Laszlo is available for hire
Hire LaszloLaszlo Marai
Verified Expert in Engineering
Architecture Developer
Location
Budapest, Hungary
Toptal Member Since
October 11, 2017
Laszlo is a generalist developer with experience in technical leadership, project management, and working in the CTO role. He's excellent at communicating with clients and ideating suggestions on how to solve issues, what parts to implement first (think MVP, 80/20 rule, and more), and when to defer his opinion. He is also a well-regarded mentor and teacher for junior and mid-senior developers.
Portfolio
Self-employed
Android Studio, Git, Node.js, SQL, Vue, Scrum, Project Management, Android...
PsychAsk
Git, SQL, Scrum, Project Management, Node.js, JavaScript, Django REST Framework...
Maven7 Research, Inc.
Git, SQL, Scrum, Project Management, JavaScript, Django, Python, Leadership...
Experience
Availability
Part-time
Preferred Environment
Android Studio, PyCharm, Git, Linux
The most amazing...
...project I've created was a social jukebox service that allowed guests of pubs and bars to vote for the music to be played using their mobile phones.
Work Experience
Consulting CTO
2016 - PRESENT
Self-employed
- Helped startups and founders to reach the MVP phase, to get from zero to one.
- Joined in various phases of the process from the idea phase, lean validation, MVP scope definition, technology stack selection, hiring, and leading a team of developers to architect and build the actual MVP.
- Designed and created an API back end for a MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) startup. Also helped to organize their development process.
- Designed, built a novel social-eCommerce platform for a startup. I also helped hiring and onboard a new team to take over further development.
- Implemented a route planner API back end for a startup doing route-planning for wheelchair users.
- Consulted several startups and founders and helped them with lean validation and MVP planning.
- Taught and mentored developers online ranging from helping with specific problems to long-term mentoring based on an individual plan. Mentees had a varying background, spanning from complete novices, mid-seniors to, less frequently, senior developers.
Technologies: Android Studio, Git, Node.js, SQL, Vue, Scrum, Project Management, Android, Java, JavaScript, Django REST Framework, Django, Python, Leadership, APIs, Architecture, CTO, Teamwork, Asterisk, Back-end Development
CTO | Co-founder
2014 - 2016
PsychAsk
- Served as the CTO of PsychAsk, a real-time video chat-based marketplace connecting psychology and coaching professionals and their clients.
- Participated in the product development and specified the scope of the MVP, defining the product feature priorities and maintaining the product backlog.
- Reviewed candidate technologies and competing solutions.
- Defined the technology stack and the development processes.
- Built the API back end in Python and Django with a Django REST framework.
- Hired and, as a tech lead, managed two front-end developers.
- Conducted regular code reviews, provided mentoring, and helped with technical and architectural decisions.
- Built a simple, easy-to-use solution for creating landing page variations and conducted A/B/C testing on top of FeinCMS.
Technologies: Git, SQL, Scrum, Project Management, Node.js, JavaScript, Django REST Framework, Django, Python, Leadership, APIs, Architecture, CTO, Management, Teamwork, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Back-end Development
CTO
2014 - 2014
Maven7 Research, Inc.
- Helped to productize a medium-to-large sized Django app for social network analysis.
- Introduced modern software development practices over an existing code base—unit and E2E testing, continuous integration, Git flow, and more.
- Managed a team of five developers, introduced daily scrums, sprints, and integrated new team members.
- Helped the management set the goals and priorities for the product.
- Recruited and hired developers and data analysts, improved the hiring workflow and procedure of hiring for technical roles. As a result, we had more applications, and we were able to judge based on technical skills and abilities.
Technologies: Git, SQL, Scrum, Project Management, JavaScript, Django, Python, Leadership, APIs, CTO, Management, Teamwork, Back-end Development
CEO | Co-founder
2012 - 2014
Noispot
- Managed a team of five developers, contributed with code to the back end, and made architectural decisions.
- Managed the whole company as a CEO, including the business activities, regularly reported to our VCs, created grant applications, and made purchase decisions.
- Worked on and perfected the product concept and offering, talked with clients and end-users to understand their needs and requirements.
Technologies: Android Studio, SQL, Scrum, Project Management, Embedded Linux, JavaScript, Django, Python, Leadership, APIs, Mobile, Management, Teamwork, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Back-end Development
CTO | Co-founder
2010 - 2012
Noispot
- Acted as the CTO for Noispot, a social jukebox service for pubs, bars, restaurants, and house parties. It had a mobile client that allowed guests to use their mobile phones to vote on the music—our service would always play the most popular song.
- Came up with the original idea, created the MVP—the back end, a cross-platform mobile app, and an embedded player for a Raspberry Pi-like device.
- Created and updated the product concept according to the customer needs and the input from the business leadership.
- Hired and managed a team of five developers and turned them into an efficient and enthusiastic cross-functional team.
- Created the original MVP, including an API back end, an embedded Linux-based player, and a cross-platform mobile app) This was all done in one month.
- Created and maintained the production API back end in Python and Django.
- Created a multithreaded, high-reliability networked MP3 player component running on an embedded device. Fun fact: a few abandoned players have been working at past clients for over a decade, without interruptions.
Technologies: SQL, Scrum, Project Management, Embedded Linux, JavaScript, Android, Django, Python, Mobile, Architecture, CTO, Management, Teamwork, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Back-end Development
Freelance Software Developer
2007 - 2011
Freelance Work
- Worked directly with a number of US and EU clients mainly on mobile projects as a full-stack developer (building both the mobile app and the back-end in most cases).
- Helped clients with creating specifications for their projects.
- Helped clients with understanding their options and trade-offs during the development.
- Built a calling card dialer app to allow for making cheap long distance calls using phones.
- Developed a mobile app to be used at exhibitions for easy contact swapping and networking.
- Built a mobile app for traffic-based route planning (similar to Waze, but before Waze became the craze) for an SV startup. The app would report the speed and position of the vehicle (i.e. the phone) the back-end would do the planning.
Technologies: SQL, J2ME, Symbian, BlackBerry, Android, Python, Java, Mobile, Back-end Development
Research Engineer
2001 - 2007
Nokia
- Developed prototypes and MVPs for mobile service concepts, in 6-to-12-month-long projects, using a diverse set of technologies, including Java, JEE, J2ME, Python, Jython, Bluetooth, and Symbian.
- Built a JSR-82 based Bluetooth simulator to allow for simulating a large number of mobile apps talking to each other on a single desktop machine.
- Created a prototype concept for a Bluetooth-based local service where the mobile app would connect to the backend through a local Bluetooth access point (this was before mobile phones had a WiFi). The app was a music store catalog that allowed browsing the titles available in the store and also to control the player mounted on the wall (this was back in the time when music stores sold CDs and you could listen to samples using these jukeboxes). The system was implemented with two different strategies: HTTP and TCP/IP over Bluetooth with a standard web browser and our own protocol, that was heavily compressed and had a custom browser.
- Wrote a paper based on the above experiences that were published by Springer.
- Worked on an EU project where I created a multiplatform mobile and desktop app (that was in 2001-2002) for organizing and scheduling meetings on top of a distributed/P2P network developed by other parties in the project.
- Designed the distributed PKI (public key infrastructure) and security protocol for the permission checking framework in the above project.
Technologies: SQL, Symbian, Jakarta EE, J2ME, Python, Java, Mobile, Teamwork, Back-end Development
Experience
Noispot
http://noispot.comNoispot is a social jukebox service for pubs, bars, restaurants, and house parties. Guests at these places can vote on the music using a mobile app and the service will always play the most popular song next.
It has both a simple web-based player (for casual users) and a plug-n-play hardware device (for business subscribers).
It has both a simple web-based player (for casual users) and a plug-n-play hardware device (for business subscribers).
PsychAsk
PsychAsk was an online marketplace for coaches, psychologists, and their clients to meet online. It provided scheduling sessions, an anonymous chat, video chat, and payment handling.
I was a co-founder and the CTO.
I was a co-founder and the CTO.
Professional Skills Assessment System
A flexible system for creating, conducting, and evaluating companies' assessments for hiring decisions, training prescreenings, personalized career advice, and more. I'm working on this project as a hands-on tech-lead and advisor, helping with product development and related strategic decisions, formulating the development process and methodology (including project management), besides writing the code and managing a fellow developer.
Back End and API for a US-based MVNO Startup
I was brought on board to take over a half-baked API back-end for an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) service written using the Django REST Framework.
After drilling into the source and understanding the requirements, I found that the API was completely off shape (didn't follow the REST principles) and was developed ad-hoc, that the business processes weren't documented. The lop-sided API caused the two mobile development teams (Android and iOS) to actually code differently behaving apps that required different API endpoints for each.
Consulting with the CTO, I've suggested and implemented the following changes:
• Documenting the business processes (e.g., what kind of subscriptions customers can buy with what conditions, etc.)
• Switching over the project management to using scrum and manage user stories (tasks) and sprints in Jira
• Designing a canonical API
• Refactoring the existing code to allow for a gradual switch to the new API
After drilling into the source and understanding the requirements, I found that the API was completely off shape (didn't follow the REST principles) and was developed ad-hoc, that the business processes weren't documented. The lop-sided API caused the two mobile development teams (Android and iOS) to actually code differently behaving apps that required different API endpoints for each.
Consulting with the CTO, I've suggested and implemented the following changes:
• Documenting the business processes (e.g., what kind of subscriptions customers can buy with what conditions, etc.)
• Switching over the project management to using scrum and manage user stories (tasks) and sprints in Jira
• Designing a canonical API
• Refactoring the existing code to allow for a gradual switch to the new API
Skills
Languages
Java, Python, JavaScript, SQL
Frameworks
Django REST Framework, Django
Paradigms
REST, Agile Project Management, Scrum, Management
Other
Architecture, CTO, Back-end Development, Product Management, Leadership, APIs, Teamwork, Cross-functional Team Leadership
Libraries/APIs
Vue, REST APIs, Node.js
Tools
RabbitMQ, Git, Android Studio, Asterisk
Platforms
Android, Linux, Mobile, Jakarta EE, Symbian, BlackBerry, Embedded Linux, Docker, Raspberry Pi, J2ME
Industry Expertise
Project Management
Storage
PostgreSQL, MySQL
Education
1993 - 1999
Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering
Budapest University of Technology - Budapest, Hungary
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