Seattle has been busy building for the future.
Eight years ago, Seattle topped the list of cities with the most cranes in operation with 58. In 2018, that number jumped to 65 cranes, 25 more than its nearest challenger. These days, Seattle continues to rank toward the top — erecting many of the high rises that are now home to local tech firms.
But the progress that’s made inside an office is not always as apparent as the crane operators’ efforts to build it. Tech employees — whether working from newly constructed high-rises or their own home offices — are transforming their industries for a prosperous future.
At TaxBit, the team is developing cryptocurrency accounting software to help drive the adoption of digital assets. Over at Syndio, human resources analytics are leveraged to guide clients toward building more equitable organizational structures through their hiring practices. And the team behind Trainiac by Gympass is creating a personalized virtual experience for fitness professionals and their clients.
Built In Seattle sat down with leaders from all three companies to learn more about the futures that these growing — and hiring — companies are building.
Bridging geographical barriers: As a global company that’s working to provide access to fitness experiences, no matter where members are based they are able to learn from a diverse set of experiences and perspectives. “The team works in sync throughout various offices, with no geographical barriers separating organizational structures,” explained Akshay Ahooja, senior director of product management. He said he enjoys working with his colleagues to help people live healthier lives.
We’re creating a new career path for personal trainers who want to work directly with technology, data and clients.”
Enabling virtual fitness connections: “We’re creating the digital, accessible and global future of one-on-one personal training,” Ahooja said. The project, Trainiac by Gympass, gives users access to a certified personal trainer through the Trainiac app. Ahooja said the team has worked through technical hurdles to enable trainer efficiency and improve user impact at scale. “We’re creating a new career path for personal trainers who want to work directly with technology, data and clients,” Ahooja said. “It’s an opportunity to help build the new standard for personal training.”
Disrupting fintech: With the adoption of intangible assets such as cryptocurrencies, TaxBit is working to provide efficient tax and accounting solutions for individuals, businesses and governments. Chief Technology Officer Tramale Turner explained another area of opportunity: “We are looking beyond intangible assets to find other fundamental areas of financial infrastructure that our technology can disrupt.” Aiming to be the partner of choice for businesses looking to carry intangible assets on their balance sheets, Turner explained, “requires just as much innovation as it does rigor.”
We are looking beyond intangible assets to find other fundamental areas of financial infrastructure that our technology can disrupt.”
Steadfast about excellence: “We recently worked on supporting internal cryptocurrency transfers for one of our largest users,” Turner said. It provided the opportunity to see the company’s engineers, subject matter experts, support team and sales team work together to deliver a major feature to their client. “Our team values security, reliability, accuracy and trust,” he said. “I admire my colleagues because they are steadfast in delivering only the best, and we all refuse to compromise in the face of any challenge.” Looking at every new requirement as an opportunity to innovate, Turner said, “we frame our perspectives based on our customer focus and our drive to deliver excellence.”
From idea to enterprise software: The engineering team at Syndio has a daily sprint meeting and an optional, ongoing Zoom call for team members to ask questions or pair up to solve problems. Software Engineering Manager Heather Hendy said she enjoys “working side-by-side with talented engineers, researchers and data scientists to take workplace equity analysis from the idea stage to enterprise software.” Placing an emphasis on workplace culture, the team gets together as a company annually, and those based in the same city meet up monthly.
The work itself is really interesting — performing statistical calculations while also ensuring a good user experience.”
Progressing toward equity: The team is working on a platform called OppEQ that gives companies a better understanding of the diversity at different levels in their company as well as how it could be improved through internal promotion or external hiring. “I love that we are helping leadership shine a light on this,” Hendy said. “The work itself is really interesting — performing statistical calculations while also ensuring a good user experience.” This project has allowed her to learn from her colleagues and grow professionally while managing and supporting her team.
