Sure you love using BitTorrent (or the tiny-yet-mighty client, µTorrent) but how much do you know about the people behind the product? We’ve been growing like crazy and this past Tuesday, we hit a major milestone: 100 employees.
For those of you that haven’t hit us up on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or the like just yet (or stopped in to our offices on 303 2nd Street in SF), we thought it was time to say “hello.” Herewith, your invitation to meet our team.
Every Thursday, we’ll spend a few minutes catching up with our people. We thought we’d start this off with Adam. THE HAIR, naturally.
Adam and I talked Craigslist job postings, a move from the Bahamas -> Midwest -> San Francisco, and what he likes to do when not programming for you guys. Without further ado…
So, Adam. Tell us a little bit about yourself. What do you do for BitTorrent?
I’m the Windows Client Lead. That means I’m responsible for the stability of µTorrent.exe and BitTorrent.exe. So, I’m in charge of the Windows clients and adding new features to them.
How did you end up here?
I was looking for a job in San Francisco and I was attracted to the ad they posted in Craigslist. It had a challenge question and I thought to myself “Ah, they care about the quality of engineering.” I had the interview and was convinced how badass the engineers were here and managed to land the job.
What are the most rewarding aspects of your job?
Well, I would say getting to work on something that is used by so many people (editor’s note: we have 160+ million users) and it doesn’t hurt to work with a bunch of very smart people.
Where are you from, originally?
I’m from a small town in the Bahamas and then I went to school in the Midwest.
Which college?
I went to a small Mid-western school in Wisconsin, a liberal arts place. Their computer science program was quite small. They had about four CS professors. Pretty small.
Do you miss the Bahamas at all or do you like living out here in San Francisco?
Well, let me tell you, the computer industry is larger out here – so that’s good. I still like the atmosphere of a small town but a city like San Francisco has the things that I need, intellectually.
What do you like to do around here?
Well, honestly, there’s a lot of programming in my spare time. I belong to TechShop and I’ve been to Noisebridge as well. I also volunteer with a group called 5 ton crane (editor’s note: this collective is responsible for installing Ray Gun Gothic Rocket Ship along the Embarcadero) – they do a lot of physical art, so that’s really fun.
Raygun Gothic Rocket sits right near the San Francisco Bay Bridge and is a wonder to behold.
What is the one thing you wish users knew about BitTorrent?
One thing the users should know is that there are more than 2 Easter eggs in the about box.
You can right click on almost anything in µTorrent to configure it.
Adam Kelly is the one on the left
What’s the story behind that amazing hair?
I kept it short all my life. Around three years ago, right when I started work at BitTorrent, I talked with my wife and I decided that I wanted to grow it out and see what would happen because I’ve never tried it before. People enjoy it a lot so I’ve kept it long.
Cool, thanks for your time, Adam.
