About
"What's your deal, man?"
Since you asked, imaginary Pablo.
Like my late dog, I'm a mix. Unlike my dog, I broadly know what I'm a mix of:
- My father is second-generation American, prior family from Germany ("Meier"!) 🇺🇸
- My mother is Guatemalan 🇬🇹
I'm an American citizen, and was born and raised here.
I'm 38, living in San Francisco. I went to Brown University and got a BS in Computer Science and a BA in Music (which was not really a music degree; it was more "sound technology for sound design + digital installation art"). I speak fluent Spanish (I've never been monolingual). I'm a middle child with an older brother and a younger sister.
For money, I've mostly worked as a software developer and engineering manager.
Anything else?
I'm a licensed hypnotherapist, though I don't and have never had a practice. I just think it's neat 🌀
I trained to be a dance fitness instructor. I taught a few classes, but had a falling out with the studio owner. This was years ago and have lost the moves as an instructor, but will tear out the floor in any Zumba class. 🕺
I love hard video games, but don't play them very much. I'm learning the accordion 🪗
Software jobs
| Company | Duration | Team(s) | Stack(s) | City | Company size at join | Pablo's Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe | 2010—2012 | Flash Player and Runtime | C++ (deployed on 1bn devices lol), Java | SF | idk, thousands | A-, cool place actually |
| 2012—2013 | Google Cloud; API Dashboard | Java | Mountain View | idk, tens of thousands | D-, extremely bad gig | |
| Sup | April 2014—December 2014 | Sup | Java (Android apps), Node, Mongo | Philly (remote), NYC later | Founding engineer | A, brought me back to life |
| Reonomy | Feb 2015—August 2016 | Reonomy | Java, Angular, Node, Python | NYC | ~14 | B-, a bit nuts but very grateful |
| ClassPass | August 2016—October 2017 | ClassPass | Java, Python | NYC | 250 | C-, oh the dysfunction |
| Lyft | November 2017—May 2019 | Passenger Experience | Python, Dynamo | NYC | First 10 in NYC office, company at ~2000 | B. A bit too FAANG-like but pretty good people |
| Ramp | May 2019—Nov 2023 | A lot lol | Python, Elixir | NYC—Remote | Founding Engineer | Best gig of my career |
Cities
| City | Duration | Why? |
|---|---|---|
| Washington DC area | 1986-2005 | Raised here! |
| Providence, RI | 2005-2010 | College! |
| San Francisco, CA | 2010-2013 | First jobs out of college! |
| Austin, Texas | Two months in 2013 | Was depressed, desperate, and nearly quit tech. |
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 2013-2014 | Threw myself into a life tornado in light of ☝️, chased a dream. |
| New York, NY | 2015-2021 | Job took me here, stayed. |
| San Francisco, CA | 2022-Present | Ill-fated relationship choices. |
Is it 'Pablo' or 'Paul'? Which is your real name?
Yes!
Legally, my name is Paul, and that's what most of my English-speaking people called me in school and my first two jobs. My siblings, cousins, and many exes mostly call me "Paul."
But my parents and grandparents have called me exclusively Pablo for as long as I've been processing language, and it's what I've always felt more comfortable with. I've been using it for the past decade, and most recent co-workers find calling me "Paul" as alien as I do when I look into a mirror.
Ultimately, I answer to both, and feel like both.
What is your favicon?
It's a Zerg Drone! They are adorable.
