Manu Janardhanan

Solely conceptualized, designed, and brought to life two distinct Rails applications to cater to the specific needs of the non-profit sector. Hub, an all-encompassing tool for data collection and analytics, and BSMP, a dedicated beneficiary management system.

Collectively, these applications enhanced the operations of over 100 non-profit organizations, efficiently processing over 900,000 submissions. This undertaking demanded deep technical expertise and a deep understanding of non-profit challenges, ultimately resulting in the delivery of solutions that considerably amplified their operational efficiency.

At PrintFriendly, a platform handling over 100 PDF and Print Preview generations per minute, I served as the Principal Engineer for 13 years, consistently introducing and adapting technologies as per industry standards:

• Managed and upgraded the application from Rails 2 & Ruby 1.8 to Rails 6 & Ruby 3.2.
• Initiated the use of Vagrant for development and later transitioned to Docker Compose in line with evolving industry best practices.
• Implemented Selenium Server, PhantomJS, wkhtmltopdf, and later transitioned to auto-healing, auto-scaling Chrome Headless clusters for a more efficient and standard-compliant solution.
• Established monitoring with Monit, later shifting to auto-healing technologies leveraging GCP.
• Set up CI/CD, initially with CircleCI, then GitLab, and finally with GitHub Actions for the most effective integration and deployment workflows.
• Introduced Ansible for deployment, later transitioning to Docker containers for more streamlined and scalable deployments.
• Utilized BigQuery for effective log storage and management.

Additional accomplishments and responsibilities:

• Authored the initial version of a Chrome extension, now with over a million users.
• Implemented extensive observability using tools like StatsD and DataDog.
• Developed a high-performance API proxy in Crystal to provide a sync API for underlying async operations.
• Led successful negotiations with an ad platform, resulting in a significant increase in company revenue.
• Managed the overhaul of the WordPress plugin, reducing technical debt, and simplifying updates with CI/CD, enhancing operational efficiency.

At 6YCollective, a prominent women's fashion brand, I spearheaded the design and implementation of a bespoke ecommerce application to meet the unique demands of the company. Recognizing that conventional platforms like WooCommerce and Shopify were unsuitable (in 2012) for the complex tailoring and customization processes, I created a custom solution that was specifically tailored to 6YCollective's needs.

The system's admin backend was carefully designed to manage a complex inventory including various stages of tailoring, fabric stocks, finished and returned goods, across multiple manufacturing and storage locations. Additionally, it handled shipping, custom invoicing, and the specialized requirements related to on-demand tailoring. This comprehensive approach ensured a streamlined and efficient management process, elevating the customer experience and supporting the brand's distinctive approach to fashion.

ReviewGang was a personal side project, inspired by a lack of platforms in the Indian Film Industry that aggregated both critic and user reviews. I developed it as a unique fusion of elements from IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes, incorporating aggregated reviews, ratings, trailers and music. Though initiated as a passion project, ReviewGang garnered press attention and nurtured a small but loyal following, becoming a distinctive resource for Indian cinema enthusiasts.

At Report Bee, an education data analytics company, I played a pivotal role in the early stages of the company's development. I was responsible for creating the initial version of the software, a critical contribution that was instrumental in finding product-market fit.

At HeyMath, an EdTech company, I was solely responsible for the development of a Content Management System (CMS) tailored for handling the creation of their courses. The CMS was designed to be intuitive and user-friendly, allowing non-technical users to create and manage content with ease. The CMS, equipped with task management, complex workflows, and role-based access control, provided a comprehensive solution that streamlined the course development process, paving the way for more effective collaboration and enhanced HeyMath's ability to deliver top-notch educational content.