We caught a sunny moment outdoors with Citymaps engineer Ben Gundersen to chat about his role as part of the Citymaps team and ideas on what we need most in the office.
How long have you worked at Citymaps?
Almost three years, if you count a stint as a contractor in the early days.
What kind of work do you do at Citymaps?
I'm a Director of Engineering and Product. What this means is that I manage my own core development projects (primarily the Citymaps web products) and assist with others, including our search tools and upcoming Android app.
What's your favorite part about working here?
The ongoing, wacky family sitcom/soap opera that is our daily 11am lunch order. I'm pretty sure we're putting some local Chinese delivery places' kids through college, and rumor has it a VP at Seamless is naming his new sailboat after us.
What do you do in your spare time?
I'm a relatively novice New Yorker (born and raised in Oklahoma), so I'm still in discovery mode. I've recently become an avid snowboarder and longboarder. I love hiking, running, and exploring the endless array of restaurants and people that the city affords. I'm a programmer at heart, so side coding projects and hackathons are my outlet for the urge to build neat stuff.
What are your favorite maps on the app?
Mine, of course! I'm less of a "favorite sushi spots" sort of person, and more about pushing at the edges of what our maps and places can represent. Follow @ben, you'll see what I mean.
If you could have one thing in the office, what would you want?
What every startup wants--a Scrooge McDuck style swimming pool full of money. Aside from that, maybe some kind of door answering robot. I'd name it Theodoor, or Doorthy. Are you writing these down?
Ha! That would be an ideal office pet. Thanks Ben! Follow his awesome maps at @ben for sweet puns, 24hr NYC eateries, and more! Citymaps is available for free in the App Store.
