create structure or discipline for yourself?
I made a rule for myself that from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm I’m going to work, and I try not to break that rule. Sometimes I get myself a little bit of time for lunch and errands if I need to, but I try to keep that rigid structure.
What about your favorite project?
My favorite is probably the new UI for our platform because this summer I am pretty much on my own, running the whole tech side of the company while also making the new UI because my other 2 co-workers have moved to California and they are still getting set up over there. So I’ve been just keeping the app running, making sure there is no fire, no problems. I think that is a big accomplishment for me. This new UI is pretty awesome and I like it. I will continue to work in my school year, and we are trying to bring in more students from UMass. I’ll be a little ring leader after we bring new blood to the team, making sure they know what they are doing there.
How did you find out about TechGen?
I found TechGen on Google while searching for “software development internships in Boston” and then I went to the website, signed up and applied for the internships there.
How was your experience using TechGen?
It was pretty good. I like the way you can just swipe through a million internships and I actually applied to every single software ones. I like TechGen, it’s a really cool idea and it’s doing a great job.
