Built on the Shoulders of Giants: A Year-End Thank You to the Team That Shaped Me
As I close out this year and look at everything I’ve been building so far, I keep coming back to one truth: none of this would exist without the people who shaped me during four intense, transformative years Cabify where I learnt what real engineering looks like.
Leaving was harsh. I won’t sugarcoat it. Walking away from a team you’ve grown with, from people who’ve invested in your growth, is heart-breaking. But now, with a few months of distance and a project that’s starting to take shape, I can see something I couldn’t see before: I didn’t really leave them behind. I carried them forward.
The Engineers Who Taught Me to Think
Every line of code I write now, every architectural decision I make, every time I pause to ask “is this production-ready?"—I hear echoes of conversations with teammates who didn’t just teach me what to build, but how to think.
Petre, my Engineering Manager during the last year and a half, taught me that leadership isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about creating space for people to find them. The patience you showed, the trust you gave me even when I was learning on the fly, the way you balanced pushing for excellence with understanding when someone needed support—that’s the kind of leader I aspire to be, and the kind I hope to work with again. Thank you for that, and for giving me the chance to try.
Rebeca, my Product Manager, showed me that great products don’t come from engineers alone. You taught me to listen to users, to think in problems instead of solutions, and to ask “why are we building this?” before diving into “how.” Every time I write a user story now, or think about what actually matters in an MVP, I’m channeling your teachings aligning vision with reality. Thank you for that, and for your kindness and empathy, that saved me more times that I can remember.
When I worked on iOS mobile, Andres (professionalism falls short in your case) and Paulo (a rare mix of humility and constant questioning) were more than teammates—they were patient teachers. You eased my coding, answered my questions, showed me what clean, thoughtful mobile engineering looks like. You guys were a mirror to look at. The discipline you brought to code reviews, the care you put into user experience—those lessons stuck with me even as I shifted toward backend work.
Though I didn’t work as closely with the Android team—Jorge (who needs documentation with him?), Raul (our 3-year intern), and Juanan (able to wear EM and Android Engineer huts at the same time)—I always admired the quality of your engineering. Watching your approach to building robust, user-friendly apps, and seeing your commitment to best practices, set a high bar for what good mobile development, and software engineering should look like. Even from a distance, your influence was felt and appreciated.
And during the last year, when I was deep in backend territory, Teo (the most critical and motivated engineer I’ve ever met), Angel (thanks man for your patient and lessons, there’s lot of them in my current work), Andres (who teached me coding and sense of humor is a real thing), and Berny (the relentless inquisitor in my MRs)—you were the colleagues who showed me what senior engineering really means. Not just writing code that works, but code that lasts. Not just shipping features, but building systems, monitoring them, operating them. The way you approached problems, debated solutions, and always kept the bigger picture in mind—that’s the standard I’m holding myself to now as I build my own project.
The Many Others Who Made Me
There were so many others, too. People whose names might not appear here but whose influence runs through everything I do. Teammates who paired with me when I was stuck (Gonzalo, Lucas, Roberto, Pedro, Jonathan, and many many more), who challenged my assumptions in code reviews, who celebrated small wins and normalized failure as part of learning. Colleagues who made the hard days bearable and the good days unforgettable.
You all contributed to making me the engineer I am today—someone who cares about craft, who values collaboration, who believes that great software comes from great teams.
Grateful for the Opportunity
Looking back, I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to have been part of this project for four years. But companies grow and change like living beings—they evolve, shift direction, reshape their priorities. And sometimes, those changes mean our paths simply become different. The place that once felt like home, where I could thrive, grow, and genuinely enjoy my work, was no longer that place. Not because anyone did anything wrong, but because evolution isn’t always aligned.
My current journey gives me the space to build on everything you taught me. This sabbatical, this project, this entire adventure—it’s only possible because of the foundation you helped me build.
Every time I set up CI/CD pipelines, I think of our deployment rituals. Every time I write documentation, I remember our emphasis on clarity and context. Every time I make a trade-off between speed and quality, I hear the voice of teammates reminding me that sustainable engineering beats heroic firefighting every time.
Looking Forward
As the year closes and I prepare to step back into the professional world, I want you all to know: you’re still with me. In the patterns I follow, in the questions I ask, in the standards I hold myself to. You didn’t just teach me skills—you taught me values. And those don’t fade with time or distance.
So thank you. For your patience when I was learning. For your generosity in sharing knowledge. For showing me what good engineering looks like, and for making me believe I could be part of it. I hope that wherever this journey takes me next, I find teammates who embody those same values—and that I can pay forward even a fraction of what you gave me.
Here’s to the team that shaped me, to the lessons that stuck, and to building something meaningful on the foundation you helped me lay.
Happy New Year, thank you for everything and… have a “goose” day, my friends.