The Humans of smrtPhone

Welcome to our second installment of the series that highlights our awesome team members.

This month’s “smrtie” is the power behind many of your favorite features, Ovidiu Buruiana.

Name: Ovidiu Buruiana (aka Buru, aka Ovi)

Title / Role in the Company: Lead Developer. I work on new features, bug fixes, and strengthening our infrastructure. 

On a typical day, I check any reported client issues from the night before and work on those. Then I move to the Product Roadmap and continue with new development projects. Right now, I’m working on some really exciting integrations and adding some security upgrades for the whole smrtPhone platform. 

How long have you worked for smrtPhone? I’ve been here since the beginning – four years.

What’s your background?  My first job in development was working at Switfnet and REIvolution (smrtPhone’s partner company) in 2015. Vlad started building smrtPhone and about two or three months later, I started working on the smrtPhone product. Soon I was full time on smrtPhone. 

What was your very first job?  Believe it or not, my very first job was as a busser in a restaurant in Ogunquit on the coast of Maine. It was part of a cultural exchange program. It was pretty there, but too quiet for a college student! 

After the job was over, we traveled for three weeks all around the United States from New York City to Las Vegas to Los Angeles and back to New York. That was the best part. 

What do you like about working for smrtPhone? It’s not like actual work. I’ve spent all my time here, these last 6 years. We are friends; there is no competition or pressure. We just make sure things are done. It’s like a dream job. I never think, “Oh man, I need to go to work.” I’m just here, I open the PC, and I work. 

The most important thing to me is that we have all become friends. If I ever need help, I know I can call anyone in the team and they will help me. 

Describe smrtPhone in 3 words: 

Quality. 

Customer minded. (We really want our clients to be happy.) 

Friendship. 

Is there a particular moment/project at smrtPhone that stands out and makes you feel proud?  Every time we launch something that works from the beginning, I’m excited. I’m excited about every minor thing that we launch, even if it’s behind the scenes and nobody sees it. When we launch it and it does what it’s supposed to do – everyone is happy. 

smrtDialer is a good example. We built that from scratch and it’s a really complex thing. Vlad started it in the beginning and then I studied what had been done and what we were trying to do and I took it over. I’m proud of smrtDialer. Also, building out our reporting capabilities was a big accomplishment.

What do you like to do in your free time? I like anything active, and I love being outside. I play sports. I love to go to the mountains and hike. I am about to start training in Jiu-Jitsu again. 

I got married this summer and I have a son named Petru who is 9 months old, so I also spend a lot of time with my family. 

Name something that is on your “bucket list.” I want to go to Everest base camp. 

What is a fun fact people might not know about you? When I was younger, I played football (soccer) for 7 years and was on a local junior professional team. I got far enough that I had to decide between school and trying for a professional football career because the trainings conflicted with my classes. 

It was a tough choice, but I chose school. So now I just play when I’m with my friends.