Ricky Zein is a Software Engineer and Tech Lead at Lattice, where he’s worked for over two years. Here, we talk to him about how mentoring led him to Lattice, what makes our engineering culture unique, and why the people are what makes Lattice so special.

How did you get your start in engineering?

I don’t really have a background in engineering. I went to a bootcamp; I went to App Academy in 2013. Before that, I studied Anthropology and Global Development Studies, and I worked in non-profits for two years, living in San Francisco. People in my social circle had started to make the jump from non-profits to startups, and it became very hard financially to hang out with them. 

After getting into App Academy,  it was kind of like, “I’m in. This is my chance. This is going to be my profession from now on. And so I had better learn how to walk the walk and talk the talk.” It was a very drastic change for me coming from an industry with a very different culture.

After App Academy, I worked at Teespring with Eric [Koslow] and Jack [Altman], and a couple of the other folks here. My early days working with Eric are really the most formative years of my engineering life. 

App Academy taught me the basic building blocks of how to build things; Eric gave me a foundational philosophy in how to write good code — around what it means to consider code as craft, what it means to be super diligent about how performant your code is or how readable your code is. It was important for me to have that mentorship early on. 

How did that shape you as an engineer?

Finding a good mentor early on is very important because that’s when you really don’t have any opinions on how to write code. You’re just trying to get something to work. And you don’t really have any bad habits formed yet. You learn by example.

Working with Eric motivates me to think critically beyond just code — not just about how to create good technology, but also how to create a good business. That’s a valuable — and rare — balance for an engineer to have.

How does engineering here at Lattice compares to other places you’ve worked, and how does that influence the type of people who want to work at Lattice?

There’s an interesting blend of innovation, experimentation, and learning at Lattice that’s different from what I’ve seen in past experiences. This can be challenging at other companies, where you had to deal with red-tape when it came to introducing new technologies or getting certain things into production. We’re a small engineering team and we’re always willing to try new technologies.

One of the things that draw people to Lattice is our “modern tech stack”. We have a Node backend, React front-end, and a GraphQL API that makes developing across the stack extremely pleasant. When Lattice was still early, not many companies were making such heavy use of GraphQL in production. The experience of using nascent technologies has had its ups and downs, but it has always been exciting. A lot of engineers come here because they want to learn something new.

What’s the team like, and how do you all work together?

Everyone’s very humble and super open to learning and feedback. People are really focused on getting the job done and doing less if we can, and really delivering a solid product. The engineers are very technically motivated, but we’re all very product-focused. We all care deeply about the product that we’re delivering at the end of the day.

Also, everyone has their sort of little quirks and they have a variety of interests. Byron is really into poker. Jay’s really good at bowling. It’s fun getting to know people on a personal level.

What about you? 

I like surfing. I’m really into fitness. I led a couple of fitness classes at our last company retreat, and it inspired me to run my own fitness classes outside of work. 

How do you think Lattice has changed since we first joined?

[When I joined], we were still in a phase where we were trying to figure out what was sticky, what customers really liked. Then we had reviews and that was kind of wake-up product, and then we did surveys. We were still kind of in this experimentation phase. 

Since Lattice has grown and we have more customers who are just larger in size, our focus has been on really solidifying our product, and creating product development processes that help us deliver a very solid product in a very short amount of time.

What’s your favorite part of working here?

It’s the people. Where you work is where you spend a lot of your waking life, and so it’s really important to me to have good coworkers and I enjoy working with the people here. While we want to change the way people work and grow, we don’t think more highly of ourselves than we should. We’re very grounded in the kind of business we want to grow. 

Haley Wolf is an Account Executive at Lattice, where she’s worked for 2 ½ years. We asked Haley why she enjoys working at Lattice, how our sales culture has allowed her to explore new sales roles, and why working at Lattice is so special.

How did you get started in sales?

It was a really random switch in career, as most are. I majored in Integrative Physiology. I planned to go into health, thought about going to school to become a physician’s assistant. My grandpa is a doctor, my grandma’s a nurse, my dad’s in healthcare, my sister’s a nurse. I knew I wanted to be in an area that helped people.

But I also majored in communication and I really loved the “building relationships” aspect. And so, when I graduated, that’s the kind of job I was looking for.

Was Lattice your first sales job?

It was not. I previously worked at another company as an AE. They had a bit of a different program, where the first 60 days is a pretty intense Salesforce training. And then right as you transition out of the 60 days, you’re full-cycle selling. I was really glad that I had the experience because it was a great introduction to sales, but I wasn’t passionate about my work there.

How do you think Lattice compares to other companies where you’ve worked? 

Ever since day one [Lattice] has felt like a rocket ship. I’ve had an amazing opportunity to sit and absorb so much information and learn so quickly. I started at Lattice as the first BDR, and I was prospecting and qualifying for two AEs that we had at the time. It was exciting. It was something that I had never done before, just being in a BDR role in a brand new, company.

So how did you get from BDR to being an AE?

As I started taking on more of the SMB segment, it was just a natural segue since I was already wearing multiple hats. I really wanted to be “thrown into the fire” to learn. From day one, I’ve had two rockstar mentors: Seth (my current manager) and Joe (Partnerships), who were both AEs at the time. They’ve always been my champions. I can always count on them both to give me real, thoughtful, and actionable advice. I learned by sitting and listening to demos and just adapted that into my own style. 

How has the sales team grown and changed?

At Lattice, we preach employee-centric growth both in our product and at our company. We know how important it is to the business. And on a personal level, you never want to feel like you’re plateauing. So to have peers championing one another and really wanting each person to continue to excel and get to that next career step is absolutely incredible.

For example, two of our AEs, Jacob and Libby, pioneered new processes. They tested new verticals and created messaging that we all still use today. They both dedicated their spare time to listening to AE calls and asking questions, and have blossomed into stellar AEs in their own right! 

And as we’ve seen the SDR team grow, they’re just becoming so amazing at knowing the space and developing their own processes. But it’s not always a straight path. And I think that’s something that’s exciting about being in this role, too; you don’t just have to move up in segments. You can go to different teams or focus in different areas.

How do SDRs and AEs operate together today now that the team has grown?

We’ve introduced a Buddy Program! Every SDR has been paired with an AE. The goal of the buddy system is to have a team member (outside of leadership) to brainstorm new ideas, get feedback on tactical projects or get advice on specific challenges or roadblocks.

Fiona, who is currently a Senior SDR, is my buddy. Every two weeks, we have scheduled time to walk together down to Embarcadero Center — this walk sometimes consists of a detour to get fro-yo from Pressed Juicery. On these walks, we discuss one feature of the product, and one element of sales strategy (price negotiation, urgency, objection handling, and more). Post-walk, we share and digest our notes together in Lattice. 

This process isn’t limited to just buddies, either. There are tons of feedback-loop conversations across all team members. Recently, another SDR Anthony reached out to me, curious to learn more about the product and my external conversations. Now he’s listening to my demos, after which we discuss our takeaways and learnings. 

What’s your impression of Lattice’s leadership team, and how does it impact sales and sales leadership?

I think it’s fair to say that our executive team truly cares about a people-first culture and works to embody that, which trickles down to management and then to everyone else. So our management does always care about how we’re feeling and where we want to focus on and where we want to be. 

When I started, I requested a lot of feedback because I had to get up to speed at an accelerated pace compared to most ramp-time. I felt supported in being able to experiment and fail and I was supported through my failures, too. I’m grateful for the failures and that my managers had the courage to provide me feedback because that’s how I learned! 

Our SVP of Sales Dini is the vital foundation that keeps our sales team so strong, unlike any other culture I’ve been a part of. She is such a ball of sunshine — she makes all of us feel really comfortable, makes us laugh all the time, and has created this workplace that’s just a fun place to be. She has also perfected the balance of keeping us focused, building a process to make sure that we have everything we need to succeed and make sure we’re happy while doing it. She truly cares a lot about where everyone sees their careers growing and where they want to be. 

How do you think Lattice has influenced your selling philosophy? 

It’s way more about building partnerships and networking, because all day long we’re talking to people leaders who want to help their own employees. I’ll never forget my first day of Lattice. I sat in on a demo with Joe — my first demo — and he introduced me and said, “Hey, it’s Haley’s first day. She’s just listening in.” And the woman on the other side said, “Oh my goodness, welcome! Congrats on your new role. So excited to have you here.” Unreal! 

I’d never experienced that before. Usually, you know, if you’re being sold to, you have your guard up. But as HR, she spends her day-to-day collaborating with recruiting and building onboarding processes for her own team. So, she welcomed me to the call with open arms. 

What’s your favorite part of working here?

It’s cliche to say, “the people,” but I think it’d be wrong not to because our core values at Lattice are centered around our people! I believe that’s what makes a difference here, too. And something that’s always stayed constant as Lattice has grown. But I think there are two elements to that. 

One is when the people that we’re surrounded with and the people that we work with are so brilliant, so inspiring, so dedicated, with a pool of knowledge that is so diverse — that makes such a difference.

But the second is the leadership team. Our exec team has done an amazing job of building that foundation that’s collaborative, safe, and meaningful. I trust the decisions they make because they share everything very openly and transparently.

Interested in joining the Lattice Sales team? Apply here — we look forward to your application!

Want to learn more about careers in general at Lattice? Read up on us here.