Unlock the Secrets to Fintech Success by Building a Successful Team with Timothy Partasevitch, Chief Growth Officer at Smart IT

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:00:00

nowadays there's actually many

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

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opportunities to cut down on the budget and, reduce the cost of operations.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

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With what we are doing right now, you can tap into more IT and software

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

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development talent than ever before.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

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They're not constrained to their local market and they can actually work

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

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for other companies across ... The country, across the region, even

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

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like across the oceans if they wish.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

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If your company back in the days, in Silicon Valley, well you gotta

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

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pay engineers in Silicon Valley.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

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And they cost quite a bit.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

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But nowadays,

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

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you can still have your office in California, but a hire developer in

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

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Utah, or in somewhere in Europe, like Poland, Romania, without actually

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

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sacrificing any sort of like quality, and without pushing the deadlines,

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

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and altering your roadmap too much.

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:00:50

The most common cause of bad customer experience.

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:00:54

Isn't that high tech.

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:00:56

It's embarrassingly simple.

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:00:58

Yep.

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:00:59

It's answering questions.

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:01:01

In e-commerce, it's really easy to get bogged down with common questions.

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:01:06

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d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:01:11

or just to cancel a subscription?

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:01:13

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d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:01:19

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d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:01:23

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d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:01:27

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d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:01:32

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d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:01:33

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d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:01:41

Welcome to FinTech Confidential, bringing you the people, tech and companies

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:01:46

that change how you pay and get paid

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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tim, welcome to the show.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

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Thanks for having me

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

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the pleasure is mine

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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Tim is the Chief Growth Officer at Smart

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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IT, and previous to that, he served as Vice President of Strategic Marketing

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:02:04

at Smart Nordic, and he led Strategic Marketing and SEO, as well as Content at

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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MEDvidi, Online Medical Health Service.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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And for Smart IT they really are lucky to have him because it's a

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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team of programming professionals and business experts who are

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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dedicated to helping businesses grow through building custom software.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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Now they have a long track record of success with over nine and a

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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half years, and they use the most modern and innovative technologies to

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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bring those client's ideas to life.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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It's served over 46 clients in 47 countries.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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It's almost a one-to-one ratio.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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And their custom software development is really focused on startups.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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As well as SaaS, application development among many, many other different things.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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And one of the things I thought was really interesting is how it is

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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all distributed and how they manage all those distributed developers

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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and employees across the company.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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Now, Tim, I've tried my best to describe the experience, your experience, and

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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in the company, but how would you best describe the Smart IT mission

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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and how are you driving the growth?

IT: 00:03:25

Couldn't say be better myself, to be honest.

IT: 00:03:27

The overall mission of Smart IT is to facilitate business growth through

IT: 00:03:32

technology, and through actually people.

IT: 00:03:35

The statement and mission of Smart IT is to build dedicated teams of programming

IT: 00:03:42

and business expert for our clients.

IT: 00:03:44

So it's more about people rather than just being about the technology.

IT: 00:03:49

Technology is obviously, is always just a tool, at the business and the

IT: 00:03:53

people, the thing that actually drives the success, that's kind of like the

IT: 00:03:57

philosophy behind, Smart IT is if you have good people, and good processes,

IT: 00:04:03

everything else will take care of itself.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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And how are you driving growth,

IT: 00:04:09

Our clients will range from startups

IT: 00:04:12

to Fortune 500 companies, and they all have pretty similar goals and

IT: 00:04:19

objectives, that we try to solve.

IT: 00:04:22

Today there's like this, I wouldn't say there's a shortage of experts, but it's

IT: 00:04:26

very difficult nowadays because of how,

IT: 00:04:29

complicated,

IT: 00:04:30

the world of software has become,

IT: 00:04:32

it's very difficult to find the right person

IT: 00:04:35

that matches with your business.

IT: 00:04:38

If we talk about Fintech and financial industry in particular, and

IT: 00:04:41

insurance would be a great examples of

IT: 00:04:44

such things where you have to find the right people for the job.

IT: 00:04:49

And the purpose of Smart IT is actually to drive growth

IT: 00:04:52

through bringing you the people

IT: 00:04:54

that will deliver the end product.

IT: 00:04:57

I usually say in business development and in sales, there are three

IT: 00:05:01

things, that you need to stress when, negotiating with the customer.

IT: 00:05:05

Those would be the revenue costs and risks.

IT: 00:05:09

How can you make your customer make money?

IT: 00:05:11

How can you

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help them save money?

IT: 00:05:13

And how can you help them

IT: 00:05:14

mitigate any particular risks?

IT: 00:05:16

So what Smart IT does, we try to minimize the cost of, recruitment of

IT: 00:05:22

IT professionals for you and minimize any sort of risks associated with,

IT: 00:05:27

developer churn rate and, unfit talent.

IT: 00:05:30

For example, we have very low, below 10% churn rate for our developers on average,

IT: 00:05:36

and the industry standard is around 20%.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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I didn't realize it.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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The industry average is at about 20%.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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That is huge.

IT: 00:05:44

In the past several years the market

IT: 00:05:46

was really good to develop as anyone who's done some programming.

IT: 00:05:50

The market was really booming, and there's a lot of job openings.

IT: 00:05:54

There are far more job openings than their IT professionals actually.

IT: 00:05:58

So developers are really encouraged to switch jobs and look for better.

IT: 00:06:04

And if you have a competitor, can offer them a better job.

IT: 00:06:07

Well, there's nothing stopping them really to leave.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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Finding the right talent and being

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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specific into Fintech, I mean, this is Fintech Confidential.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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How did Smart IT get into Fintech?

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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I mean we always have this falling into Fintech story cuz you don't get into

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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Fintech cuz that's where you want to go.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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You generally go into Fintech because something pulls you into it.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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What is the story for Smart IT?

IT: 00:06:34

The original fall into Fintech, it was

IT: 00:06:37

happening before I joined the team.

IT: 00:06:39

But, as far as I know, like the story behind it is

IT: 00:06:43

it's not flashy or anything.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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It hardly ever is with Fintech.

IT: 00:06:47

Yeah yeah.

IT: 00:06:48

It hardly ever is, what happens is, like in one of the original projects

IT: 00:06:52

for, Smart IT was, one of the partners,

IT: 00:06:55

called ByCard, which is the ticketing service.

IT: 00:06:57

There was a lot of

IT: 00:06:58

integration with banking systems and payment solutions that were

IT: 00:07:02

necessary to deliver the project.

IT: 00:07:04

Then the case study was published and the rumors spread around in our network.

IT: 00:07:09

Then people just approach, oh, you've done this sort of project before.

IT: 00:07:12

We actually need people who can do the same for us, and you have, doing

IT: 00:07:17

the same project and then you have some new experience and new expertise

IT: 00:07:21

that you pick up along the way.

IT: 00:07:23

And then you have the second and the third.

IT: 00:07:24

It actually ended up that Smart IT was developing, redeveloping, and revamping

IT: 00:07:29

the document management system for one of the largest banking conglomerates.

IT: 00:07:33

Step by step, there is no like glorious glamorous, fall into Fintech when

IT: 00:07:37

you just, find the silver bullet and suddenly you are the Fintech expert.

IT: 00:07:41

Now, it usually takes years and years, and gradually step by step,

IT: 00:07:45

you grow your expertise and you become more competent in that field.

IT: 00:07:49

Fintech is no exception.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

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What do you think the biggest lesson

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:07:54

that Smart IT has learned about Fintech so far?

IT: 00:08:01

The biggest lesson about Fintech, I think is like

IT: 00:08:06

never assume that you know everything.

IT: 00:08:10

I would say that would be the biggest lesson, the Fintech is very

IT: 00:08:16

interesting, similar to insurance and I would say even healthcare.

IT: 00:08:19

Those markets they're very region specific because you have

IT: 00:08:23

laws and regulations for each individual region

IT: 00:08:26

and they can actually shape the technology solution that is required.

IT: 00:08:31

Different countries have different level of adoption of online

IT: 00:08:35

and, digital banking in general.

IT: 00:08:37

So some countries they're really good at it,

IT: 00:08:39

some countries they're not.

IT: 00:08:41

If you even talk about first world countries, in Europe for example,

IT: 00:08:44

Germany is way behind everyone else in terms of banking adoption.

IT: 00:08:49

It's funny because like in Germany they all always used cash and

IT: 00:08:53

they were really pushed towards adopting digital solution during the pandemic

IT: 00:08:59

when you actually cannot use cash and everything should be done remotely

IT: 00:09:03

and studying the market, studying the regulations of the region, and

IT: 00:09:10

understanding what, the user base of that region is very important.

IT: 00:09:16

Fintech becomes more about collaboration between the actual

IT: 00:09:18

developments and the business part of any application and software.

IT: 00:09:23

Cause you cannot just assume that, one solution fits all.

IT: 00:09:26

And different regulations, different, obviously local banks

IT: 00:09:30

have different APIs and integrations.

IT: 00:09:33

Each time you need to relearn everything.

IT: 00:09:37

Some things stay pretty much the same, but, whenever you enter a new region in

IT: 00:09:42

Fintech, it's pretty much a new learning.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:09:44

With Fintech it originally,

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:09:47

that name really came out of

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:09:49

all the disruptive technologies that

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:09:51

were really pushing out banks and all traditional financial

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:09:56

institution type things.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:09:57

Now it kind of encompasses those as well, which I find kind of hilarious.

IT: 00:10:01

Originally I think the Fintech was supposed to

IT: 00:10:03

be kinda this, standalone, yeah, anti-bank, some alternative to bank.

IT: 00:10:09

But, over the years, I think they resulted interior hybrid between two of them.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:10:14

So when you look at that, can

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:10:16

you share like any notable trends or disruptions that you're seeing

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:10:21

in the Fintech market currently?

IT: 00:10:24

I think, utilization of microservices, in

IT: 00:10:29

Fintech is, a big trend nowadays.

IT: 00:10:32

From a technical perspective, obviously that would be like using the technology

IT: 00:10:36

integrating to different micro services

IT: 00:10:38

That would be the technology trend that I see from the business perspective.

IT: 00:10:43

And also from the technology standpoint as well.

IT: 00:10:47

I would say great focus on user experience because back then, when, especially

IT: 00:10:54

with traditional banks, they were kinda like, if you're a client of a bank,

IT: 00:10:58

you don't have a choice but to use this, the online banking that

IT: 00:11:02

this bank actually provides you.

IT: 00:11:04

But now with Fintech, applications like Wise, Revolut, et cetera, et cetera,

IT: 00:11:09

there's a far more emphasis on user experience and user interface and

IT: 00:11:14

making sure that, you provide the best experience ever because actually now

IT: 00:11:20

you can lose customers to competitor.

IT: 00:11:22

While before that, it was pretty much a monopoly on your client.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:11:28

what kind of opportunities do you

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:11:30

see for these financial technology or Fintech companies to continue to

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:11:36

push ahead as they're getting a little bit more pressure on their budgets?

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:11:41

We're at a point right now where budgets are getting compressed

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:11:46

... The technology needs are actually

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:11:49

Tell me about how, what opportunities you see, not just for Smart IT,

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:11:54

but also for those businesses that are feeling that crunch.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:11:58

In terms of opportunity, you mean

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:12:00

like from, what can they utilize to push ahead or like in the market?

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:12:04

How can they maybe reassess

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:12:07

... You have a companies that are like,

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:12:10

We've got all these things that we need to, I'm gonna use

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:12:14

air quotes, need to get done.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:12:17

What opportunities do they have to look at ways of delivering all of that if they

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:12:24

want to, or what kind of opportunities do they have to identify maybe the items

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:12:30

that have the biggest bang for the buck?

IT: 00:12:31

Identifying like the bigger bank of buckets.

IT: 00:12:33

It's always a gamble like any business, it's business investment.

IT: 00:12:37

You don't know if it's gonna pay out and what the returns

IT: 00:12:40

on your investment will be.

IT: 00:12:42

I think that, nowadays there's actually many opportunities

IT: 00:12:46

to cut down on the budget and, reduce the cost of operations.

IT: 00:12:50

With what we are doing in other companies like ours, is you right now,

IT: 00:12:55

you can tap into more IT and software development talent than ever before.

IT: 00:13:00

Cause the pandemic kinda pushed us to remote workspace, and many

IT: 00:13:05

developers actually realized that they're not constrained to their

IT: 00:13:08

local market and they can actually work for other companies across

IT: 00:13:13

... Across the country, across the region,

IT: 00:13:18

Time zones can be a little bit of a challenge sometimes

IT: 00:13:21

... But there's nothing you cannot solve.

IT: 00:13:23

And companies are already prepared.

IT: 00:13:25

So the pandemic and remote work kinda push the companies to be more

IT: 00:13:29

willing to accept remote workers.

IT: 00:13:31

If your company back in the days, in Silicon Valley, well you gotta

IT: 00:13:35

pay engineers in Silicon Valley.

IT: 00:13:37

And they cost quite a bit.

IT: 00:13:39

But nowadays,

IT: 00:13:40

you can still have your office in California, but a hire developer in Utah,

IT: 00:13:46

or in somewhere in Europe, like Poland, Romania, countries where the living

IT: 00:13:50

standards, and cost of living is much smaller and thus the salary expectation of

IT: 00:13:55

a developer would be much, much smaller.

IT: 00:13:58

Thus you can cut down on your budget significantly there without actually

IT: 00:14:04

sacrificing any sort of like quality, and without pushing the deadlines,

IT: 00:14:08

and altering your roadmap too much.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:14:11

Using external teams to support

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:14:12

development needs, is one of the big

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:14:15

... That is what Smart IT does.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:14:17

And there could be a ton of factors that make it more way, way, way, way I've

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:14:23

done it myself, but it makes it way more difficult than is actually needed.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:14:28

How is Smart IT positioning themselves as visionary leaders, on

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:14:38

working with integrated partners or integration partners and customers

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:14:42

to really build that experience for that company's customers?

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:14:48

Pretty much it all comes down to

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:14:51

your expertise in choosing people.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:14:54

At the end of the day, it's business, as usual, picking out

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:14:58

the right person for the job.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:14:59

So it starts with the team.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:15:01

Usually, when I negotiate with the client and everything, we discuss

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:15:05

the project and picking out the right, team composition and team

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:15:09

structure, the very first thing that I say, We can pick out a team for

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:15:15

you as we see fit, if you trust us

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:15:17

... But I would insist that you would

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:15:23

go through the entire like hiring process for the team lead, at least.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:15:26

Because the team leader, is the person who will be managing your

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:15:31

remote team, should be a person that you would be communicating

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:15:34

with a lot, and thus it should be a person you are comfortable with.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:15:38

That's one of the first things

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:15:40

... If you don't feel comfortable

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:15:42

... You shouldn't be working

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:15:45

That's like the biggest red flag

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:15:47

It also comes down to the person's experience.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:15:50

So you don't only look at the person's technical background,

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:15:54

The guy can be, or a girl, really, really experience in banking and financial space.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:15:59

He or she can have a great deal of experience, with particular

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:16:04

technology that the client uses, but the soft skills might be lacking.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:16:10

Or it might not just be the right fit, cultural fit.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:16:13

Whether you like it or not.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:16:15

Different companies in different countries have, different cultures.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:16:19

If you ever work with distributed teams across, multiple countries, it's

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:16:23

very difficult to actually make sure that they can communicate meaningfully

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:16:26

between each other, smoothly.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:16:30

Any sort of international like teams, it usually has initial

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:16:33

intentions where people need to understand, how others work.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:16:38

Mm-hmm.

IT: 00:16:39

Picking the right person for the right team.

IT: 00:16:41

For example, if you have, a client in Southeast Asia, they might

IT: 00:16:46

look for a very particular person.

IT: 00:16:47

Not a lot of talking and not they don't need too much of enthusiasm.

IT: 00:16:51

Like they're very straight to the point.

IT: 00:16:54

Give us, breakdown of the problem A, B, and C, or what's the problem,

IT: 00:16:59

what's the solution, five minute call and that's it, we are done.

IT: 00:17:02

When you're working, for example, with the team in USA, like there's

IT: 00:17:06

a lot more that comes down to actually interaction with the client.

IT: 00:17:11

Usually people are more talkative.

IT: 00:17:13

It's just the culture and different people tend to interact

IT: 00:17:17

differently with their team.

IT: 00:17:18

So picking the right person at the very beginning of the project I

IT: 00:17:23

think is one thing that you need to nail right otherwise, everything

IT: 00:17:28

along the road will be a bump.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:17:29

When I look at this, you mentioned,

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:17:31

picking the right team lead, making sure that we have all of the

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:17:36

cohesiveness between the cultures.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:17:38

Does that go beyond the team lead and the company?

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:17:41

How are you managing the cohesiveness between the total development team,

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:17:47

especially when working on a financial technology product that is region

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:17:52

specific how do you make sure that they're cohesive and being able to

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:17:55

understand and deliver on that mission?

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:17:57

Comes down to vetting, the person.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:18:00

You need a really competent guy, in charge of hiring process.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:18:03

That's what you need.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:18:05

You need somebody who understands the problem that the client has.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:18:09

This person during the interview needs to be able to drill down

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:18:13

and ask all the right questions.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:18:15

Usually it requires a great deal of like technical expertise that,

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:18:18

for example, I don't possess.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:18:20

I'm really good at evaluating people based on their soft skills and when

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:18:23

they can be a right fit to a particular, client on the business side of things.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:18:30

And I can judge really well usually whether they'll be very

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:18:34

comfortable talking with each other.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:18:36

But I'm not really good

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:18:37

... I lack technical knowledge, evaluating

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:18:42

from a technical perspective.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:18:44

So again, just as technology becomes more complicated,

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:18:48

so does the hiring process.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:18:49

You actually need several stages of the interview.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:18:52

That's why many companies actually employ several stages of the interview.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:18:55

First, you have general HR, but they just evaluate the CV and

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:19:00

saying, this person looks like he or she could be a good fit for us.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:19:04

They can do the job and they have experience necessary then comes the

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:19:10

technical, evaluation where you need to drill down into their expertise, whether

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:19:14

they have, necessary knowledge and whether they have a necessary mindset

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:19:19

to learn because you don't expect, a person to know everything right away,

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:19:24

but you kinda present them with the questions and put them in a situation.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:19:29

They might learn, obviously, and then you should evaluate their

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:19:33

soft skills that they had and make.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:19:35

After those three stages of the interview on, then you can go to the client and say,

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:19:40

I think I found the right person for you.

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:19:45

The most common cause of bad customer experience,

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:19:48

isn't that high tech.

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:19:50

It's embarrassingly simple.

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:19:52

Yep.

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:19:53

It's answering questions.

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:19:55

In e-commerce, it's really easy to get bogged down with common questions,

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:20:00

whether that's Where's my package, how do I return or exchange this item?

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:20:05

Or just to cancel a subscription.

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:20:08

Solvpath is an AI driven customer support system that enhances the

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:20:13

customer experience with visual formats and self-serve technology.

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:20:17

To empower your customers to handle their own support requests, get

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:20:22

the best customer support system for your business, get Solvpath.

d Huff | Fintech Confidential: 00:20:28

Get started by visiting getsolvpath.com.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:20:35

all of this is around distributed teams,

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:20:37

and I know personally cuz I've managed a handful of distributed teams myself.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:20:44

it's really hard, one to get everybody on the same page, two, to make sure

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:20:49

they're speaking the same language.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:20:51

But the third one that a lot of people don't think about is how to manage the

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:20:56

HR side of the house, making sure you're getting the right technology, you're

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:21:01

getting the right taxes, you're making sure that they're properly vetted cuz

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:21:06

every country has a different way to prove that the person really is the person.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:21:11

All those different things.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:21:12

Smart IT built a product internally to really help manage.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:21:17

All of that.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:21:19

Walk us through what you guys do, to manage that and how that

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:21:25

helps your clients and others manage their distributed teams.

IT: 00:21:30

The platform called Juggl, that we've

IT: 00:21:32

developed, it is used for consolidating of interview, payroll, and HR processes.

IT: 00:21:40

We built originally for ourselves and we looked at the business model

IT: 00:21:44

and after refining everything we say

IT: 00:21:47

... Yeah, this needs to be in the

IT: 00:21:50

We are not the only one who experienced such problems.

IT: 00:21:53

Basically in the single platform, what we've combined is a platform

IT: 00:21:57

where you can pick out a talent and walk them through the entire, hiring

IT: 00:22:02

process and, keep a full view.

IT: 00:22:04

Because if you have worked in any sort of outsourcing or out staffing company,

IT: 00:22:11

you realize how messy the process of, onboarding anybody really is.

IT: 00:22:16

Because you have a Sales Manager who talks to the client, a sales manager,

IT: 00:22:20

they need to relay everything to the Tech Lead, who need to relay everything to the

IT: 00:22:25

HR lead, and then they find a potential candidate, and it goes all the way back

IT: 00:22:30

to the client through several steps.

IT: 00:22:31

So we build a platform that combines and gets everyone in one ecosystem.

IT: 00:22:38

So everyone is always, on a single page.

IT: 00:22:41

We created like a like really nice combined view to see like the entire

IT: 00:22:46

journey of all the candidates and to ensure that on every step of the way

IT: 00:22:51

... Everyone, including the Client, Tech Lead,

IT: 00:22:56

each candidate, and how to onboard them.

IT: 00:22:58

Regarding like the onboarding and managing what you've

IT: 00:23:01

mentioned, like taxes and payroll.

IT: 00:23:04

Now that just comes down to capabilities of your legal department,

IT: 00:23:08

whether you can do or cannot do it.

IT: 00:23:10

How we usually handle everything, is we actually contract or onboard,

IT: 00:23:17

the developers', full-time employees at Smart IT and create like a

IT: 00:23:24

custom contract with our client.

IT: 00:23:26

Client actually need to pay only us and then we handle all the taxes,

IT: 00:23:30

all the payrolls, everything.

IT: 00:23:32

But they see obviously the breakdown.

IT: 00:23:34

They see how much the developer costs them, what is their salary, what are

IT: 00:23:37

the taxes that they're paying, and what is like the general fee that

IT: 00:23:41

Smart IT, takes for our services.

IT: 00:23:45

One of the things that I think is often overlooked when onboarding, people into

IT: 00:23:51

the team and managing distributed teams is actually when you have people in

IT: 00:23:56

different countries and they never see each other in person, it's very difficult

IT: 00:24:00

to kinda bring out this team spirit.

IT: 00:24:04

I kinda like to make sure that the people that work for you in other parts

IT: 00:24:08

of the world feel like they're part of your team, feel like they're part of

IT: 00:24:11

Smart IT so they're not just like the contractor that just wakes up, does

IT: 00:24:17

their job, and leaves and that's it.

IT: 00:24:18

Like for them it's job for you, the contractor.

IT: 00:24:22

In this way.

IT: 00:24:23

If you set it up as this, it's just contractor, employer, employee

IT: 00:24:27

relationship, that's where you get a really big churn rate.

IT: 00:24:31

Cause there's no, pride, there's no loyalty and you shouldn't expect, cause

IT: 00:24:36

you, you've put no work actually in it.

IT: 00:24:39

So what we are trying also at Smart IT to do is put a lot of emphasis on the

IT: 00:24:43

HR in terms of bringing people together that mean like creating virtual events

IT: 00:24:48

between all the team members, making sure that, the onboarding present

IT: 00:24:52

kit really working really well.

IT: 00:24:54

Making sure that everyone gets like merchandise, those little things.

IT: 00:24:59

Like for you, like you might think, well, that, that's silly.

IT: 00:25:02

You have in a market that says Smart IT.

IT: 00:25:05

But when you see it every day and you have a merge and you see the

IT: 00:25:08

logo every day, you actually start feeling like you are part of the team.

IT: 00:25:11

When you have virtual events, when you actually meet outside of work environment

IT: 00:25:17

with your team members, you play tabletops or go bowling together if you are capable.

IT: 00:25:22

That actually helps to bring the team together just beyond this

IT: 00:25:28

employer, employee relationship.

IT: 00:25:29

At the end, what we saw, as the numbers and from the analytics is that it

IT: 00:25:35

decreases the churn rate significantly.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:25:38

You mentioned this at the very

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:25:39

beginning of the call, right?

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:25:41

The technology is a, delivery mechanism and really it's still a people business.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:25:46

As much as we try and make it

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:25:47

... Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT: Yeah.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:25:48

Yay.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:25:48

and less people.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:25:49

It is so much, a people business.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:25:53

Even in technology, business

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:25:54

technology is just a tool.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:25:57

Exactly.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:25:58

You know that makes me kind of just think back and

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:26:03

... How, because we're talking

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:26:07

technology to deliver a solution.

IT: 00:26:10

Mm.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:26:11

How does Smart IT make sure,

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:26:15

now you've gotten the good people and you've got the great team.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:26:19

Now the client says, here's what I need done.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:26:24

How do you make sure that you're extracting that vision out of

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:26:29

that person's brain so that when they get the product, it comes

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:26:34

awfully darn close to matching.

IT: 00:26:37

It all comes down to asking the right

IT: 00:26:39

questions in the very beginning and managing expectations.

IT: 00:26:44

Any person who worked in sales knows that.

IT: 00:26:48

Originally, when I trained salespeople, I and business development people, I say

IT: 00:26:52

to them, first call ,or like discovery call, you shouldn't be talking at all.

IT: 00:26:58

Everyone has this image of salesperson as somebody who is very, outgoing,

IT: 00:27:02

extroverted, talks a lot and very oratory person, but actually the best salespeople

IT: 00:27:07

are the ones who know when to shut up.

IT: 00:27:11

With the technical discovery, it's the same.

IT: 00:27:14

You need those sales skills to ask the right questions and shut up.

IT: 00:27:18

You should listen to what the person in front of you is saying.

IT: 00:27:22

When you are conducting any sort of like discovery, you should be asking

IT: 00:27:27

questions and listening, the client should be talking, I would say at

IT: 00:27:32

least 70% of the time, and 30% is just you asking questions and asking

IT: 00:27:39

clarifying questions and discussing any sort of things that might be unclear.

IT: 00:27:44

Everything else is just them, expressing their vision and then you again,

IT: 00:27:51

cause the technology nowadays, tend to be a little bit more complex.

IT: 00:27:55

You need several people.

IT: 00:27:57

Usually you need a person who has like a good business perspective, who

IT: 00:28:01

understands, the macro scale vision.

IT: 00:28:04

And then you need people who can actually translate it really good into

IT: 00:28:10

technical requirements for the team.

IT: 00:28:11

That's where the team leads and managers actually come into play because, you

IT: 00:28:16

don't want just a person who's tech savvy.

IT: 00:28:18

You need the person who can translate from business to technology.

IT: 00:28:24

That's where the team leads and team managers usually come into play and the

IT: 00:28:29

person you need to be looking for is someone who has at least some sort of

IT: 00:28:33

like business analyst experience and has a really good understanding of business

IT: 00:28:38

model and what client wants to achieve.

IT: 00:28:41

Managing expectation of your client is also very, very, very important

IT: 00:28:44

and constant communication.

IT: 00:28:47

Part of the reason why so many people, switched from several years ago

IT: 00:28:52

from Waterfall to Agile is because you need constant communication

IT: 00:28:56

and constant reassessment.

IT: 00:28:58

Because there were too many issues and the situations where

IT: 00:29:01

the client has requirements

IT: 00:29:04

... They pass it to you, you translate

IT: 00:29:07

you deliver the product, and it's not what client expected at the end.

IT: 00:29:11

That's why the Agile is so important as a methodology of, conducting business

IT: 00:29:15

and development process in general.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:29:18

So we're coming towards the end.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:29:20

What do you hope that the Fintech Confidential audience walks

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:29:24

away with after watching or listening to this episode?

IT: 00:29:28

If not reevaluate, maybe think more a little

IT: 00:29:30

bit, about their hiring processes and how they evaluate the right

IT: 00:29:35

person for the job, what it takes to build really great development team

IT: 00:29:40

and what it takes to run a team.

IT: 00:29:43

We haven't talked about running the team and managing too much, but,

IT: 00:29:48

it's pretty similar to any other business, the development nowadays.

IT: 00:29:54

But engineers can be a little bit, specific I would say people.

IT: 00:29:58

Many of them, aren't very communicative at first.

IT: 00:30:02

And that's where actually the HR comes into play because, you need

IT: 00:30:06

to make sure that the person, like part of your team, don't just

IT: 00:30:10

treat them as a simple contractor because chances are you'll lose them.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:30:16

Or, or you'll either

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:30:18

lose them

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:30:18

the, the thing about.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:30:19

a product that doesn't work.

IT: 00:30:21

Yeah, the project that doesn't work obviously

IT: 00:30:23

if you don't have enthusiastic, but, another thing that, people don't

IT: 00:30:26

think when they just hire a developer, they think, okay, if the developer

IT: 00:30:30

just walks away, I'll hire a new one.

IT: 00:30:31

There's a lot of things to relearn and to do if you bring out a new team of

IT: 00:30:38

developers because, working with existing code base is sometimes much more difficult

IT: 00:30:43

than writing something from the scratch.

IT: 00:30:45

So you don't want that.

IT: 00:30:46

If you want like a developers in your house or if you want to outsource

IT: 00:30:51

it to other company, you want them to stay for as long as you can because

IT: 00:30:56

each time you bring a new person, it'll be a new learning curve for them.

IT: 00:31:01

Especially if you hope on replacing them.

IT: 00:31:03

So there, so another like problem that can arise and there's even more reasons for

IT: 00:31:09

you to think about structuring the team.

IT: 00:31:11

With the long-term vision in mind.

IT: 00:31:14

Not only like you should think not only your product as long term, like

IT: 00:31:17

what's the kind of business model, how you gonna grow it, like how you gonna

IT: 00:31:21

bring investment further down the line.

IT: 00:31:23

Obviously all those questions are very important, obviously, but also you need to

IT: 00:31:27

think, how can I build my team long term?

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:31:31

Oh, long-term vision, but it always

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:31:33

comes back to the long-term vision.

IT: 00:31:35

Yes.

IT: 00:31:35

it always comes back to that, planning ahead!

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:31:38

I'm gonna go on my little

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:31:40

soapbox here real quick.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:31:42

It's interesting.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:31:43

You mentioned Agile and you mentioned Waterfall.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:31:47

I've transitioned companies from Waterfall to Agile and it was really interesting

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:31:52

to see how the perspective of some of the executive team that Agile just meant

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:32:00

that you decided what you were gonna work on tomorrow, or you're gonna decide what

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:32:03

you're gonna work on in the next sprint.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:32:05

That's what you did and when we were going through it, I said we

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:32:09

still have to do all of the work that you would for Waterfall to define,

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:32:15

define what you want out of it.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:32:17

What are the success criteria?

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:32:19

You have to define that.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:32:21

The difference is instead of waiting until it's, all done, to

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:32:24

look at it and see if it's okay.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:32:25

After each deliverable product, you look to see if it's meeting expectations, so

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:32:31

you don't get to the end and realize it's the wrong thing and they had a

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:32:37

hard time wrapping their brain around the fact that you still have to.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:32:41

There's actually, honestly, in my opinion, more planning that

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:32:44

goes on when you're doing Agile than when you're doing Waterfall.

IT: 00:32:48

People try to always put those two into like

IT: 00:32:53

visualization, like infographics with arrows and everything to demonstrate.

IT: 00:32:57

And I always say if you are like, my background is engineering

IT: 00:33:01

is electrical engineering, but if you know what, like the difference

IT: 00:33:05

between, simple drain and Tesla valves.

IT: 00:33:07

Cause the Tesla valve is the drain that goes circle of several times.

IT: 00:33:13

And it's actually how most of your plumbing is done is to ensure, like the

IT: 00:33:20

smooth waterfall, because if you don't have, the constant circulation of water,

IT: 00:33:25

the end result is usually very messy.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:33:29

Yes, yes

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:33:30

... Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:33:32

like planning, in the business.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:33:34

You need to make sure that your process is very iterative, especially in the software

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:33:39

because if you made a mistake, along the way and you didn't fix it right away,

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:33:45

it becomes so much more difficult to actually go back and redo

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:33:50

it because there's, you've already built this legacy.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:33:53

And if you cannot extract one part of it and replace it.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:33:57

It affects the entire like development process it can affect the code.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:34:01

And you

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:34:02

... tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:34:04

just multiplies the technical debt.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:34:08

It's a multiplier, right?

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:34:09

It isn't a one plus one and further back in the origination of

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:34:14

the code, the further back it is.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:34:17

The more it multiplies I always , just like when we were sizing stuff, we

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:34:22

used the Fibonacci scale, right?

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:34:23

That is the same way that technical debt builds up.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:34:27

It's not linear.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:34:28

It's not a one plus one plus one plus one plus one.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:34:30

It's a multiple and over and over again.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:34:32

I could talk about this stuff forever because I have a lot of fun around it.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:34:36

And I really enjoy understanding the processes and procedures

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:34:39

around these things.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:34:41

And I have a lot of respect for companies like Smart IT, that are able to balance

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:34:47

between the human aspect, the process aspect, and the technical aspect.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:34:52

If you're in a room of a whole bunch of guys who have great ideas and they just

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:34:57

started their Fintech, what one piece of advice would you give the entire room?

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:35:04

Be ready to change your idea.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:35:07

All right.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:35:07

After customer feedback.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:35:10

Okay.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:35:11

That's good!

IT: 00:35:12

I think, nowadays, with how the markets shaped

IT: 00:35:15

and it's more user-centric, taking customer feedback and, is very important.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:35:23

Voice of the customer has always

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:35:24

been my number one thing, to really make sure that you're getting it,

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:35:27

to get it frequently, get it often.

IT: 00:35:29

Mm-hmm.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:35:30

To not diminish it.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:35:32

You may only hear it once or twice, but those are from the people

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:35:36

that feel comfortable telling you.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:35:38

Just put a zero at the end of anything.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:35:41

If you have 10 users and one person tells you, look at that as 10% as telling you,

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:35:46

and look at it as percentages, not counts.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:35:48

And I think that really helps out a lot.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:35:50

When you're looking at voice of customers, especially as

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:35:52

you're building up a company.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:35:54

And building up a new user base, cuz you have small user base at that time, so

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:35:58

the numbers are gonna look smaller, so using a percentage is always very helpful.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:36:02

There's actually a great

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:36:03

parallel in e-commerce business

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:36:05

... From a hundred reviews, you

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:36:09

and 10, one star reviews, you're doing something very wrong.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:36:14

Although on averages, it seems like your business is pretty

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:36:17

good, you're above four.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:36:18

But if you are getting like, consistently negative feedback,

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:36:23

even in small percentages, chances are there's something broken.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:36:26

Mm.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:36:28

Yes, totally agree.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:36:29

Totally agree.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:36:30

Well, we've spent a lot of time covering a bunch of different things.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:36:34

I'm excited to see the types of projects that Smart IT is delivering and really

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:36:41

keeping up with what you guys are doing.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:36:42

It's been fantastic.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:36:43

Now, what I've done is I've gone ahead and created a link.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:36:47

To get connected with Smart IT all you have to do is go to

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:36:52

www.Fintechconfidential.com/getsmart.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:36:57

Again, that is www.FintechConfidential.com/getsmart.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:37:04

And Tim, what is the best way to connect to the team on social or yourself?

IT: 00:37:10

I'm pretty active on LinkedIn of all places.

IT: 00:37:12

I don't have any other social media because LinkedIn I use

IT: 00:37:15

actually for my work and yeah,

IT: 00:37:17

I've been in marketing for so long that I decided to nuke my entire

IT: 00:37:22

social media presence from everywhere.

IT: 00:37:25

I got tired of it a long time ago.

IT: 00:37:28

So yeah, LinkedIn, to find me and

IT: 00:37:30

... If you want to contact the company, yeah,

IT: 00:37:34

... Or yeah, you can just contact me directly

IT: 00:37:37

... Just shoot me a message.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:37:39

Awesome.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:37:39

So I'm gonna make it really easy for you guys.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:37:41

If you look at the show notes or down in the description down below,

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:37:44

it's gonna have all the links to all these different things you can

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:37:47

get ahold of the folks at Smart IT.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:37:48

You can get ahold of Tim, find out how they can help your business

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:37:53

grow and go to that next level.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:37:55

And Tim, thank you so much, man.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:37:57

This has been fantastic.

Timothy_Partasevitch_Smart_IT:

: 00:37:59

Thank you, I had a blast, yeah.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:38:02

All right.

tedd_huff___host__fintech_confidential:

: 00:38:02

well, until next time, thanks so much everybody.

: 00:38:07

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