Ivan Smirnov

“Throughout our time working together, Ivan consistently demonstrated an exceptional blend of technical prowess, strategic thinking, and leadership that significantly elevated our projects and organizational capabilities. His forward-thinking approach to technology and infrastructure management resulted in scalable, secure, and innovative solutions that not only met but often surpassed our operational goals.”

“It's rare you come across talent like Ivan. Having Ivan at the helm of building out the technology for Elude was instrumental for our success. I found him a highly skilled and dedicated worker and also an incredible manager to our development team. His expertise in technology helped the company expand and grow rapidly - for that I am forever grateful. I highly recommend him to anyone looking to run their technology team. I look forward to the next project I'm able to work with Ivan on.”

“Having Ivan run the technical side of Elude meant that the best possible person was in the drivers seat. From scoping short and long term roadmaps and executing mission critical pieces, to creating an outstanding and cohesive team that always delivered above and beyond, he has always been a vital part to all of our successes. Truth be told, much of his expertise and capabilities flies way over my head, but knowing that he was at the helm meant we were achieving our best at all times. It was a great pleasure to get to work with Ivan and I'm hoping our personal and professional paths cross agin!”

“Ivan is the kind of person you want on your team - he has an impressive depth of technical knowledge and a keen eye for detail that ensures everything goes according to plan.

I’ve had the opportunity to work on the startup Elude, and while the project had its technical challenges, it was a pleasure to work under Ivan’s leadership. He does not micromanage his team members, instead, he empowers them to take ownership of their work and supports them in every way possible. I have no doubt that Ivan is destined for great things in his career, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with him. I wholeheartedly recommend Ivan to anyone looking for a skilled, reliable, and positive team member who can deliver results and make a real impact.”

“I had the pleasure of meeting Ivan while he was the CTO at Elude, evaluating a technical product. After nerding out about protobuf and system architecture, it became immediately clear that Ivan is one of the most technical leaders I've come across during my career. It is rare to meet C-level folks who are able to dig deep into implementation details and also know when to pump the brakes and let others take control. I am really looking forward to us working together again in the future - I am 100% convinced it will happen as the deep-tech circles are not that big. NOTE: Lastly (and anecdotally), every person from my company that has met Ivan has said: "Wow, that guy is ridiculously eloquent and well-spoken... " and all I can say is: "Yep... That's him.", which acts as a gentle reminder to myself that I should work on improving my own communications skills :)”

“I had worked with Ivan on Elude, which was my first real project, Ivan was really helpfull, patient and ready to give advice at any time. Beside his leadership skills he is also highly skilled as a developer and knows how to transfer his knowledge to you with ease. Ivan is focused and task oriented, a colleague you can rely on. It was a pleasure working with Ivan and I hope we'll work together again in the near future.”

“Over three years, I worked as Ivan's right hand on a complex travel application. Those three years were the pinnacle of my professional career. Ivan is one of the best engineers I've ever worked with, if not the best. During our time together, he would ensure that the entire team was progressing, learning new technologies and mastering the current ones. Ivan has an exceptional ability to lead, delegate tasks, and plan for potential future roadblocks. But the most surprising thing is that, even with all of this on his back, he would still find time to code and be the most technically savvy person in every room. It's difficult to say which technologies he excels at because, over the last three years, I've realized that he can solve almost any problem with any technology. He once wrote a CLI tool in Python that automated many day-to-day tasks that developers had to do manually in ONE NIGHT. The morning after, he fixed the issue we had with a configuration loader written in Golang. If I could only have one person on my team, Ivan would always be that person.”

“Ivan is a young, ambitious, self-driven working professional who possesses a passion for technology with the smartness of technical and business minds. During his 6-month internship, Ivan demonstrated an incredible latitude to expand his technical expertise in new areas, the ability to think out-of-the-box, and delivered an innovative approach to solving problems. He is a rising star who possesses a great mind with a humble demeanor. ”

“Ivan is a proactive and tireless hacker for the company. Throughout the summer internship, Ivan completed his assignments on time and never failed to add a creative touch when appropriate. We were so impressed by his positive attitude and diligence. His knowledge level of detail in Android system contributed to make our MiiPC project succeed. I would highly recommend him for any position in technical field.”

“You might think that it's impossible to meet a student who has knowledge, passion, and etiquette of a business professional with 10 years of experience. To my surprise, a student like that does exist and his name is Ivan. It was my pleasure to work with Ivan and I've learned more from him then I was able to share with him. His level of dedication, hunger for knowledge and overall level of energy is out of this world.”

“Ivan is exceptionally bright and hard working. He is one of those people who lights up a room and inspires people to do better. I witnessed him help build two successful companies. He consistently stepped up to the challenge and was eager to learn as much as he could. He comes across a wise beyond his years and eludes kindness and patience. He will be a success in whichever career path he chooses, and I feel privileged to watch his journey.”

“I have been a volunteer, advisor, or board member with Junior Achievement for 10+ years. During that time, I have worked with hundreds of students, and helped organize several after-school entrepreneurial programs with JA. I've had the distinct fortune of working with some of the brightest, most motivated, and creative young people who will be leaders of tomorrow. Of that group of students I've mentored, Ivan is in the top 1%. At TopDuct, a company formed by students from 15 different high schools, Ivan earned the trust, work ethic, and performance of 30 students to deliver the first ever Company Program at eBay. Ivan is exceptionally caring, diligent, and inspiring to those who are lucky to work with him. I wholeheartedly recommend Ivan and wish him best of luck as he endeavors to make an impact and I encourage him to pursue his dreams and passions.”