My First 4 weeks at GECKO
By: Gecko Governance
Tags: Blockchain, Technology, Smart Contracts, Software Development, Ethereum

This is my tale on how I got myself working in Ireland’s top ranked Blockchain-based RegTech company, “GECKO”.

I wanna start off by saying a huge thanks to my family, cats🐈 , friends, and teachers involved in my journey from being a student to securing my first software engineer job.

It all began when I started the search looking for a crypto or blockchain-based company to do user research on the mobile application I had been working on as part of my final year project, which embraced the idea of sentiment analysis and its use in the cryptocurrency space. It ended up with introduction to GECKO’s CEO, Shane Brett, and the rest is history .

I work with an excellent team of people, who are wickedly smart, and always help me learn different aspects of business every single day. We always kick start our day with a dose of caffeine and some laughter. Working in a such a relaxed environment with open discussion about tech, business, and future plans allows me to absorb and give back the most I can.

Settling in

When I first started work for GECKO I had absolutely no idea what to expect and what work I would be assigned. Now having worked in the team for 4 weeks, one thing is certain, that I have been pleasantly surprised. So far every day has been dedicated to learning and the best part is that I have been allowed to do it at my own pace .

First Week

In my first week I was given some learning resources which not only included books and online resources, but also movies (how awesome is that). I was also given talks on various elements involved in the business and what problems we are trying to solve. I loved it how I was first taught to understand the business, getting funds lectures, before even diving into the code. I also came across lots of buzzwords and names which I kept forgetting until my colleague Stephen set up a dictionary-like document for me, which helped me grasp those better.

Second Week

By the Second week things have already started to get more awesome and technical. I have started learning a new programming language, Rust, which I recently learned is the underlying factory to Facebook’s Libra project. It was full of copying, breaking, and just learning how to set up a new project. In no time I was able to run a smart contract by Centrality’s pl^g blockchain framework which seemed like a magic to me, at first not making much sense, it seemed like another mountain to climb.

Third Week

The third week was a mix of various task and eventually things have started going into my head. I have been hearing some keywords over last two weeks and finally it’s making sense. I can at last follow most of the conversation. I was given a good all round tutorial into the world of funds and have been continuing my Rust adventure. Smart contracts are much more clear to me and I have been reading couple of books to get a more comprehensive understanding. Another hurdle I jumped this week was setting up the Kx Database which took quite an effort to get fully setup and working, but it is one of the most powerful analytics tool I have ever witnessed .

Fourth Week

Week four and its the first time I knew and understood what were the milestones of the week ahead and what my plan was. I was more confident than ever about the work being done and realised what my colleagues were working on, and what I could be expected to provide. I have written my first smart contract and got involved a little bit more into Solidity and how to run it in different test and local networks. Also, I was able to get my hands dirty with the Libra project and check out behind the scenes.

It has been a tremendous time learning and working with the GECKO team and I can’t wait to see and compare how much more I can do and learn in another month, but that’s for another post ;)

Akshat Jain

aj@geckogovernance.com

About GECKO Governance

GECKO Governance provides a suite of Advisory, Consulting and Technology services to the crypto and asset management industries.

The company was founded in 2014 and built the first RegTech solution globally to integrate with Blockchain.

The team have over 120+ years combined financial & crypto compliance experience and are based at 3 global offices — New York, Ireland (HQ) and Sydney, Australia.

Our Advisory and Consulting business provides clients with definitive compliance solutions for their crypto and fund projects on a global basis.