Alenar

• Organization : Alenar
• Date : 2018
• Skills : Java, Android Native Programming, ESP32 & Arduino language, Firebase, PCB Design, Eagle, Project Management, Specification

My experience contributing to the Alenar project (connected inhaler to quit smoking) was very thrilling and rewarding, with high responsibilities and huge impacts on the project. From the kick off meeting between the Alenar CEO and my project team, I was designated as lead developer because of my bigger experience in coding and IoT. I was then responsible for driving the software team (7 developers), managing the software project (Agile PM), and helping the lead hardware to ensure a good fit between the code and its physical environment.

In this context, I quickly realized that I could bring far more than a simple technical contribution to the Alenar project. From discussions I initiated, I expressed my affection for the idea and the problem Alenar was trying to solve, despite my strong disagreement on the way this problem was to be solved and the device that was to be created. From these discussions and my arguments on the threat of a potential concurrent company proposing a better product exploiting the same medical concepts, Alenar moved from the desire to produce a mainly standalone device to an all-connected one, bringing more value to the customers with a higher focus on the mobile application. This big change permitted to reduce the cost of the device (some components became useless as key functionalities were moved to the mobile application), and increase the potential customer retention through a personalized data-driven experience. The startup pivoted with a finer focus on bringing the most value to its customers, and answering the “how” after the “why”. My implication in the thinking process of the product gave me responsibilities of a Product Owner.

In addition to that, the lead hardware appeared to struggle a bit to learn on the go and carry her team throughout the design of the PCB for the prototype. Thus my help evolved to a supervision, and my implication in managing the hardware aspects of the project added up to my other responsibilities.

As a lead software, lead hardware, technical project manager and product owner, I was ticking all the boxes a typical CTO could have in an early stage startup company. At this stage, I was managing a tech team composed of 10 people.

At the end of my participation to the Alenar project, I got an employment offer from the company but I had to refuse it as I had already signed up with another startup company: Beamy.