Adfin | Meet Toby Piper, our new Software Engineer

Our employee spotlight this week is on Toby, one of our brilliant software engineers. Toby’s journey into engineering started with HTML pages 25 years ago and grew into a love for building things. He’s worked across industries: from travel to finance to youth centres...and joined Adfin to get back to early-stage startup life. Whether he’s building infrastructure, solving tough problems, or casually being East London’s 3rd Strongest Man, Toby brings a calm, thoughtful energy to the team. Let’s get to know him some more!

What inspired you to pursue a career as a Software Engineer?

I never really pursued a career as a software engineer, but it kind of happened on its own - from coding up HTML pages 25 years ago I developed an interest to build things on the computer, from QBasic, PHP and early Web 2.0 JS over oddities like POV-ray I found myself in a ‘Dual Study Program’ supported by the IBM where I learned that coding is a lot easier than real work. It allowed me to finance a sabbatical in Asia and to move to the UK to dabble in various industries and connect with people of different backgrounds and cultures, so I’m curious where the path will take me.

Why did you decide to join Adfin?

Having worked in companies of different sizes (Start-up, scale up, historic industrial entity, banks) and industries (Technology, Heating, Travel, Financial Services, and a youth centre) , I had long wanted to get into a startup in the very early stages and embrace the fast past live again - the only problem is fast paced companies don’t tend to be in early stages very long, so they’re hard to find. Adfin happened to appear in front of me at a great time in my career, and its mission to address real world problems for real people resonated a lot with, rather than joining the nameless ranks of another big company that might release a product update nobody asked for next year.

What’s the most interesting or challenging project you’ve worked on so far?

I’ve worked on many interesting projects with complex challenges (like building a bank with Chase UK), or handling the impacts of industry disrupting events like the Thomas Cook collapse or COVID for loveholidays, or rebuilding a whole infrastructure myself (that actually happens more than you’d think). But I think the most challenging time was working for a youth centre organisation during my civilian conscription in Germany, which has shaped my attitude towards addressing problems: timely, good enough is often good enough, and customers are difficult but deserve respect.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Sitting in front of a computer, so it’s great to get paid for it during the day. I also enjoy picking up heavy things repeatedly (fun fact, I am 2023’s East London’s 3rd Strongest Man (Beginner class))

What’s your favourite book, movie, or TV show?

The best movie ever made is “The Big Lebowski”, my favourite book is the Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, and I enjoy Monty Python’s Flying Circus and the original Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy BBC series.

Thanks Toby!

Meet Toby Piper, our new Software Engineer

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