Aleksandar Abu Samra, Developer in Belgrade, Serbia
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Aleksandar Abu Samra

Verified Expert  in Engineering

Bio

Aleksandar has seven years of full-stack Ruby on Rails experience and modern Rails practices like Hotwire and StimulusJS. He's built customer-facing products, APIs, SaaS tools, and marketplace solutions - from sketch to production. As a CTO and CPO, he's led tech, project delivery, product experimentation, strategy, and customer interviews.

Portfolio

AWST
Ruby on Rails 5, Blockchain, Product Management, Product Strategy...
Kromatic
New Relic, jQuery, JavaScript, PostgreSQL, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Heroku, APIs...
LaptopFriendly Ltd
Facebook API, Stripe, Google Maps, jQuery, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Stripe API...

Experience

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

RubyMine, MacOS, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Agile Software Development, Product Management

The most amazing...

...project I've launched is a crowdsourced map of laptop friendly places that organically scaled into a worldwide community of remote workers.

Work Experience

Founder | Chief Product Officer

2020 - 2023
AWST
  • Led product strategy and development of NFT SaaS storefront with gasless NFT minting and USD sales and creator earnings using Stripe Connect.
  • Created a two-sided art display, rental marketplace Stripe payments, and an IRL QR code labeling system.
  • Managed compliance process and KYC for cross-border payments and payouts.
  • Managed remote tech teams and development agencies across Asia and Europe.
  • Implemented product analytics and insight tools for rapid product experimentation.
Technologies: Ruby on Rails 5, Blockchain, Product Management, Product Strategy, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Stripe API, Hotwire, Stimulus, APIs, PostgreSQL, Architecture, Full-stack, DevOps

Chief Technology Officer

2017 - 2020
Kromatic
  • Led technical architecture and full-stack development in Ruby on Rails.
  • Developed an automation tool integrated with Trello and Google Calendar APIs.
  • Developed a Chrome extension using JavaScript to integrate with the internally used templates and automation tools.
  • Built the Kromatic.com website and its sales funnel automation.
  • Created a CRM tool with integration to the Streak API.
  • Integrated live error reporting with New Relic and Sentry.
Technologies: New Relic, jQuery, JavaScript, PostgreSQL, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Heroku, APIs, Architecture, Full-stack, DevOps

Founder / Chief Technology Officer

2016 - 2017
LaptopFriendly Ltd
  • Designed technical architecture, DevOps, and full-stack functionalities in Ruby on Rails.
  • Built a 2-sided marketplace platform with social network functionalities.
  • Created an email automation tool to optimize interaction with clients.
  • Integrated subscription with Stripe and Braintree APIs.
  • Remotely led external programmers, copywriters, and marketers.
  • Held over 100 customer development interviews and sales discussions.
Technologies: Facebook API, Stripe, Google Maps, jQuery, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Stripe API, Heroku, Google Maps Development, Hotwire, Stimulus, APIs, PostgreSQL, Architecture, Full-stack, DevOps, Docker

Data Visualization Engineer

2015 - 2015
Future Cities Laboratory
  • Worked on visualizing Singapore’s energy data with interactive software for educational and decision-making purposes.
  • Developed mockups and final designs for a big data visualization tool.
  • Built an interactive Sankey diagram tool in D3.js and JavaScript.
  • Researched different 2D data visualization techniques.
  • Cooperated with academic researchers from ETH Zurich.
Technologies: JavaScript, D3.js, Tableau

Ruby on Rails Developer​

2014 - 2014
Modomoto | Curated Shopping GmbH
  • Created in-house ERP solution used by sales and customer support departments.
  • Contributed to the Modomodo.de back-end and front-end development.
  • Worked on MySQL database that backed an eCommerce solution.
  • Optimized the sales funnel process for better purchase conversions.
  • Cooperated with sales and customer support departments to build tools to optimize their processes.
Technologies: MySQL, jQuery, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Full-stack

Software Engineer

2013 - 2014
Mobilinet GmbH
  • Led the technical decisions and full-stack development in Ruby on Rails.
  • Engineered a custom database solution and database management interface.
  • Set up a WordPress website to support the team's blogging needs.
  • Optimized WordPress themes and optimized plugins with PHP.
  • Worked on the UX and front-end design together with the lead designer.
Technologies: WordPress, PHP, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Full-stack, DevOps

Software Developer

2012 - 2013
SHARE Foundation
  • Developed software for barcode readers and a MailChimp-like emailing service with CodeIgniter and PHP.
  • Engineered a participant management solution that served as the main information tool for conferences in multiple countries.
  • Built online ticketing solutions with user surveys and statistics.
Technologies: jQuery, CodeIgniter, PHP, Full-stack, DevOps

LaptopFriendly

A marketplace platform that helps people to use cafes, restaurants, and other informal venues as an office for the day.

Hackathon Award: Best Embodiment of Values and Ethics

Won a major prize for a prototype app on detecting bias in online news articles.

Open Data Barometer

http://opendatabarometer.org/
Participated as a reviewer of open data in the United Arab Emirates Open for the World Wide Web Foundation's Open Data Barometer project.

Algorithms in Social Studies

Explored the increasing importance of algorithms and their influence on society and culture.

UAE Open Data Study

Invented a methodology for detecting barriers to sharing public sector information and open data for Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Startup Finalist in Mobile and Web Category

http://universityworldcup.com/
Ranked in the top 15 student startup businesses out of 750 university teams worldwide.
2017 - 2017

Certificate in Ethereum Blockchain Development

ConsenSys Academy - Dubai, United Arab Emirates

2014 - 2016

Master of Science Degree in Engineering Systems and Management

Masdar Institute of Science and Technology | MIT Certified - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

2008 - 2013

Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Software Engineering

School of Electrical Engineering | Belgrade University - Belgrade, Serbia

OCTOBER 2017 - PRESENT

Ethereum Blockchain Developer

ConsenSys Academy

Libraries/APIs

Google Maps Development, Trello API, jQuery, Foursquare API, Facebook API, D3.js, Stripe API, Google Calendar API, X (formerly Twitter) API, Instagram API, REST APIs, Google Maps, Stripe, Node.js

Tools

Sketch, RubyMine, Sublime Text, Git, AutoCAD, Photoshop CC, Jekyll, Tableau, Adobe CC, Hotwire

Languages

HTML, PHP, Ruby, HTML5, JavaScript, Processing, C++, Python, Java, R

Frameworks

Ruby on Rails (RoR), Truffle, CodeIgniter, Ruby on Rails 5, Django, Ionic, OpenFrameworks, Stimulus

Paradigms

On-page SEO, Test-driven Development (TDD), Behavior-driven Development (BDD), Kanban, Agile UX, UX Design, Agile Software Development, Agile Product Management, DevOps, Gamification, Design Thinking

Storage

MySQL, PostgreSQL

Platforms

New Relic, Linux, WordPress, Heroku, MacOS, Blockchain, Ethereum, RStudio, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Docker

Other

MVP Design, Altcoin, Front-end Development, Full-stack, Product Management, Product Strategy, APIs, Architecture, Leadership, Technical Leadership, Engineering, Software Engineering

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