Catching up with Catchpointers on our 10-year-anniversary

Since its founding in 2008, Catchpoint has grown to include a team of over 200, with offices and clients located around the globe. The company has continually expanded its portfolio of solutions, won awards, and has emerged as a recognized leader in the digital performance monitoring industry. Success like this doesn’t happen by chance; at the heart of Catchpoint is a dedicated, passionate team.

As part of the effort to tell the story of Catchpoint’s first decade, I interviewed employees from various departments with the idea that employee experiences could enrich the story of Catchpoint.  A few themes run through these interviews, revealing the type of company Catchpoint has become over its first decade. Employees describe Catchpoint as a company that fosters community, professional growth, and a commitment to its mission.

Catchpointers like coming to work. Seriously.

This first theme—that Catchpoint offices are an enjoyable place to work—is evident from the moment you walk through the office doors. The first time I walked into Catchpoint, I heard that unmistakable, hollow “ping, pong, ping, pong” sound of a table tennis match.  Yes, Catchpoint offices (New York City, Boston, and Bangalore) each have game rooms, all decked out with the same gear, including table tennis, PlayStation, and foosball. It’s not uncommon for teams to take a few minutes to play ping-pong or video games. Other fun elements of office culture include consistent team lunches and snacks, happy hours on Fridays, and company outings.

But, when I asked Catchpointers what they liked most about working for the company, they didn’t gravitate to the office perks. Instead, team members talked about intangible qualities of their co-workers, as well as the trust they felt from management. The team describes the culture best in their own words.

“I like working at Catchpoint because each day is different and there always is a new and exciting challenge or project that I am tasked with. Also, the people at Catchpoint are amazing! They have created a great environment to work in and are always willing to help and make sure that each team member succeeds.”—Kathryn Dragun, Marketing Campaign Manager

“What I like best about working at Catchpoint is the culture. There are no boundaries, and the place is filled with like-minded and motived folks. When there is a task at hand, everyone comes together to get it done. There is a constant energetic vibe that resonates with me.” – Navya Dwarakanath, Performance Engineer

“My favorite thing about working at Catchpoint is the people that I get to work with every day. I’m truly lucky to be surrounded by people who are not only extremely talented but some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.” — Dan Greco, Software Engineer III

“My favorite part of Catchpoint is knowing I work for a company who truly drives positive results for our customers and employees, all while staying true to their beliefs. The summer outings, well-fed Wednesdays and lunch on Friday’s certainly don’t hurt either.” –Kevin Kenney, VP Enterprise Sales

“Management has given me complete freedom to explore different testing approaches, and I am getting full support from the team.” — Gopalakrishna Puranik, QA Manager

“Prior to starting at Catchpoint, I had never met CEO Mehdi Daoudi. On my first day, he walks over to my desk and helps me set up my computer. I thought, ‘I’ve made the right choice.’” – Sahil Shah, Software Engineer III

Catchpoint fosters professional growth.

Given the high level of employee satisfaction, it’s not surprising that several of the team members I spoke with had been with the company over four years. Perhaps this longevity is why it’s common to meet Catchpointers who have had several roles since joining the team. Many have not only grown in their professions but have moved up the ranks into leadership or a more advanced position.

One of the first Catchpointers I met, Kathryn Dragun, began her career with the company as a college student. Kathryn spent two summers as an intern and was hired after graduation as a full-time associate campaign manager. Now, she is a marketing campaign manager.

Engineering also offers pathways for advancement. For example, Dan Greco, Software Engineer III, began in the NYC office right out of college. Dan worked as a junior test engineer for two years before his promotion to an automation engineer. Then, in 2017, Dan moved again, this time to his current front-end engineering role. Dan isn’t the only who has been able to advance a career or pursue professional interests since joining the Catchpoint team.

Sahil Shah, also a New York Catchpoint engineer who started in a junior role, shares a similar experience.

“Through working with great people at Catchpoint, I’ve had the opportunity to learn a lot and have been able to improve myself as an engineer to move into a software engineer III role,” said Sahil Shah, Software Engineer III.

But, in some ways, Navya Dwarakanath has made the biggest move. In 2018, Navya moved 8,692 miles from the Catchpoint office in Bangalore, India to San Francisco, to work with clients as a pre-sales performance engineer.

Engineering and marketing aren’t the only areas with opportunities for growth. I saw this trend across the board. For example, Norm Robinson, Technical Account Manager in the New York office, has held two positions within the Services team since he joined Catchpoint in 2014. This theme of growth is what Norm likes best about working at Catchpoint.

“Because the company and industry are growing, there is always a new project to work on,” said Norm, Knowledge Development Manager.

Devan Gotowka, Product Manager II, also in New York, has her own professional evolution story.  She started in 2011 in a business development role as a graduate student getting her master’s in computer science.

“Because I joined the team so early on, I had a unique opportunity to see what it takes to run and grow a company. This insight has given me invaluable life and career experience,” said Devan.

Catchpoint team members are passionate about what they do.

The first thing I noticed when I started at the NYC Catchpoint office may have been how happy everyone seemed, but that did not overshadow my next observation; the team works hard and cares about the company’s mission, to deliver amazing digital experiences with a new kind of I.T.

Catchpointers show this dedication when they speak about their roles within the company. Navya, for example, started her career in performance, working on streaming technologies like HDS, HLS, and RTSP. She appreciated the impact the CDN technology had on end user experience. But, when she started at Catchpoint, she gained an appreciation for performance monitoring.

“Monitoring is like the ringside seat; it gives you the best view to see how the internet works. The ability to ensure things are working the way they are supposed to is what makes monitoring so exciting and relevant to me,” said Navya.

Like Navya, Gopalakrishna Puranik, QA Manager in Bangalore who has 20 years of experience working in tech, expressed how his work at Catchpoint makes him happy.

“I like to solve problems. Testing products of such complexity at Catchpoint has given me immense job satisfaction,” said Gopalakrishna.

Catchpoint is the entry point to digital experience monitoring for most of the team. But, this doesn’t mean they are any less engaged. Everyone I interviewed had a vibrant vision of how digital experience monitoring will change during Catchpoint’s next 10 years. Several described a future where all appliances and devices will be connected to the internet, only increasing Catchpoint’s value.

Dan Greco, Software Engineer III, explained that “over the next 10 years, automation is going to explode and have a major impact on our lives. In the tech world, we are seeing companies releasing hundreds of times a day, without even having to do any manual checks. This means that now more than ever, Catchpoint’s role is going to be important because when things go wrong, there’s no one really checking. So, having a tool like Catchpoint that is always there monitoring those products will be extremely important.”

Gregory Cardew, Director of Finance & Accounting in the New York office, believes Catchpoint is up to the task.

“Catchpoint’s expertise in monitoring will help the company thrive as the world continues to be more digital. The hackathons prove that our employees are thinking about changes in technology and being first to market is everything,” said Gregory.

Catchpointers in their own words.

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Gregory Cardew | Director of Finance & Accounting | 2 years in NYC

Q. How did you get into the Performance Monitoring industry?

A. Luckily, finance is universal, so I can still succeed without the technical knowledge.

Q. What is your favorite thing about working at Catchpoint?

A. I love that the company pivots quickly. I need that spontaneity, otherwise I would get bored.

Q. How has your field and/or life changed over the last 10 years to adapt to new technology?

A. I’m at an age where my generation was the first to really start using computers. Professionally, it has revolutionized the way we work and has reduced the number of people needed to perform tasks. Tools are cool! But, the individual using the tool still needs to understand what and how the output is derived. Personally, I love that information is at my fingertips. Side note – I’m one of the few not on Facebook, but it’s by choice.

Q. How do you think technology will change in the next 10 years and what is Catchpoint’s role in this change?

A. It’s hard to say where we’ll be in 10 years, things happen so quick that we’ll probably have multiple levels of change. Catchpoint’s expertise in monitoring will help the company thrive as the world continues to be more digital. The hackathons prove that our employees are thinking about changes in technology and being first to market is everything.

Q. Can you think of a time when your experience with the internet or an app had a memorable impact on your life?

A. When I purchased my house, I was researching real estate brokers and came across “forsalebyowner.com”. There was an option for me to utilize their broker but receive a portion of the commission myself (if I found the house on my own). Well, I did just that and received a nice credit on my closing costs.

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Kathryn Dragun | Marketing Campaign Manager | 2 years in NYC after 2 internships

Q. How did you get into the Performance Monitoring industry?

A. Catchpoint is my first job out of college! Between my junior and senior year at College of the Holy Cross, I was a marketing intern at Catchpoint. I got the internship through Holy Cross’ summer internship program where they work with Holy Cross alums to put on summer internships.

‍Q. Can you think of a time when your experience with the internet or an app had a memorable impact on your life?

A. Found my new puppy of 3 weeks on the internet! That was definitely a memorable impact on my life.

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Navya Dwarakanath | Performance Engineer | 2 years remote

Q. How has your field and/or life changed over the last 10 years to adapt to new technology?

A. Technology has found a way into every aspect of our daily life. Be it shopping for clothes, buying groceries, booking travel. There is no hour of the day that goes by without being in touch with some kind of technology. Even when I am sleeping, I am leveraging technology that checks my sleep quality and heart beat.  Where did all the newspapers go!?

Q. How do you think technology will change in the next 10 years and what is Catchpoint’s role in this change?

A. Technology will evolve to allow for more automation and less human intervention. With the increase in focus on AI and machine learning, data will play an important role in how technology shapes and delivers. The dependency on technology will be enormous. It also means more devices, more servers, more moving parts, increased number of connections, trillions of end people, tougher competition, a lot of money at stake. Only Catchpoint can ensure you have the required Observability as technology gets complex. Only Catchpoint can help you find the needle in the Haystack when something breaks. Only Catchpoint can tell you and your users that the technology works and is the best of the lot.

Q. Can you think of a time when your experience with the internet or an app had a memorable impact on your life?

A. I moved from India to California this year. I thought leaving my country, my family and my friends would be the most difficult thing. Video calls make it seem like I am right there. That’s the best thing about technology for me–it keeps everyone connected.

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Dan Greco | Software Engineer III | 4 years in NYC

Q. How has your field and/or life changed over the last 10 years to adapt to new technology?

A. I think in software engineering, it’s never been easier and harder to be a developer. While the tools and technology are available to make life so much easier on the development side, the demands of customers are rising as well, so there is a great challenge to use those new tools as efficiently as possible to create the best customer experience.

Q. How do you think technology will change in the next 10 years and what is Catchpoint’s role in this change?

A. I think over the next 10 years automation is going to explode and have a major impact on our lives. Currently, we’re so close to auto and home automation, but in the tech world, we are seeing companies releasing hundreds of times a day, without even having to do any manual checks. This means that now more than ever Catchpoint’s role is going to be important because when things go wrong, there’s no one really checking. So having a tool like Catchpoint that is always there monitoring those products will be extremely important.

Q. Can you think of a time when your experience with the internet or an app had a memorable impact on your life?

A. I think one of the biggest impacts has been Xbox Live as it’s always been the bridge between my friends and me. As we’ve gotten older and our jobs/families make it harder to keep up with each other, we still make a point to catch up over the latest game of Halo, Destiny, or whatever else.

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Devan Gotowka | Product Manager II | 7 years in NYC

Q. What is your favorite thing about working at Catchpoint?

A. Because I joined the team so early on, I had a unique opportunity to see what it takes to run and grow a company. This insight has given me invaluable life and career experience.

Q. How has your field and/or life changed over the last 10 years to adapt to new technology?

A. When I first started, it was a crazy idea that a SaaS company would tell you how they were doing. For example, only Salesforce.com had a status page when I started. Azure, AWS, Google Cloud were all in their baby stages or didn’t even exist. Verizon bought EdgeCast, and now Verizon is deploying a CDN. I’ve seen an entire industry explode.

Monitoring started as a smaller problem and moved into something that is a MUST. Enterprise companies are relying on connections for things to work so you need reliable monitoring tools.

Q. How do you think technology will change in the next 10 years and what is Catchpoint’s role in this change?

A. We’ll see a greater reliance on the cloud. We’ll see the cloud acquiring more solutions, just like Verizon acquired EdgeCast.

Also, there will be more industry consolidation where we see big companies providing total packages. You’ll need an outside tool to tell you how things are running. If you opt to go with smaller providers, you’ll need a way to make sure all the tools are working well together.

We’re going to see a greater connectivity of appliances and devices. Pretty soon, if the internet is down, you won’t be able to cook a meal.

Q. Can you think of a time when your experience with the internet or an app had a memorable impact on your life?

A. Google location services helps me to reflect on where I’ve been and how I got there. It’s fun to look back and see all the trips I’ve been on this year.

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Kevin Kenney | VP Enterprise Sales | 4 years in Boston

Q. How did you get into the Performance Monitoring industry?

A. One of my good friends somehow convinced me to take up skydiving as a hobby. While I was at the drop zone one weekend, the friend was telling me about a company that his college roommate was working for and how much the roommate loved it. So, I asked him to make an introduction. The company ended up being Catchpoint. In a roundabout way, jumping out of planes lead me to Catchpoint.

Q. What is your favorite thing about working at Catchpoint?

A. That’s a difficult question to answer. There are so many attributes about this company that get me excited daily, including the people and comradery between the teams, the enthusiasm and evangelism of our leadership, the progress and growth I’ve seen in our company and through individuals on my team and the appreciation and praise we receive from satisfied customers. I guess I’d have to say my favorite part of Catchpoint is knowing I work for a company who truly drives positive results for our customers and employees, all while staying true to their beliefs. The summer outings, well-fed Wednesdays and lunch on Friday’s certainly don’t hurt either.

Q. Are you in the same position or department now as when you started at Catchpoint?

A. I am in the same department, but I’ve held the following roles:

• Started as an Account Executive
• Moved up to an Enterprise Account Executive
• Then, moved to strategic partnerships and business development
• Next, Director of Commercial sales
• Now I am the VP of Enterprise Sales for the East

Q. Can you think of a time when your experience with the internet or an app had a memorable impact on your life?

A. My dad lives in France and my in-laws live in Chicago, so we don’t get to see each other that often. Being able to Facetime with our parents when my wife and I found out we were going to have a baby and see their reactions when we told them they are going to be grandparents is a memory I will never forget, and one I am truly grateful for.

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Gopalakrishna Puranik | QA Manager | 2 years in Bangalore

Q. How did you get into the Performance Monitoring industry?

A. I have 20 years’ experience working in the storage industry at companies like HP and EMC. Later, I moved to a start-up, providing services and support to local business entities. From there, I came to Catchpoint.

Q. What is your favorite thing about working at Catchpoint?

A. I like to solve problems. Testing products of such complexity at Catchpoint has given me immense job satisfaction. Management has given me complete freedom to explore different testing approaches and I am getting full support from the team.

Q. How has your field and/or life changed over the last 10 years to adapt to new technology?

A. I like trying different things and that’s what I’ve done for the past 10 years. I’ve tried different domains and roles and it has been a good journey so far.

Q. Can you think of a time when your experience with the internet or an app had a memorable impact on your life?

A. In June 2018, I attended our silver jubilee meeting of engineering schoolmates. Applications like WhatsApp and Facebook helped us to search for our old classmates, plan for a reunion, and coordinate easily. The meeting was a success and it helped me to reconnect with most of my friends in-person, after many years.

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Norm Robinson | Knowledge Development Manager | 3.5 years in NYC

Q. How has your field and/or life changed over the last 10 years to adapt to new technology?

A. In the past, I grew accustomed to using collaboration tools such as IM. But now, we have more tools that help us communicate.

Being at a company like Catchpoint with employees all around the world, it’s been a benefit to be able to leverage tools like Yammer, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom. We have various communication channels at our disposal to help us stay close.

Q. How do you think technology will change in the next 10 years and what is Catchpoint’s role in this change?

A. I think that in the next 10 years, our definition of computer will change. It will go from being a device itself to all devices. Our role at Catchpoint will be to ensure that all these devices that make up the internet will be able to communicate; as this network increases in complexity, you need tools to make sure they are working properly.

Q. Can you think of a time when your experience with the internet or an app had a memorable impact on your life?

A. Back in 2009, when I was living in Atlanta, my friend and I planned a trip to the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee. We had a lot to coordinate, including buying a full suite of camping gear. When we got in the car to take off on the trip, we both looked at each other and said, “how do we get there?” We realized we hadn’t done any research on how to get there. We pulled out a smartphone and used that for directions. We realized just how much technology was changing; we no longer had to buy a map or plot a course on our computer and print directions.

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