about me
I am Sebastian, a Berlin based developer, tech adviser and CTO.
Over the last 15+ years I helped to develop successful software products and services; built and led strong tech teams and advised companies on topics such as digital transformation and agile software development methods.
Some years ago I co-founded an insurtec start up, Friendsurance with a social component.
If you want to work with me, please get in touch via mail / LinkedIn.
services
Usually on a freelance basis I offer the following services:
Project / Interim CTO / tech adviser - A project/interim CTO might come in handy when starting a new business or project without committing to a full position early on. Or when in times of change and turnover a lead tech position is vacant and the search for a new perfect fit will take some time.
Tech due diligence - Get another perspective on all things digital. Check architecture, infrastructure, code quality and development culture before conducting business with a new start-up.
Consulting on digital transformation - Having worked in both, startup and larger companies but also in traditional and highly innovative industries, I will be an invaluable asset for you to improve the ratio of risk and opportunity when tackling digital transformation.
projects
smart Helios - CTO (2018 - 2019)
smart Helios is a subsidiary of Helios clinics Germany. Its mission is to explore digital opportunities and products within the fast changing health care sector.
After coming in as CTO the first task was to consolidate various existing IT projects and to focus resources on planning and development of smart Helios’ first mobile app – a tool for cancer patients to monitor symptoms during chemotherapy with realtime reporting to overseeing physicians.
Currently this tool is developed further into a platform for helping patients with chronic conditions.
Finleap / Valendo - CTO in Residence (2017 - 2018)
Valendo is a member of Finleap’s portfolio of fresh companies within the financial sector. It offers financing solutions for SMEs, specifically in manufacturing and e-commerce.
Together with its founding team my first responsibility was to identify the business processes and requirements that actually need IT development and effort.
Based on that our team built an high performance but low-cost reporting pipeline for near realtime warehouse-value-assessment and risk analysis using technologies such as Spring Batch, AWS (various products/services) for data import and data pipelining and Tableau for data visualisation and reporting.
Gymondo - CTO (2013 - 2016)
Right from the first day the situation was challenging: TV ads were scheduled and no load-tests were conducted.
Even more: the payment and subscription module produced higher than average error rates and therefore most people were less concerned with product development but with responding to client complaints. In other words: firefighting on all fronts.
After most pressing issues were resolved we could move on to more strategic developments (native apps for both, iOS and android) and also to expand the team and increase code and development quality.
Today, Gymondo is one of Germany’s leading online fitness and lifestyle platforms and still growing.
Friendsurance - CTO / Co-Founder (2010 - 2012)
The main idea behind Friendsurance is to reduce insurance policy costs for clients by creating a network of friends for mutual support in cases of damage. Head over to friendsurance.de to learn more about the concept.
That is a highly innovative approach in heavily regulated and traditional industry but nevertheless within few months we implemented the first version, partnered with insurance companies and successfully brought it to market.
Today friendsurance.de is considered one of the first movers in Germany’s insurtech market still and is showing steady and robust growth.
Various projects and positions
Over the years I worked at various other companies and projects. Drop me a mail if you are interested in more details about those:
- Freelance Developer for Rocket Internet (for ventures such as ecareer.de and citydeal.de)
- Inhouse Consultant for Java / JEE development at SAP
- Lead Engineer for Escriba AG