Borislav Kulov is a valued member of Resolute Software’s team with 25 years of working experience in the domain of information technologies. He remembers how he took part in his first Olympics on programming in 1995 when there was no access to the internet. During his professional experience, he witnessed the major events in the information technology industry starting from the rapid hardware changes in 1998 until 2006, through the software advancement with the Microsoft .NET framework in 2002, to the web and mobile development today.

In 1993 he became a proud owner of his first IMB XT 12 MHz computer which was the fastest compared to the market availability of the 6 MHz ones back then. Just for comparison, for our non-tech audience, nowadays we have computers with 4.3 GHz multicore processors.

His first ever experience with the internet was while he was at a party in his second year of university with his colleagues. At the party there was a computer with connection of 3 kb/sec net speed and the first website he saw was for cars. He shares how big the excitement was and how cool it looked.

This is what Bobi shares with us today:

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Was Resolute Software an exciting beginning? Share with us how it happened.

I remember being approached by Hristo in 2019. Resolute Software was just founded and Hristo was looking for senior engineers to join the team. Back then I was leading a major project for my previous employer, and I did not feel like leaving my team and the responsibility I was assigned with. This was the foremost reason why I did not show interest in the new opportunity that was there for me.

With the start of 2020 though I quit my job intending to get a proper career break for a few months. I was not actively looking for a new job when by chance Hristo decided to contact me again and to get me invited to a meeting. I visited Resolute Software’s office where I met everyone from the team. I was introduced to the company’s mission, vision, and goals. It happened that I know some of the people who were already part of the team from previous companies and projects I have worked for. After an inspiring talk with Veli and Hristo, I decided to join the company and I took the chance to directly work with clients. I trusted that Resolute Software is a chance for me to evolve my hard and soft skills even further.

What are your responsibilities at Resolute Software?

My current title is a Software Engineering Lead, but I am also known as a Software Architect. A year ago, Veli, Bulent, and I formed the core of the engineering team at Resolute Software. As part of the technical leadership team, I am involved in project assessments and solution proposals, project management, communication with clients, software architecture and development, testing, code review, and more. As the team is expanding my mission as a leader is to grow the skillset of my teammates so that they can support me throughout the process and lead projects on their own one day. We are constantly learning from each other by using pair programming, internal training sessions, code reviews, etc. Thanks to my vast professional and life experience I always strive to add extra value to my team by guiding my younger colleagues to choose the right development path, cope with challenges and look at things on the sunny side.

Do you feel you are making a difference at Resolute Software? How?

I believe I am making a difference in two directions. On one hand, through my professional expertise I am helping the team to grow and evolve. This increases the overall company capacity to work on bigger and more complex projects. On the other hand, it is the positive change I observe with customer satisfaction. When my team and I complete a project and the customer is happy that makes me satisfied too. We help other businesses to grow by solving their complex problems with working solutions.

What would you say is your core personal skill which helps you overcome challenges?

I am neither the smartest guy nor the fastest learner. Though I believe that my persistence, dedication and engagement help me to overcome challenges and to achieve my goals. I do not give up easily and I never make compromises with the quality of the code we provide to the clients.

In addition to this, I am an easy-going person, and my humor makes my daily life better. I am using a lot of ice breakers when meeting new connections and this helps me bond quicker with the parties I am working with.

What is something about you that not many people know? Who is Borislav outside of work?

It might not be obvious nowadays, but I am a shy guy. Normally I do not fancy big crowds and noisy places. I quite often feel trembling in my guts before important meetings or when I need to speak in front of a big audience.

A couple of decades ago I realized that this is something I need to work on. This is when I decided I need to force myself a bit to become more social and I started going out to bars, clubs, and concerts. It turned out that it was not unpleasant at all, and I liked it. To this date, I still like going to a club from time to time. I am a cheerful person and I like jokes, fun, hanging out with friends, or just sitting on a bench outside and chilling with a beer. I enjoy riding motorcycles very much and I practice target shooting. I like practicing sports like swimming, skiing, and cycling. The latest I do with neighbors with whom we share the same interests during late summer evening after work.

What piece of advice would you give to the junior software engineers?

My advice to junior software engineers is not to give up. Software development is a difficult domain with a broad scope. I have more than 25 years of experience and each day I learn new things and realize how little I know about Software development. Becoming a top software engineer requires everyday effort and passion. It takes time so be patient, learn from the others and consider all opinions and options before deciding on an action.