Welcome to a special look inside our zigzag family! Today, we're chatting with Göktürk Ramazanoğlu, our Principal Technologist, who has been a driving force here for an incredible ten years. Göktürk joined us when we were just a small team, and he's truly seen it all: from evolving technologies to our company's growth. In this conversation, he opens up about his journey, the diverse projects that have kept things exciting, and what truly motivates him after a decade in tech.

Get inspired! You joined zigzag in 2015 — what was your first role, and what did things look like back then? Tell us a bit about your journey toward becoming a Principal Technologist. Göktürk: “When I joined, I think we were about seven or eight people, so we were relatively small, of course. It felt very different at that time, at least for me, as I was joining a new company and also moving to another country. It was quite a big change in my life, I would say. But yeah, everything was very smooth initially. I also had a really good friend who was already working for zigzag, which helped me a lot, but the other people were also quite welcoming. I was mostly working on the Android side. That was my initial role. The projects were more related to mobile applications and Android back then. But since then, over the last 10 years, everything has changed a lot. We've evolved as a company, and as a developer, I would say I've also evolved into a more general direction. I did lots of really good projects with different technologies, and I started working on different things as well. First, I think it was iOS, then we jumped into more web stuff. It's been quite a ride for the last 10 years on my career path. I've learned a lot.” Looking back, what advice would you give new people starting at the company? Göktürk: “I think one of the key things, at least for me, is being open and accepting other people's opinions, especially outside of the technology domain. Some developers, not all of them of course, tend to think they're building something for other developers. But that's not the case. We're actually building for other people in the end. I also believe that accepting not only criticism but also all feedback from other groups of people will improve everything. We're not building a project just for the sake of software engineering or development. We're trying to boost something for the final usage of the product. Ultimately, the feedback from other people is what truly matters because they can be the actual users of the product. And the other advice would be, working hard - I think that's also quite important.”

What keeps you pushing forward and feeling motivated after ten years at the company? What are your core drivers? Göktürk: “I think one of the key factors at zigzag is the huge variety of projects we handle. We work across different domains and with diverse technologies. We're not a software house that builds one thing and tries to sell it repeatedly. Instead, we're always trying to solve different problems, and even after 10 years, there are still completely new challenges. Of course, we have experience, but every new project brings its own unique set of challenges and new things to learn. For me, that's incredibly valuable. Personally, I really enjoy learning new things, not just work-related. So, the variety of projects and domains we work in helps a lot in that regard. You might work on a finance project, then a health-related one, or something in transportation or cars. For example, I don't drive and don't even like driving, but I've worked on a couple of car-related projects for a long time, and it was genuinely cool for me because I got to learn all about that industry. The same goes for finance. I don't operate at that level, but I learned a lot of new things just by working on the implementation side, diving into a new domain and trying to understand what's going on there. I think that helps a lot with my personal motivation. On top of that, from an engineering perspective, we're always trying to keep up with the latest technology. We're open to trying out new things and we generally don't deal with legacy systems since we're often building new solutions. I think this is also important because it creates room for learning new things. You don't apply everything immediately, but at least you can give it a shot, try it out, and see if it works."

What’s been one of the most rewarding or memorable projects you’ve worked on at zigzag — and what made it special? Göktürk: Okay, this is very difficult because I need to think a lot, but the first thing that actually came to mind is Porsche. It was one of the earliest ones, and also, I would say, one of the most challenging because we were trying to build something completely new. The design was very strict. We had to follow certain rules, and I wasn't sure - maybe the other guys were fully confident, but I wasn't - if it could be done. Solving those kinds of problems was quite cool. I think it's also relevant that it was one of the early projects I worked on, so it might have had a strong effect on me. If I remember correctly, we had some challenging cases, especially with forms, because we were doing something unique. It wasn't just another application in the end. It was a creative tool, and the rule set was quite creative as well.” What are you most excited about for the future of zigzag? Göktürk: “I think, the growth is exciting. We're quite a big team now, and both the design and development sides have grown a lot. That's always nice. You never know what new features will come, what kind of projects will arise, or what kind of people you'll get to work with. I'd say those kinds of things are always exciting: working with new people and on different things. However, at the same time, I don't really think too much about the future. I'd say I'm mostly focused on today. It's not just about work. It's more about how I live. I don't have really rigid plans for the future. I tend to live very short-term.”

What is one surprising thing your colleagues might not know about you? Göktürk: “One thing I can say is that Stuttgart is the city where I've lived the longest without any interruption since my childhood. So, it's been about 10 years that I've been in the same city, without moving anywhere else.” What’s the best advice you’ve received from someone at zigzag? Göktürk: “It's all about being flexible and open to change rather than being too rigid. I think I was already in that mindset, but hearing it from Siniz, who is one of the Partners & Founders at zigzag, was quite nice for me. He shared this advice with me in a conversation from the early days, telling me to be open and ready for new things and to adjust myself to whatever comes my way in life.” Is there something you’ve learned outside of work that’s influenced how you approach your job — or the other way around? Göktürk: “Outside of work, I’ve become much more aware of this: it doesn’t matter how good you are if you’re not communicative. If you have communication problems with other people, then on a technical level, it's not important how good you are. Early in my career, I used to think, “If I'm good at what I do, the rest isn't important." But I think, since working in a company, working with other people is one of the core aspects of the job. So, being someone who is easy to work with or easy to communicate with is one of the key things in this profession.” Thanks so much, Göktürk, for sharing these fascinating insights into your time at zigzag and your personal learnings. It was truly inspiring to hear what drives you and how you've experienced the last ten years. We're excited to see what other milestones we'll achieve together! Congrats on your anniversary, dear Göktürk!