Eleven months ago, I joined my first Apify hackathon. I'd just moved to San Francisco and was two months into exploring the hackathon scene. We built Nurse Nora, a tool that used voice to help patients get real-time medical information based on their symptoms. The tool felt intuitive right away, easy to pick up and build into a project; it was a simple connector that gave us access to many Actors that gave us real-time data. My team won first place, and four months later, I joined the company, hired by Myrsini, who's been my boss ever since.
Since joining, I've been trying to give other people what I got out of that first hackathon. Apify has strong technology, and it's amazing when it lands in front of the right person at the right time, whether they're building a product, running a company, or stuck without the data they need.
The best part of the job
Building community in San Francisco is the core of my job. People have walked out of these events with co-founders, jobs, and collaborators, and some have put Apify to work in companies they were already running. That's what I'm there for. Apify gets visibility out of it too, and the same introductions keep paying off when teammates run events elsewhere.
We have a steady stream of events: hackathons, workshops, panels, conversation nights, and after-parties, all aimed at building the developer community here in SF.
The Antler VC Hackathon is the one I point to first: participants left with real investment. We've also worked with Bolt, Workato, n8n, Lovable, PyLadies, Build Club, Scalekit, Runpod, Flox, European Startup Embassy, and many more to deliver events like these in San Francisco.
It's really rewarding to help people find opportunities they wouldn't otherwise have, and to do so on a personal level.
Prague and back
The team is distributed worldwide, so we sync in person in Prague a couple of times a year. As the only person in San Francisco full-time and the company's second US hire, I end up hosting many visitors from the Czech Republic and elsewhere, which leads to great conversations and a sense of connection across offices and oceans. Every visit teaches me something about a part of the company I'd never otherwise see.
In Prague with Dan during a sync; Matyas and Kacka over in San Francisco.
On top of that, after a stretch of back-to-back events, we're actively encouraged to take time off to recover and given the trust and autonomy to work toward our goals rather than being managed step by step.
The most rewarding part has been watching people become advocates: some become ambassadors, some promote Apify on their own, and at events, you can see the moment it clicks for someone, that spark of interest. Those are the incredible moments I get to experience firsthand.
What's next
Run by Apify, a one-day conference is coming up on Tuesday, November 10, in San Francisco. Eleven months ago, I showed up to my first Apify event as a participant. This time I'll be on stage. I can't wait.
San Francisco is just where I happen to be. The Dev Rel team hosts events around Europe, Africa, and Asia too. If you're building with Apify from anywhere, our Discord is where the same conversations happen in the meantime.
Work with us
We're hiring. Come find me at one of our events, I'd be glad to talk. Or have a look at the open roles on our careers page.
