Earlier this summer, we announced our new Chief Technology Officer, Ryan Ruscett. In between his busy schedule, we were able to catch up with Ryan and chat about what he wants to accomplish at SmartTrader, oh, and horror movies too.
Q: Understanding you just joined the team and you need time to listen, ask questions, and dig in, what are some low hanging fruit items you want to tackle in your first 100 days?
RR: The goal for the first 100 days is simply this: Listen, Learn and Observe. We want to use this time to galvanize people around the need for change, focus that change and build a plan around said change. We want to make sure we have the right people in the right roles and the proper support structures in place. My position as CTO in the first 100 days, and really beyond is more Transformation than it is Technology. There are items that can be addressed in the short term (and we will), but ultimately we are trying to create a great client experience while building a community of powerful tools for traders.
Q: What are the biggest opportunities for improvement and advancement you see so far for SmartTrader?
RR: The potential for SmartTrader is endless. Like any technology company we do have our challenges. I would like to build more fluent communication between our platform and our clients. I really want to effectively share what we are working on. We don’t always make changes that our clients can see. That does not mean they are not important to the success of our traders.
Q: What new technologies do you think SmartTrader should be using/adopting/developing?
RR: Every company including SmartTrader can work on being more proactive and less reactive. Solving issues before they affect our client experience. We are taking a deeper look into our scripting engine, chart performance and will likely introduce a whole host of new technologies to accomplish these tasks.
Q: Before landing at SmartTrader, what has your career path been like?
RR: Believe it or not, I went to school for Biological Anthropology. Although really cool, not very profitable. So I did the next logical thing. I applied to IBM. That’s where it all started. I’ve bounced between corporate life and startup life. Corporate life gave me the opportunity to learn, understand large scale change and work on effective leadership. While the startup life taught me various ways to stay awake and program into the night. I’ve been very fortunate in my opportunities to work with industry leaders and technology gurus. All helping me get to where I am now.
Q: When you’re not working, what do you like to do for fun?
RR: Well, I have a wife, a seven year old daughter and a new home. So as you can imagine, whether I enjoy it or not, I have a lot of house related things to do. Although, in my spare time I love to go skydiving, ride motorcycles and watch movies. I’m also a huge fan of halloween.
Q: Last Words?
I hope that you will follow me on our journey towards developing a great client experience and help us take SmartTrader to the next level. I will be doing blog updates in the near future to better inform our clients of the work we are doing and the challenges we are overcoming. If you haven’t already, follow us on Facebook to keep up with platform announcements, exclusive content like live Q&As with industry movers and shakers, and more!
