Who am I?
I am an experienced pre-sales solutions engineer, specialized in Digital Transformation and Application Modernisation
Work
Hygraph is the first native GraphQL Headless CMS focused on Content Federation. As a frontend and backend agnostic API-first solution, GraphCMS enables over 50,000 teams around the world to create, enrich, and deliver content programmatically.
As the first Solutions Architect within the Global Sales team, I have been instrumental in driving global business expansion through close collaboration with the Commercial and Product teams. Notably, my role enables me to be a part of every aspect of the sales cycle for enterprise opportunities: from the initial discovery, through demo/evaluation, to the onboarding. Thanks to my contributions, the company has grown their book of revenue by $3m and has raised a $30m in Series B during my tenure. In addition to this, my responsibilities encompass:
Strategizing the pre-sales process to optimize outcomes
Delivering compelling custom architectural scenario demos
Ensuring seamless onboarding for key accounts
Providing effective leadership and management for the team
By assuming these key responsibilities and actively contributing to securing the Series B funding, I have demonstrated my ability to align technical expertise with business objectives, resulting in tangible growth and success for the organization.
Progress offers the best platform for building and deploying tomorrow’s applications quickly and easily. We are bold, forward-thinking innovators who build things that work and care about our customers.
Being the first OpenEdge Solutions Engineer in our Bulgaria office, I provide technical expertise during the pre-sales process and prepare numerous demos illustrating common scenarios interconnecting our products. I participate in the development of detailed Proof of Concepts specifically tailored to customer specifications. I speak at public sessions about our products and modern-day software principles.
I am responsible for:
Technical expertise during the pre-sales process
Product demos, showcases, and workshops
Proof of Concept development
Conference and User group presentations
On-Site customer visits
Notable engagements:
2019 PUG Baltic Conference Vilnius and Tallinn
2019 Digia User Day Conference Helsinki
I started SourceWeave with a good friend and a colleague of mine at the beginning of 2016, with the idea to provide over-the-top consultancy and research & development services to aspiring companies. As a founder, it's hard to specify my position in the company, as I took a part in all aspects of its development.
I was responsible for:
Day to day operations
Clients contact and negotiations
Financials and Budget distribution
Research & development for client projects
Product management
Team management
Recruitment and Interviewing processes
MobiSystems has been a leading provider of mobile productivity and business applications for over 15 years. Their solutions extend the usability of mobile devices across platforms, allowing for enhanced desktop-grade productivity regardless of location.
I led the team responsible for the UI of OfficeSuite for Windows.
I was responsible for:
Research & development
Product planning and task estimations
Workload distribution
Training and mentoring of new members of the team
Interviewing processes
Telerik (now Progress) is one of the world's leaders in 3rd party component development.
I was one of the first members of the R&D team that developed UI components for NativeScript in both iOS and Android.
I was responsible for:
Component research & development, maintenance, and improvements
Documentation
Telerik (now Progress) is one of the world's leaders in 3rd party component development.
I Developed and maintained major UI components and frameworks in the company's WPF and Silverlight product line.
I was responsible for:
Component development, maintenance, and improvements
Advanced Customer support
Build and testing infrastructure development
Training and mentoring new members of the team
Components I spend the majority of my time on:
RadGridView
RadTreeListView
DragDropManager
TouchManager
Projects
VARIOUS PROJECTS
as part of SourceWeave
As a young company, we have taken some projects as subcontractors for other companies. Naturally, some of them don’t want to disclose their subcontractors, so I won’t mention some of the companies and projects by name.
Soccer scouting platform for the US market
We took on development and improvements for the largest US-based Soccer Scouting WebPlatform build on top of ASP.NET MVC that exposes a REST API to integrate a mobile app, complementing the platform.
Role: Solutions Engineer, Project management
Duration: August 2017 - November 2018
Expertise:
Front-end and Back-end development
Software architecture
API for iOS Mobile Application
Distributed offline data handling with conflict resolution
Hosting
CI/CD
Payment providers integration
Report generation
Dedicated training - end-users and tech staff
Various APIs integrations
Product management
Technologies:
ASP.NET MVC, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, WebAPI, Telerik KendoUI, Braintree, EntityFramework, MS-SQL, OAuth, Azure Cloud Services, Azure DevOps
External frameworks: GotSoccer API, Braintree
Technical debt evaluation system
We built and integrated an internal technical debt evaluation system for a major cosmetics company based in France.
Role: Solutions Engineer, Project management
Duration: December 2017 - March 2018
Expertise:
Back-end development
Software architecture
Hosting
CI/CD
Report generation
Internal API’s integration
API Documentation
Dedicated training - end-users and tech staff
Technologies:
.NET Core 2.1, Angular 2+, WebAPI, EntityFramework Core, MS-SQL, OAuth, Azure Cloud Services, Azure DevOps, Swagger
Integrated API’s: Internal end client Score calculations API
SCORING AND LIVE BROADCAST SYSTEM
Bulgarian Gymnastics Federation,
Bulgarian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation
We designed and developed the whole judge scoring system for the Bulgarian Artistic and Rhythmic Gymnastics Federations, compliant with all official FIG regulations and requirements. The system was used in most regional competitions and World cup events held in Bulgaria in the Olympic cycle 2016-2021.
Role: Lead development, Project management, Customer relations
Duration: July 2016 - March 2020
Expertise:
Front-end and Back-end development
Desktop development
Mobile development
Software architecture
Report generation
DB design
Network design
Custom Server configuration
IP cameras integration
Live broadcast integration (TitleBox)
Technologies:
ASP.NET MVC, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, SignalR, WebAPI, WPF, Telerik UI for WPF, Android, EntityFramework, SQLite, Windows Server 2012
Custom integrations: TitleBox broadcasting software, IP cameras remote command and batch recording
Education
Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski
Bachelor of Informatics (not finished)
2009 - 2013
Telerik Academy
Software Development Track
2010 - 2011
Foreign Language School "E. Josif"
Intensive French and English curriculum class
2004 - 2009
My Story
Currently, I am a Solutions Architect at Hygraph (GraphCMS).
I began my career in the desktop software development division of one of the world’s leading 3rd party component providers for the .NET ecosystem (Telerik, now Progress).In the 5 years, I spent there, I worked on numerous UI and UX components and frameworks for WPF and Silverlight. At some point, I started wondering what the other side of the business is and wanted to see how a concrete business case software solution is developed, not just the building blocks I was used to developing, so I joined the product company offering the most downloaded office app on Google Play (MobiSystems - Office Suite).
From the get-go, I started working on a desktop version of the suite and building a team that can extend and support the application bundle in the future. I trained several developers and lead the team for a year and a half. During that time I learned a lot about the business and development processes for a big software project and began to develop a vision for а company of my own.
At the beginning of 2016, a very good friend and colleague of mine and I started SourceWeave. We had the vision of providing the best possible services to help companies evolve in the modern era and bring their processes into the digital age. We believe every single customer should feel they have a dedicated team that can support them on the way to achieving their vision. Unfortunately, not everything works out. Here are some of the lessons I learned from the SourceWeave experience.
At the beginning of 2019, I returned to Progress in a more customer-facing role in Pre-Sales. I am helping existing customers on their journey to evolve their legacy applications and promoting Progress Solutions on various venues including conferences, user groups, and webinars.
After nearly three years at the forefront of an enterprise sales team, it was time to move to a more challenging role where I can put everything I learned throughout the years. I took the role of a Solutions Architect at Hygraph (GraphCMS). I am working closely with all teams in the company to strengthen our Pre-Sales processes and help expand our business globally.
Free Time
I usually enjoy a wide variety of hobbies during my free time. From adventures with my dog, Casper, to just grabbing a captivating book, these are some of the activities I dedicate myself to, when I get the chance.
Snow Gliding
Everything related to a plank sliding on snow. I tend to favor snowboarding and splitboarding, but I enjoy skiing just as much.
There just is something magical in the process of finding your path and planning a line down a conquered hill.
Mountain biking
As an alternative when snow is missing from the mountains, I usually trade the snowboard for a bike and go trail blazing through the forests or high meadows in the mountains.
I am blessed with living in a place where the mountain is just a 20 minutes drive away, so be it in the morning before work, or the afternoon before kicking back on the couch with the wife, a quick ride is all it takes to turn a good day into a great one.
Photography and Videography
Alongside my other hobbies and my youtube channel, I picked up the art of creating and editing videos and playing around with photography as well.
While I am very much an amateur in those fields, it is something that I am passionate about and it has become a big part of my life.