Elinadav Heymann is a software development leader with a passion for quality and excellence. As former Head of Development at companies like Wix and Outbrain, Heymann was frustrated with the status quo of sloppy, buggy code. He saw developers stuck in an endless cycle of technical debt, patching rather than preventing problems. When he founded his company, Astra, Heymann vowed to break this cycle through a fundamental commitment to quality.
Heymann built Astra around a philosophy of mindfulness in engineering. By implementing rigorous training, optimal workflows, and a focus on automation, Heymann has created a culture that values mastery. Developers at Astra are empowered to write excellent code from day one. Their work undergoes multiple reviews to ensure adherence to best practices and standards. Through this mindful approach, Astra delivers robust applications with minimal bugs. They aim to create value for clients not just through features, but rock-solid foundations.
Frustrations with the Status Quo
Elinadav Heymann became disheartened by the poor quality of code he observed while working at technology companies in Israel. He found that developers often took shortcuts, didn’t write clean code, needed more rigorous testing practices, and seemed complacent about subpar work.
Heymann believed many Israeli tech companies focused too heavily on being first-to-market without investing in strong engineering principles and foundations. He saw brilliant engineers building products quickly but hurting long-term maintainability and extensibility with sloppy code. This debt made it harder to improve products over time.
While Heymann understood the desire to ship products fast, he refused to compromise on code quality and engineering excellence. For him, the status quo of “good enough” code was simply unacceptable for any self-respecting developer. Heymann knew that fast-paced coding could co-exist with practices like thorough automated testing, continuous integration, clean architecture, self-documenting code, and treating development as a craft.
Founding Astra
Elinadav Heymann founded Astra in 2015 intending to raise the bar for excellence in software development. Having worked at top tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Wix, Heymann was frustrated with the mediocre state of most corporate code. He saw developers slap together quick fixes without considering the long-term maintainability or efficiency.
Heymann envisioned a company where developers could take pride in their work. At Astra, engineers would have the time and resources to perfect their craft. Instead of just doing the bare minimum, they would aim for the highest coding standards in the industry.
To achieve this vision, Heymann designed Astra’s culture and processes from the ground up. Everything centered around enabling developers to write excellent code, such as:
- Rigorous training programs
- Code reviews and refactoring
- Generous “tech debt” time
- Custom internal tools/frameworks
- Automated quality checks
With Astra, Heymann aimed to prove that prioritizing engineering excellence was not just good for developers, but also benefited clients with more robust, maintainable software.
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Hiring Philosophy
Heymann takes an unconventional approach to hiring at Astra. Rather than focusing solely on candidates with computer science degrees from elite universities, he looks for raw talent and eagerness to learn.
“We don’t care about degrees or backgrounds. We want curious problem solvers who are passionate about excellence,” says Heymann.
The hiring process is rigorous, with multiple technical interviews and pair programming sessions to assess candidates’ abilities. However, Heymann also wants to gauge whether prospects will thrive in Astra’s intense learning environment.
“We need people who are intrinsically motivated to get better every single day,” he explains. “Continuous improvement is core to our culture.”
Once hired, new team members undergo an intensive three-month training program. They learn cutting-edge technologies, design patterns, security best practices and more.
Heymann emphasizes that top-notch instruction enables Astra to produce exceptional work. “We invest heavily in our people because that investment compounds over time,” he states.
This development-focused hiring and onboarding approach allows Astra to recruit promising talent and equip them with the skills to deliver quality software. Heymann believes it gives the firm an edge in an industry that too often prizes credentials over capability.
Rigorous Training
Heymann realized that to achieve a high bar for quality, he needed to thoroughly train developers on best practices and clean code principles. He created an intensive 6-week training program that all new hires at Astra must complete.
The immersive program covers core computer science fundamentals, modern programming techniques, code quality standards, and software design. New hires learn through lectures, coding challenges, code reviews, and contributing to real client projects under close mentorship.
Unlike typical developer boot camps, Astra’s program focuses on depth over breadth. The goal is not just to build skills, but to instill an obsession for software excellence. Trainees delve into topics like secure coding, modular design, dependency management, refactoring, test-driven development, and more.
The rigorous training ensures all developers share a solid foundation and passion for writing high-quality, maintainable code. Even experienced hires are required to complete the core training modules. This level of investment in talent is rare, but critical to realizing Heymann’s vision.
Quality Processes
At Astra, quality is built into every step of the software development process. Elinadav knew that achieving excellence would require implementing robust quality control processes.
A key component is having clear coding standards that all developers must follow. This ensures consistency across projects and makes it easier for team members to collaborate. Astra’s standards outline expected naming conventions, code organization, error handling, and more.
Code reviews are another critical procedure. For every new feature or bug fix, developers must submit their code for peer review by at least one other team member. Reviewers provide feedback and check for adherence to standards, security issues, performance problems, and other defects. The code only gets merged once approved.
Regular code reviews improve overall code quality and align practices across teams. They spread knowledge, mentor junior developers, and instill collective ownership. Reviews also catch issues early, before they impact customers.
Astra’s rigorous quality processes enable delivering high-performing, resilient applications that users can trust. Elinadav realized that excellence comes not just from great developers, but great development practices.