Leaving a company is never an easy decision, and this time wasn't an exception. After eight years (and two acquisitions), I decided to leave Broadcom.
What a journey! I have grown a lot since I joined Bitnami back in 2016. Over these years, I have worked on challenging projects, shipped several products, and met amazing people. I'm really grateful for all the experiences that have helped me grow both personally and professionally.
Looking back
In 2016, I started a new position as a Frontend Engineer at Bitnami. I joined the "webdev" team, contributing to tools and platforms that have been used by millions of developers over the years. I remember the younger me being insecure and excited. My English level wasn't very good, but I quickly started improving thanks to the team.
In a startup, you need to iterate quickly. Sometimes, I was surprised by changes in projects and direction. Over time, I have learned that you need to adapt and make difficult decisions to continue growing. Even though I was disappointed at times, pivots were a great opportunity to learn new things, redefine the basics, and shine.
Then, the VMware acquisition came in 2019. At that time, I didn't know anything about the acquisition process or working in a big company. VMware and later Broadcom, have taught me how big companies operate. In a startup, you have a single strategy you can understand and align with. In a big company, there are many moving pieces, and even if you have a common strategy, groups apply them in different ways.
Defining a strong vision, collaborating, and influencing others in a big company is critical for personal and project success. This is the most important lesson I have learned from the amazing leaders and teammates I have worked with. I'm thankful to have met incredible people like Daniel, Erica, Simon, Carlos(es), Jiparis, Migue, Juanjo, Raquel, Tasha, Elliot, Chris, Ala, the Webdev, TAC, Wasm Labs and xLabs teams, and many many more. You have made a tremendous impact on my career ✨.
I always try to stay curious and enjoy learning. It's what makes me happy. Since I started working back in 2014, I have developed mobile applications, web services (frontend and backend), implemented automations, established metrics and alerts, deployed services on bare metal servers, cloud, and Kubernetes, designed and implemented the UI of different products, published OSS projects, collaborated with Marketing, Product, Accessibility and Engineering teams, and more. I hope this list continue to expand!
This motivation is what led me to start working on WebAssembly and Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a tech lead. Leading a small team of engineers, building a community, and collaborating with a wider group was a tremendously enriching experience. In less than two years I gave seven different talks at major conferences!
Looking back, I feel I have grown a lot, and that's a marvelous feeling 😊
What's next?
That's "the question".
Fortunately, I have a response for it: I don't know yet. Every time I say this I feel both relieved and scared. For now, I will take some time off, spend time with my family, explore some ideas, and contribute back to OSS. Knowing myself, this plan won't last too long, but for now, I will try to claim some space to think about my next steps 🪄