There’s a reason senior leaders at large public companies like Shutterstock, Capital One, and Target turn to Atlanta-based Nerd/Noir when they are ready to scale up.
A self described “computer kid,” CEO and co-founder David Laribee has been a full-time programmer since the mid-1990s. He quickly found himself in the startup world building ASPs (a precursor to SaaS platforms), ultimately moving to Atlanta to work for a company that would become digital.ai. He’s seen organizations of all sizes struggle with one of two types of “growing pains” over the years, Laribee told Hypepotamus. At any given time, companies are either trying to keep their startup culture alive once they’ve reached a certain scale or they are trying to change their status-quo and move faster in order to keep up with the requirements of a digital-first world.
DevOps, platform engineering, and developer productivity are top of mind for these types of companies. The reality is that as a company grows, it can be easy to fall into the trap of becoming a “feature factory” that builds everything for everyone. That ultimately puts a lot of stress on the backend development team.
That’s where Nerd/Noir comes in.
“We figure out how to make developer’s lives easier, because that translates to good business,” he added.
Laribee has found his niche helping Chief Product Officers and Chief Technical Officers figure out how to not only manage developer productivity, but also define the company culture needed to move the organization forward together. Laribee and his team at Nerd/Noir do this by helping senior leaders understand what is actually going on across a technical organization and through their “immersive learning” technique.
Now, the firm works with household names like Shutterstock, Capital One, Fiserv, and Target.
What Clients Need Today
Like most developers and software engineers, Laribee said he prefers remote-first work. But he has also seen first hand how organizations struggle with making decisions or getting a team all on the same page when people are scattered across the world.
The remote versus hybrid versus in office debate has been particularly heated at large public companies. Some companies, like UPS, have mandated people come into the office every day. Others are still figuring out exactly what works best for their organization.
Laribee said that more and more his clients are having Nerd/Noir come in to facilitate in-person training sessions, or they are looking for Nerd/Noir to really help measure what productivity looks like within their organization. That reflects the new reality that more companies are facing in 2024: What makes a “good” company in our post-COVID world?
