Spotlight: Henry Katz

Today I sat down with Henry Katz, VP of Engineering to learn more about his experience at RapidSOS!

Q: Why did you want to work at RapidSOS?

A: RapidSOS is such an interesting and exciting company with really brilliant founders and a youthful, highly energetic, culture. The team is made up of the best and brightest that this country has to offer and I love the problem that we are solving. It is very complex since it is a combination of this new technology and a very old industry. I also really like the fact that I can explain to my family the purpose of my work in a very simple way. This was very important to me because until now all my jobs were unexplainable.

Q: Why did you decide to work in computer science?

A:  I grew up in computer centers because my dad was a chief software architect of a Soviet Union social security system. Literally when I was being babysat, they woud let me roam around big computer machines. At first, it felt so “old” to do computer science because my dad was doing it so I actually didn’t switch to it until I was 30. First I did math and electrical engineering. 

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

A: The people. Communicating to the different people on the team. I also love organizing how to solve this technical problem.

Q: What is the weirdest job you have ever had?

A:  When I was 14 I had a summer job in which I had to dry dog skins… Basically my job was to pull wet skins out of the pile and spread them out to dry in the sun so that they could be sold… I lasted 4 days.

Q: What do you like to do in your free time?

A:  Sailing with my family.

Q: If you could switch jobs with anyone else at RapidSOS, whose job would you want?

A:  Probably Lucas so I could do more techincal work and more creative software development. 

Q: How many startups have you worked in?

A:  This is my sixth.

Q: In your experience, what’s are the biggest differences between working at a startup vs. working at a large company?

A:  Speed, energy, innovation, and ownership are all present in startups and not necessarily present in larger companies.

Interested in joining our growing team? Check out our job postings!