Luka Kacil

    About me

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    5+ years of running a SaaS b2b company with Fortune 100 customers.
    6+ years of leading fully remote and globally distributed teams.
    10+ years of designing and building highly distributed and data-intensive systems.

    I am an engineer at heart, passionate about tackling complex challenges. I led a remote-first SaaS company through to its successful acquisition in 2020. I have spent time traveling globally, engaging with fellow entrepreneurs—an experience highlighted in The Guardian and The Washington Post.
    A sports enthusiast, I’m dedicated to mastering my Olympic weightlifting technique, refining my tennis forehand with the perfect top-spin, and pursuing the art of carving on the ski slopes.

    Co-Founder @ Shovels

    I lead our technical team in building cutting-edge AI solutions designed to revolutionize the way we understand and analyze data. My role involves strategic planning, innovative product development, and the implementation of advanced technologies to deliver exceptional results for our clients.

    Shovels specializes in providing unparalleled data analytics and insights, empowering businesses to make data-driven decisions with confidence. By leveraging our AI capabilities, we help our clients uncover hidden patterns, optimize operations, and drive growth. 

    Past
     
    Head of Data Acquisition @ AirNow
    • Led the integration project to consolidate data acquisition efforts across different data teams.
    • Rearchitected parts of the core data acquisition back-end.
    • Redesigned technical interview process and conducted interviews. 
    • Ran weekly 1:1s.
    • Participated in tech audits and helped develop tech strategy. Delivered different analyses (e.g. tech-oriented SWOT analysis) of internal technology and systems.
    • Engaged with existing customers on important issues and requests.
    Head of Engineering @ MightySignal
    App data acquisition and API team. 
    • Led the effort to integrate our existing product into Mightysignal’s ecosystem.
    • Delivered new data features utilizing different techniques from reverse engineering to machine learning.
    • Continued to nurture existing client relationships via frequent meetings and calls.
    COO/CTO @ AppMonsta

    I managed the company until its successful acquisition at the beginning of 2020. 

    We sold our API solutions to Fortune 100 companies, VCs, and startups from different industries. I directly managed business development, including sales, negotiations, and customer relationships.

    I acted as the head of engineering, overseeing engineers and their work. We were a globally distributed (fully remote) team. Our emphasis was on high code quality, code reviews, high test coverage (2,000+ unit and integration tests), automation, and shared ownership of code. I conducted 100+ technical interviews and mentored engineers we hired. This ranged from software development best practices to interview coaching.

    We were developing and managing highly distributed systems: crawling clusters (up to 1,500 nodes), data processing pipelines, DB clusters, and API clusters.

    Software Engineer @ AppMonsta

    Built distributed and data-intensive systems to collect huge amounts of data about mobile apps and their usage and turn them into valuable metrics. Conducted technical interviews and actively participated in the hiring process.

    Software Engineering Consultant and Business Advisor  @ 0xcert

    Advising and solving technical and business challenges. Worked on the first open-source protocol for certified non-fungible tokens (NFTs) utilizing blockchain technology (Ethereum).

    Other projects

    Co-Founder @ Functional Ninja | 2020 | Non-profit

    Bringing together functional training enthusiasts who want to compete on an amateur level but don’t have access to nearby competitions. 

    Co-Founder @ Blockscribed | 2018

    Exploring the viability of making a product that would bridge the gap between recurring subscription payments and blockchain technology.

    Member of 1337 Alliance | 2018

    Part of the working group that designed Ethereum Improvement Proposals draft ERC-1337: Subscriptions on the blockchain.

    Education

    Executive MBA @ Quantic School of Business and Technology | 2023 
     
    Computer and Information Science @ University of Ljubljana | 2012