Halvard RamstadInteresting fact: pitched to Mark Zuckerberg during a hackathon while working at Facebook.
TL;DR
Introducing our Software Engineer rockstar, Szymon Nowacki. Szymon was recruited straight out of University to work at Microsoft in the US - worked at Bing Search for Microsoft, and as a Software Engineer at Facebook in New York.
What did you do before Livv?
I grew up in Poland and completed both my BSc and MSc degrees in Computer Science at the Poznan University of Technology. I was recruited to work at Microsoft in the United States, while still a student at University. I was a Software Engineer in the Bing Search team at Microsoft.
After that I worked for Facebook for a few years, while the company was still fairly small - around 5,000 employees compared to around 90,000 employees today in 2024. I joined Facebook to work in a fast growing scale-up, and I liked the angle they were working on with “Facebook Pages”. We were working with helping small business, SMEs, NGOs, and using FB as a platform to communicate with these businesses and grow them.
Did you ever meet Mark Zuckerberg?
Funny enough I actually spoke with him when our team was pitching in an internal hackathon at Facebook in New York - that was a cool experience.
How did you become interested in computer science and what tools do you work with?
For me, it was about being able to build something tangible and put it out on the internet immediately. It’s a nice thing that only a few people can get together and make a difference against larger players.
At the moment I’m mostly focused on developing our mobile app in React Native, and we also have a lot of native integrations with Android and iOS, such as integrating with wearables, and improving the security on the app.
Why do you believe in Livv Health and what is the problem we are solving?
For me the most importing thing is to improve the ownership each person has over his/her own data and therefore improve the interactions between the patient and the doctor.
Secondly, I believe an important aspect of incentivising people to upload data is to make our app functionality and design as smooth and user-friendly as possible.
A seamless experience will incentivise people to upload more and interact with our app, and this will in turn improve the interactions with the doctors and ultimately the patient outcomes.
Hobbies outside the office?
I love spending time outdoors running or hiking. Very often you can see me with my headphones on listening to audiobooks.
Also, I recently started to learn Spanish and hope to one day speak it fluently.
If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be and why?
Marcus Aurelius. On one hand he was a prominent Stoic, whose philosophy really resonates with me.
On the other he reigned over Roman Empire during a fascinating period in history. Discussing philosophy, socio-political and economic conditions of the Roman Empire and reflections on how to live a virtuous life sound like a fun dinner to me.
Lastly, what do you envision the healthcare system will look like in the future?
I think it will be more about extending health span and longevity and being more proactive and preventative in how we approach healthcare. I believe we will move towards more continuous care, rather than samples of one single point in time.
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