Damon brings a wealth of experience having spent time with early stage startups as well as with enterprise software at RBC Capital Markets. Damon is entrepreneurial at heart, has a strong bias for action and shipping code, and will add a great deal of firepower to the Bear engineering team. Let’s get to know him a little better!

‍

What excites you most about joining CommerceBear?

The chance to grow with a business. CommerceBear has a bright future, and the engineering and product challenges that come with scaling a business present incredible opportunities for personal growth, while being part of an amazing team.

What are your first moves when joining a new team?

My first move when I join a new team is always to learn about the product and engineering processes. I think to be a truly valuable contributor, you need a strong understanding of the reasoning for why things are the way they are, so that when it comes time for you to contribute, you are making well informed decisions.

What drew you to being a developer?

The ability to iterate and build quickly is the thing that drew me to being a developer. Software is such a malleable domain, especially compared to more traditional engineering disciplines, and that gives us developers the ability to make a big impact in a short period of time.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in your position?

If you feel like you’re in over your head, you’re doing it right. Embrace that feeling and let it motivate you to broaden your knowledge.

‍

“If you feel like you’re in over your head, you’re doing it right.”

What do you like most about your job?

I like the challenge of constantly having to expand your knowledge base. Whether it’s due to new features, or new scaling challenges, software development forces you to be constantly learning in order to deliver optimal solutions.

What’s your favourite article of furniture? Do you have a favourite ecomm marketplace?

My dining room table. I love to cook and bring people together, and that all leads to the dinner table. It’s a place to gather and enjoy good times with good people. Unfortunately COVID has put a lot of that on hold, but fingers crossed we’ll be back to it soon!

As for marketplaces, I’m a big fan of Etsy. It makes it so easy to find handmade goods that have that little bit of personal touch.  It helps make gifts, or even everyday household items, that little bit more memorable.

What do you do in your down time?

When I’m outdoors, I love to spend my time mountain biking in the Don Valley, or out playing a round of golf. I’ve also recently tried to get back into running, but I swear I always regret that… 

Other than that I love to cook (fun fact: my first job was as a line cook in a restaurant), binge watch crime shows on Netflix, and watch with misery as the Leafs collapse every year.

‍

We're cooking now, Damon! Welcome to the team!

✌🏼🐻