5 Questions for Simon Mathewson - Full Stack Developer

Hey Simon, please tell us a bit about your role as a Full Stack Developer at Cosuno.

As a full stack developer I write instructions for computers so that they do what we want them to. In the context of a web app like Cosuno, “full stack” means that I write instructions both for a central computer (the server) that all customers access, and for the computers of our customers (the clients).Here’s an example: Let’s say we want to add a new feature where a customer receives an email once a subcontractor has submitted a bid. We also want to allow our users to enable or disable this feature. To accomplish this, I add code to the server which defines the contents of the email, when to send it, and where to send it. Then I add code to the client that makes our customers’ computers display a checkbox allowing them to decide if they want to receive the email or not.A critical part of my role is also to review and discuss the work of my fellow developers before we publish it. This way, we catch a lot of bugs that would otherwise make our customers’ lives harder.

There are so many start-ups in Berlin, why did you decide to join Cosuno?

From the moment the founders told me about their vision I found the idea behind Cosuno very compelling and likely to have significant impact. Everyone in our society needs buildings, so accelerating the construction industry like never before by making it digital is a great opportunity to improve countless lives. Most start-ups can’t keep up with that.

When you started at Cosuno 1,5 years ago, the team consisted only of 11 people, now we are more than 100. How did you personally experience this process of growth and what did you learn from it?

I have never seen anything like it and this kind of growth definitely exceeded my expectations. I find it to be a unique privilege to get to know a new group of bright, motivated people every month. The most valuable lesson for me is that no matter how hard you work, you’re always going to accomplish more as a team, because many smart brains simply outcompete a single smart brain.

What do you think will happen in the next 1,5 years from now?

We will continue to grow as a company and establish ourselves as a, if not the, key player in digital construction in Europe. We will move more and more construction companies away from analog, slow and dated processes and towards a new industry standard.

Could you describe the purpose of your job to someone from another? planet.

The purpose of my job is to build a silicon based information processing tool that allows other primates to more easily build structures which protect us from dangerous fluctuations in our atmosphere.