Meet Full Stack Developer, Daniel Findlay

In our latest ‘Meet the team member’ post, we catch up with one of our developers, Daniel Findlay, whose love of sport just about rivals his passion for technology.

As a Full Stack Developer, Daniel helps to develop and maintain the front-end (client facing side) and back-end (server side) of Invision360’s digital tools. His role, amongst many things, involves writing code for new product features, troubleshooting software and fixing bugs, and staying on top of new technology and techniques to enhance the Invision360 platform.

He's quite a talent, and so we thought we’d dig a little deeper to find out what inspires Daniel’s technical curiosity.

Looking back, what did you want to be when you were growing up?

“As a child, my two main interests were sports and technology but as I approached the end of my school years, I become more and more intrigued by computer programming. I was fascinated by how software was created, although I was quite frustrated by the lack of computer science education at secondary school. I was looking for an opportunity to learn at pace, so as soon as I left school, I studied computing at college and then at university. The only regret I have is not being able to start earlier in life.

“I believe that all children should have the opportunity to try programming at some point as it teaches how to think logically and problem-solve.”

Name three things you love about your job

“Firstly, with technology constantly evolving, there’s always something new to learn. I genuinely feel like a learn something new at least once a week. I am not sure this would be the same in all jobs. Working in a fast-growing company, we are always looking to solve problems for those using our digital tools. By remaining curious and applying my new-found knowledge and ideas, I help to ensure the best quality software for our clients.  

“Secondly, I love building software from scratch. I believe that you are only really limited by your imagination. If you are willing to put the time and effort into learning the underlying software, you can take a simple idea and turn it into fully functioning software. Although it does take a lot of knowledge, time and effort to create production-ready software, having the ability to do this keeps me inspired and motivated.

“Thirdly, this is closely related to my previous point. I think software development can lead you down many paths in your career as I think nearly all sectors intersect with software at some point. I am particularly interested in entrepreneurship, which I hope to pursue at in the future. I think I am drawn to this due to the mindset it requires. It promotes independent and creative thinking, which are skills we all need to reach our full potential.”

How would your friends/colleagues describe you?

“I don’t often think about this, but I think they would say that I can be introverted at times, but I would like to think that although I am quiet, I am thoughtful and have the odd, good idea!

“My personal preference is to say less, and when I do speak for my words to have an impact. This may mean that I initially come across as reserved, especially when I first meet people, but as time goes on, I become more outgoing.  I not sure why this is, it may come from a desire to understand people first before interacting with them.”

What are your favourite things to do outside of work?

“I have several interests outside of work.

“I have always enjoyed following sports. I played several different sports as I child and played wheelchair basketball for a number of years. This interest also extends to following a variety of sports, including football and cricket. In more recent years, I have taken an interest in the US sports market and follow a few different leagues including the NFL, NBA and NHL.

“A recent interest of mine is finance and investing. I think this started during the first lockdown. I watched a couple of documentaries about the famous value investor, Warren Buffet, who invests in stocks whose share price is trading below its intrinsic value or book value. His strategies got me thinking about the different ways you can manage your money, and this led to many hours of research into different opportunities. This is an on-going learning process and I hope it’s something that continues to be a big part of my life.

“Finally, I am lucky enough to do something that I have a genuine passion for as a career, so I am always willing to give some of my time to learning a new programming language or technology.”

What’s on your bucket list?

“I would like to spend more time traveling the world. If everything goes to plan, I hope to dedicate a good amount of time to this in the future. I’m not 100% sure where I would like to go. There are several US states I would like to visit. Overall, I just really want to experience different cultures and meet people from different walks of life to mine.”

Where is the most amazing place you have ever been?

“I would have to say Florida. I was lucky enough to visit the US as a child and we visited several different theme parks. I don’t remember that much about the tourist attractions. I think the thing I enjoyed the most was the adventure of discovering a new place and finding the differences between US and British cultures. Everything seems bigger in the US, from food and attractions to the distances you travel to get somewhere.”

What is your favourite fictional character and why?

“I think I would have to pick from one of my favourite TV shows, which is the US version of “The Office”. My favourite character in this show is Dwight Schrute, a paper salesman for Dunder Mifflin. There are many different aspects to his character which make him extremely entertaining and funny. I like both the US and original versions of The Office, but I think Dwight is best character.”

What’s the best piece of advice you have ever received?

“I am not the biggest fan of neatly packaged advice as life is often far more complex. But I think the best and I have heard is to “leave the world in a better place then you found it.” I am not sure when I first heard it, but it is simple and very sound advice to live by.”

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