Sezame

About this project

Sezame is the startup where I truly learned what it means to be a real-world developer. From CI to end-to-end testing, I gained hands-on experience with AWS, architecture, monorepos, strong TypeScript consistency, and even work ethics.

One of the first things I learned was how to work within a diverse team—not just developers, but also sales, marketing, and other professionals. Before this, I had only worked with other devs, so it was a refreshing experience. I also got to experience what it feels like to be "the new guy" and to work alongside people with 10 times my skills. Back in school, I was always the leader and top performer, but here, I had to learn how to follow directions from more experienced colleagues and effectively communicate feedback on my work.

I also learned what it truly means to be a developer. As I mentioned, I discovered the importance and comfort of writing tests. CI completely changed the way I code—it saves so much time! Initially, I was completely lost when starting with AWS and AWS CDK, but as I got the hang of it, it became incredibly satisfying to build exactly what I wanted. AWS is extremely powerful and useful, and it has now become my favorite serverless tool.

This experience also made me realize my strong interest in architecture. We designed our own architectural solutions and build systems, which I found fascinating. It inspired me to dive deeper into learning about software architecture.

Of course, I also learned what it means to work at a startup. Every decision had to be made with precision because a single mistake could cost us a lot—and for a startup, losing too much could mean the end of the company. But there were also incredible upsides. Every success felt like our success. Moving to a better office was incredibly satisfying, and I got to befriend some truly amazing people. This experience didn't just make me a better developer—it made me a better person.