We’re excited to introduce you to BurnRate’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), James Caldwell!
Title: Chief Technology Officer
Location: Tallahassee, FL
Rapid Five Favorites!
Why did you join BurnRate?
Rob worked as a subcontractor for my company for two years before I joined the BurnRate team. We have a history of building great software together, including some of the architecture that now supports BurnRate. So, when Rob recruited me to join his company as the CTO, I was excited about the opportunity to be on the leadership team of a cloud-native company.
What else excited you about the team at BurnRate?
I was excited to work with a cloud-native, distributed team, and I was intrigued by being part of a SaaS startup company.
What’s your main focus right now?
My focus is building systems to train engineers on the best way to build software. In addition, I'm placing together the technology platforms we need to make work easier for our staff and our customers.
What goal do you have while at BurnRate?
I have over 30 years of experience working with private and public organizations, so I've seen what does and what does not work. For example, throwing technology at a problem is not always what a business needs or what a user wants. It is essential to listen to customers' needs and work accordingly. I want to use my experience to build a highly effective engineering department at BurnRate.
What do you see as the biggest challenge for BurnRate?
Because we have a distributed workforce, nurturing the work environment while managing rapid growth might be challenging. We want to maintain our culture and set reasonable expectations so current and future staff can succeed.
Burning desire for the team? 🔥
My burning desire is to create an engineering team that companies want to emulate and developers aspire to join.
Fun Fact?
I owned a martial arts school with my wife, Shannon. I have studied American Kenpo Karate since 1995 and hold a 5th-degree black belt. I've been teaching students self-defense since 2000.
More About James
James joined BurnRate in March 2021. He has lived in Tallahassee, FL, since 1990 and earned his master's degree in computer and network administration from Florida State University. In 2005, he started a successful company, The Canopy of Technology, Inc, which provides software consulting services to State of Florida government agencies. James has over 30 years of experience in software development, specializing in architecture, mentoring, leadership, and system development. He knows how to translate a business problem into a software solution effectively by bridging the gap between technical development teams and business growth teams.
He is a lifelong learner. He enjoys mentoring developers and learning the best way to build software together.
James has been happily married to his wife, Shannon, since 1993. Together they have raised two adult children, two kitties and have run two businesses.
.svg){kind=small}
