I’m Eran Stiller, and This Is My Story
My name is Eran Stiller. Ever since I was little, I always loved messing around with computers. My father bought my first PC when I was six years old. It had an 8086 processor, a floppy drive, and a CRT monitor that is miniature by today’s standards. It even had a Turbo button to make it go faster!
At first, I learned how to game on the PC, but then I also started learning to program. I began with Logo, then went up through GW-BASIC, Pascal, and C to modern programming languages and platforms such as C++, Java, C#, and JavaScript. In Junior High School, I oversaw the school’s only Amiga computer! I always loved learning new things and writing computer programs fascinated me because it opened a hatch to an endless new world of possibilities. At that point, I knew this would be my profession.
As I also loved learning Math and Physics, I went to university and completed a B.Sc. in Computer Science, Physics, and Mathematics from the Hebrew University at Jerusalem. I started professionally writing software, and I learned that I loved learning and understanding the details of the software. Still, I also started appreciating seeing the bigger picture – designing components, services, applications, and entire platforms, and I also became a software architect.
As much as I love computers and programming, I also have a passion for business. That’s why I completed an M.B.A. in Business Management (with Honors) from Tel-Aviv University. I loved many of the topics I learned during that topics, but my favorites were Business Law and Financing. These were the most valuable topics I ever learned as a grown-up.
Professional Development
Roughly at that time, I started taking an interest in public speaking. I loved presenting my work to others and sharing my knowledge, and public speaking was a logical next step. I remember my first session in front of an audience to this day. I was nervous. I felt butterflies in my stomach. But I made it. And the more I kept doing it, the easier it became. Now, don’t get me wrong – I’m a natural introvert! But practicing public speaking more and more helped with that, and I became more comfortable sharing my knowledge and experience with others.
At first, I spoke at local meetups and user groups. But then I started speaking at bigger meetups and finally landed some conference appearances. I remember wanting to push myself even further at some point – to start being an international speaker. The first few submissions I sent were all rejected, but luckily I persevered. I tried again and again, and finally, I succeeded! I got accepted into my first international conference. Many others came soon after that, with a record of 4 international conferences in different countries within a month! Public speaking is something that I recommend to anyone to improve themselves as a person and as a professional. It helped me achieve many things I could have dreamt of otherwise.
I decided to take an Improv Theater course to push myself even further. I remember going to the trial lesson, asking myself, “What am I doing here?”. I was so scared… I’m happy I stayed through, as this course taught me valuable lessons about soft skills, communication, listening, and surviving unfamiliar situations in general.
Following my public speaking and community contribution track record, Microsoft recognized me as a Microsoft Regional Director (MRD) between 2018-2023 and a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) on Microsoft Azure between 2016-2022. This was a huge honor for me as it recognized the hard work I have put into the community effort and further boosted my motivation to proceed.
In 2020 I started writing on Architecture & Design for InfoQ. InfoQ is an online community focused on software development and emerging technology trends. Writing for InfoQ keeps me constantly on the lookout for cutting-edge content in software development and software architecture, and it helps me immensely in providing value to others.
My Personal Take
When I mention to others that I’m a software architect, they sometimes get the wrong perception. While some software architects are “Ivory Tower” architects, I do not consider myself one of those. A software architect should be one of the best developers in their team. A good software architect should be able to switch back and forth between seeing the entire forest and then understanding and implementing a specific feature represented by a particular branch of a certain tree in that forest. I love looking at the bird’s eye view, but I also love coding all day. Life is too short!
When I’m not coding or architecting software, I’m a geek. I love shiny gadgets and technology and adore gaming on my Xbox. As software architecture is partly an art, my artistic side also emerges when I practice photography or baking cakes and cookies over the weekend.
I’m a loving husband and a caring father of two. Marrying my wife was one of the smartest decisions I ever made.
Thanks for reading so far. If you’d like to contact me, you can do so here.
Cheers,
Eran