About 7 months ago, I received a message from a former engineering manager asking if I wanted to go to lunch. I accepted, and he told me all about a new startup he had been working at for the last few months called Helpful. He asked if I'd be interested in joining his team. I was working at an agency and I did like what I was working on at the time, but this seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up on. He set up an interview with the rest of the team and I received an offer shortly after.

I never really had any doubts on accepting the offer. The company had good funding, really solid talent across all departments, and I was already familiar with the general business model. I was in.

The next 7 months were truly great. I learned new things every single day. I pushed code to production on my first day and then was given a project to start on my second day. Our team moved quick and we were able to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. The other three engineers on the team all had 10+ years of experience each so I was definitely the most junior on the team, but this did push me to progress and learn at a much faster rate. I got tons of feedback on PRs and was challenged by senior developers to improve my code and think through problems differently. I was grateful for this and I value those interactions as I saw a lot of growth in myself.

Sadly, we received news last week that our funding had been pulled and we didn't have a way forward. Just like that, Helpful was shutting down. The news came as a shock to all of us. I had no idea what to even say. I couldn't believe it. But, I do understand this is a fast-paced and often times brutal industry. Nothing to do but move on.

I'm going to miss everyone I worked with at Helpful. I am grateful though that I even had the opportunity to work with this team. I truly believe I learned more in the last 7 months than the rest of my career combined. It's amazing what surrounding yourself with talent can do.

I'm excited for my next chapter, whatever that may end up being. I just hope it can be as great as Helpful.

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