Employee spotlight: Miran Hrupački

How did you first learn about Barrage, and what has kept you here?

I came across Barrage while I was at the college, but at that time, I still wasn’t sure about my path. Barrage definitely caught my eye. After graduation, a friend of mine worked here, and once he told me everything about the company, I couldn’t help but apply for the job. 

People at the company are mainly the reason why I am still here, and the type of job we are doing here, of course. It’s always challenging, and that's why everything here is interesting, we have a variety of projects, which is very important.

What do you find the most challenging in your daily tasks?

Definitely time planning. I became the leader of the mobile app development team a while ago, and I always want to be available to my colleagues. What I find challenging is that being a leader means less coding, which is hard to accept for me - I always want to help my teammates!

What does the true leadership mean to you?

True leadership for me means being able to help and mentor my colleagues and being a reason why someone does their work more efficiently than yesterday! Every leader should listen to other’s opinions, accept criticism, and improve based on that feedback. You are not the smartest person in the room.

What advice do you have for prospective Barrage candidates or new employees?

In the IT sector, time and patience are most important. It takes time to master different technologies, and failing in that process shouldn’t make you back down from what you want to achieve. It’s completely normal to fail, and failure is a necessary part of growth. Everything will fall into place. It will be hard, but it’s not impossible - I am talking from personal experience since my first job was at Barrage as a trainee iOS Developer.

What has been your favorite project so far?

Probably StealthSend, since that project required knowledge in cryptography, which could be overwhelming sometimes. We had a feature where we had to support a feeless transaction (without monetary fee) between wallets, and that's something that I am proud we managed to do, especially since it was a rare type of transaction at that time. 

But I can’t forget Travelspot Gofer because that was the project I worked on for most of my time in Barrage.

What do you like to do on your days off? We heard you have a weekend cabin you often gather at with your friends.

Yeah, I spend most of my days off in my weekend cabin, either to get some work done or to hang out with my closest friends. Lately, I found myself more of an outdoor type, so I try to spend more time outside, tl:dr battery charging.

How do you define success in life?

I find that success in life is being healthy and surrounded by people who wish you well. Of course, being successful in work life is also important, but should always fall to second place. 

What technology do you consider the most promising in the future?

AI probably - some really great stuff was released last year, and it’s kinda scary when you see what is possible with AI technology. But I think, pretty soon, everybody will be using some kind of AI, and people will always expect applications to do something for them with a simple request instead of spending time clicking.

Are you an iOS or Android type of person?

I’ve been using both platforms back and forth, but since I became an iOS developer, I am all about iOS! (Apple products) :)

Tell us something about Edi, your Alaskan Malamute. We’ve heard these dogs are known for being veery talkative and vocal. Is that the case with your pet? 

Yeah, that’s true. He is crazy. He acts like a little child when he wants something, but he is a sweetheart. He likes to play and jump on people and loves his zoomies. Probably my favorite thing about him is when I come home from work, and he is waiting for me at the door, waving his tail. I see he is excited to see me, but I am not allowed to enter the house until he finishes arguing with me about something, and I bet he himself isn’t sure what the problem is!

What is the best vacation you’ve been to? We've heard something about an amazing trip to Barcelona…

Barcelona was amazing, it's really a beautiful town, and mostly based on old but beautiful architecture, especially the Sagrada Familia basilica. But I was always a fan of FC Barcelona, and that was something I was excited about the most. So I had to make my wish come true and went to a game against FC Porto. That was such a fun time, but unfortunately, it wasn’t at Camp Nou since it’s being renovated. I’ll have to go again once it's finished!

If you could give your past self a piece of advice, what would it be?

Be kind, make time for everybody, and spend it in a quality manner because time flies, and you never know what the future holds.

Meet the rest of the team!

We love having people like Miran in our collective. Driven individuals are the ones who build the motivational culture we nurture at Barrage.

If you would like to be a part of that culture and get to know the rest of our team, check out our open positions.