I am Sumit Datta, an extremely passionate software engineer with 15 years of experience, mostly at fast-paced startups.

I am entrepreneurial by nature, have built and failed at a few startups. I am very hands-on when it comes to software/product development. I am eager, curious and also a good listener. I aim to be a resourceful team member/leader to build delightful user experiences.

My core values, guiding principles

• Build for the long term
• Motivated team is greater than the sum of individuals
• Ownership - people do more when they are working for themselves
• Refactor your product, iterate quickly - focus on user needs
• Build thin backends whenever possible, do more in frontend, close to the user
• Processes are only as good as the people who practice it
• Accept failure, every day you can start a new attempt

Degrees and certificates

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science

From University of Calcutta (2006).

Successfully participated in Google Summer of Code 2006, for Drupal.

Work experience

Leader of Software Engineering at Hearth Display Inc.

November 2021 - October 2022

I helped lay out the core software product with FastAPI, Python, PostgreSQL, React, Zustand, TypeScript and React Native. The Hearth application runs on a 27” tablet (Android) with a React Native application and there are web applications with React. We built a RESTful API with FastAPI and Python, SQLAlchemy as ORM. I helped set up CI/CD with GitHub actions, Ansible. I also helped mentor 2 younger engineers, worked with the Product Manager in setting up processes for regular work and hiring. I was working remotely from India.

Founder of dwata

November 2019 - September 2021

I have been traveling around SE Asia for some headspace, and building dwata, a data exploration tool that does not need any SQL knowledge. I joined On Deck (a platform for learning founders) in order to find like minded people and potential co-founder. I also participated in Y Combinator Startup School in 2020. Since early 2021 I have been mainly collaborating on MVPs for other On Deck founders and experimenting on data exploration, no-code tools on the side.

Consultant & Founder of Travlyng

August 2017 - November 2019

Primarily work as a consultant for a few startups (work remotely from India). Moonlight on my own product, Travlyng, a network for avid travelers to sell their travel content as usable guides for other travelers.

Lead Developer at Mylittlejob GmbH

April 2015 - June 2017

Working with Mylittlejob GmbH, leading a very small development team to build a Python (Falcon, SQLAlchemy), PostgreSQL, ReactJS (Redux, Router, FormatJS) based application. It is a marketplace for students to find online work. Job creation, job management workflow, payment, payout, etc.

Python Developer at Smaato Inc.

September 2014 - March 2015

Working for Smaato Inc. In September 2014 I started working as a consultant Python developer for Smaato, working remotely from India. The project was built using Django, using MongoDB. In February 2015 I joined the company as a full time employee in Hamburg, Germany. In Smaato I have used Django, OAuth toolkit, DRF, Flask, Tornado for various projects. Most of my work is around building RESTful APIs.

Software Engineer at Eco Market

June 2013 - December 2013

Worked with Eco Market (London, UK - remote) as Software Engineer. It is a marketplace for environmentally friendly, eco and natural products. Being part of a very small team, I used to look into all aspects of development. Most notably - integration with Sailthru, user tracking and analytics, reporting with Chartio (SQL based), implementing new design handed over by designer.

Software Engineer at Feastly

December 2012 - June 2013

Worked with Feastly (Washington DC - remote) as Software Engineer. It is a marketplace for cooks to host dinners at their convenient location. I was the sole engineer and looked into every aspect of the product development, from upgrading Django (1.3 - 1.5 with custom user), to new features, implementing new design, deployments, payment processing (Balanced Payments/PayPal), etc.

Senior Mentor

September 2012 - December 2012

Consulting for a Web Development company as a senior mentor, looking over development, sales, technical support and internal processes. Introduced Yii (PHP), Git, Amazon Web Services, memcached to the development team. Helped the sales teams to consult prospective customers, understand needs and win projects.

Personal Sabbatical

January 2012 - August 2012

Took a break from day jobs and tried working on some personal product concepts. Worked on an Email/Social based communication platform. It was planned as an Inbox for Twitter, Email, Facebook, Feeds and other streaming content. Built with Node.js, Celery, RabbitMQ, MySQL, Python.

Framework Engineer at MobStac

July 2011 - December 2011

Worked at MobStac (Bangalore, India) as a Framework Engineer. This was the first company where I started working with Django. I worked on multiple aspects, from new features, to bug fixing, a new Debian (.deb packaging) based deployment system, iPad based simulated-native application in JavaScript (gestures recognized) for their TechCrunch Disrupt launch. The app had native look and feel, and worked with a custom built JavaScript engine for rendering.

Tech Lead at forums.com

October 2009 - June 2011

forums.com (Kolkata, India) tech lead. LAMP stack with Redis, Tokyo Cabinet, Gearman, some Python. I managed a team of 10, and looked into all aspects of operations and development.

Co-founder of Pixlie

December 2006 - December 2008

Worked at Pixlie, a startup that I co-founded. Built hispanito.com as a social network, LAMP stack, reached 12 Million Page Views / month, with 100K+ monthly active users. Heavy memcached usage. Started working on Amazon Web Services.

Google Summer of Code

March 2006 - August 2006

Google Summer of Code for Drupal, GData module development.

Project Lead at Intrasoft Technologies

2005 - December 2005

Worked at Intrasoft Technologies 123greetings.com, conceptualized and lead their internal work/project management application - this was a task management software for a 90 people company in an era when task management was still on pen/paper and the “Intranet” was still a word.