Behind every achievement at Zefort are the talented individuals who make it happen. From software engineering and design to customer service, sales, and marketing, our skilled experts bring diverse perspectives and dedication to the table. Discover their stories and see how they shape the future with us.
Meet Tuomas, one of Zefort’s first hires!
When Zefort was just an idea beginning to take shape, one of the first people to join the team was UI Developer Tuomas. Coming from a web development role in an ad agency, he was no stranger to fast-paced environments – but joining a fresh startup brought a sense of challenge and opportunity he couldn’t resist.
“I had worked in a kind of startup in the early 2000s and really liked building user interfaces for products. So, when the opportunity came, it felt like the right time to dive into something new,” he recalls.
Finding flow in the unknown
One of Tuomas’s first contributions was Zefort’s loading animation. That early creation, still in use today, reflected his design philosophy: simple, lightweight, and user-friendly. Thanks to some initial work by a third-party designer, Tuomas didn’t need to start completely from scratch, but adapting to a new stack presented its own learning curve.
“I hadn’t done much React development before, so there was much to learn. But the challenge was part of the appeal,” he explains.
Tuomas built upon what was already in place, bringing subtle improvements and focusing on ease of use.
“My approach was to follow the laid-out path and make the system more usable and intuitive.”
Growing with the team
As the company evolved, so did Tuomas’s role. In the early days, he wore many hats, working on everything from product UI to marketing materials and the website. Today, with a dedicated marketing team and more developers on board, he focuses more deeply on front-end and UI design.
“It’s been rewarding to welcome new colleagues and watch the team grow. It’s also been a great learning experience – seeing how others approach problems has helped me grow as a developer and refine my own way of working.”
As the company has grown, maintaining a cohesive design vision has naturally become more complex. Instead of trying to control every detail, Tuomas now relies on the systems and principles established early on to guide consistent decision-making and reflect the original design intent.
Lessons from the early days
For Tuomas, startup life was a crash course in adaptability and growth.
“You learn to act without perfect information and to be okay with things not being polished from day one. You just move – and learn – fast.”
For anyone considering a role at an early-stage startup, Tuomas has a straightforward piece of advice:
“Be ready to take on more than one role and see it as a way to accelerate your growth. Your work might not always match your title – and that’s a good thing.”
Today, as Zefort is in heavy growth mode, Tuomas remains excited about the future, especially regarding the possibilities of AI-assisted development.
“There’s so much potential in using AI to make things easier for the user. It’s a little scary but also incredibly inspiring.”
Do you want to be part of our story? Send us an open application!
