Celebrating Six Years at Ramp: An Insider’s Journey of Accelerated Growth

Our original team members, affectionately known as the "OGs," have brought Ramp's values to life. With that in mind, we'd like to introduce Artur Kozak, our Staff Backend Engineer, who is celebrating six years with us at Ramp. Let's hear his story on how Ramp and his career have evolved during this time.

‍Why did you decide to join Ramp?

While working on freelance blockchain projects with friends, coding, consulting on smart contracts, and assisting with companies' ICOs, I had the opportunity to contribute to various innovative endeavors. One of these projects involved developing a prototype backend API for Ramp's first product, Ramp Swaps.

After spending a week with the founders, I became hooked on the idea. They were pursuing something unprecedented in the blockchain space, and I was impressed by their clear vision and execution strategy. Their competence and authenticity were evident, and I could tell they weren't just wannabe founders; they truly knew what they were doing!

While my friend continued with freelance projects, I decided to stay with Ramp because I genuinely believe in our founders' vision.

Can you describe your role when you first joined Ramp and how it has evolved?

When I first joined Ramp, I was the first backend engineer, working closely with the founders on the initial version of the application.

As the team grew, I naturally took on more responsibility, given my deep knowledge of the codebase. I began leading architectural decisions and guiding the development process.

As Ramp expanded further, it became impractical for Przemek, one of our founders, to manage every engineer. At this point, I started leading the original team of engineers.

With continued growth, we developed more teams, and the original team became known as the core team, which I continued to lead.

Eventually, I realised that managing people was not my primary passion. I transitioned the leadership of the core team to another engineer, while I focused on technical guidance and oversight. As Ramp scaled even more, with six or seven teams by this time, I was promoted to Head of Technology to coordinate and align the technical direction across all teams.

How have you seen Ramp develop and grow during your tenure? What major milestones or changes have you witnessed at Ramp?

In the first two years, Ramp remained a small, tight-knit team of 15-20 people. We were focused on developing our MVP product, and because the team was so small, everyone knew what everyone else was working on. This close collaboration allowed us to move quickly without worrying about formal processes. We saw each other daily, working in the same room and building strong friendships.

As we launched our product and started gaining users, our popularity grew, leading to more hiring. One major milestone was when we began attending conferences and people recognized us. Instead of explaining what 'Ramp' does, people would see our T-shirts and already know. This public recognition was a significant achievement.

Our hiring then accelerated at an extreme rate. We went from 50 to 150 employees in just a few months. This hyper-growth phase was challenging because we had to onboard many new hires quickly, teaching them our processes, knowledge, and ways of working. Despite these challenges, we successfully navigated this growth and continued to scale our operations.

Has the culture at Ramp changed over your six years here? If so how? If not how has the culture been maintained as Ramp has scaled?

When we expanded from 50 to 150 employees, some changes were inevitable. Initially, when working in a small team of 15 people, everyone knew each other well. However, as we scaled, we had to adapt while still preserving our core culture.

Culture has always been a crucial aspect of working at Ramp. No one from the original team wanted to let go of the atmosphere and values that made us unique. We focused on maintaining the core aspects of our culture even as we grew.

We have always valued honesty, succinctness, directness, and doing the right thing. As we scaled, we wrote down these values. We didn't invent anything new; we simply recorded what was already important to us and what made our work environment efficient and enjoyable over the years. While the exact wording of our values might have evolved, the core principles have remained the same.

What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced while working at Ramp?

The biggest challenge was scaling rapidly from 15 to 150 employees in one quarter. It was a period of hyper-growth.

Although some were third-party contractors, most were full-time hires. We had to reorganize processes quickly, learn to manage a larger team and adapt to an environment where it was no longer possible to know exactly what everyone was doing.

How did you overcome this challenge, and what did you learn from the experience?

We overcame the challenge through effective knowledge-sharing and coordination between teams. We held daily stand-ups and all-hands meetings where our founders shared company updates, a practice we still maintain today.

As a first-time manager, I learned a great deal about managing a team and processes within a company. It was invaluable to have guidance from our founders, engineers, and product managers. Additionally, many of the principles I learned about managing people and work also apply to various life scenarios.

What is your favorite memory from your time at Ramp?

From the early days, my favorite memory is the spirit of being a small, tight-knit team of 5-20 people. We worked together as friends, had parties in the office, and attended conferences together. The entire first year was a fantastic experience.

In later years, my favorite memories are the company get-togethers. When everyone gathers in one place, has a party, and gets to know each other, it creates a sense of unity and camaraderie. Of course, recently, our company-wide retreat Ramp Magic was a highlight!

What advice would you give to someone who is just starting their career at Ramp?

Engage with different people, learn about their ways of working, and understand what they enjoy about Ramp and how they prefer to get things done. This will help you grasp the core of the organisation and integrate smoothly into the team.

How do you stay motivated and engaged after six years with the company?

There is always a new challenge, ensuring I never stagnate. Initially, the focus was on making the system run efficiently, then on handling more users, and eventually on working across different platforms in various countries. There’s always a vision for further growth.

The company is incredibly supportive and doesn’t push me into areas I’m not interested in. When I wanted to manage architecture, they provided opportunities. Now that I want to return to a more hands-on approach and do more programming, they’ve found a way to accommodate that as well.

Ramp invests in personal development and aligns work with individual interests, which keeps me motivated and engaged.

Which Ramp value do you resonate with the most and why? You can find our values in our cultural toolkit here.

"Leave egos at the door" is the value I resonate with the most. It permeates all areas of our work and fosters the radical candor we practice here. It’s great that, regardless of your position, you can always speak up about what you feel is wrong, and people will genuinely listen. When I led the architecture team, I made sure to encourage open communication so that no one feared voicing their opinions.

Thank your Artur, for featuring in this blog. We look forward to seeing what you’ll do next at Ramp!