Daniel Chote

Integration Expert

I am a full stack developer and seasoned manager. I have been in senior leadership positions for 20 years. I enjoy empowering engineers to focus on their careers, I love an infrastructure challenge, and I like to get my hands dirty in code.

Employment History

VP of Engineering

Videon

April 2021 - Current

I was convinced to join an established company going through a startup re-birth to help drive the engineering team and release some new products. We optimized the engineering processes by streamlining communication channels and adding clear acceptance criteria to tasks. I introduced the company to Docker, and we launched a video compute platform based on it. I led a small team that developed and launched a device management platform in less than 1 year (I also did 100% of the frontend work in VueJS). We developed a new hardware video compute platform for next-generation video workloads.

Director of Engineering (Domains)

GoDaddy

March 2019 - April 2021

I led a production engineering team to help teams migrate legacy on-prem infrastructure to AWS. We engaged in all the crisis response and compliance initiatives. We helped aggregate/standardize internal infrastructure health metrics. I learned a lot about SRE in a large organization!

Infrastructure Engineer

Filament

April 2018 - March 2019

I focused on production worthiness of various private blockchain stacks and how to integrate secure elements in to embedded systems. We worked on a multi-datacenter blockchain service solution that emphasized high-availability while providing a reusable software stack across a wide range of edge hardware platforms. This work involved building a fault tolerant Kubernetes bare metal infrastructure, as well as exploring bridging to cloud providers such as Azure, AWS, and GCE.

CTO

Helping Hands of America

June 2017 - Present

I redesigned the company website to focus on mobile-friendly content and to present clearer calls to action to help increase conversion of users. I consolidated the infrastructure, including various online services, to reduce monthly expenses. In conjunction with Google Adwords I integrated Hubspot, OnSIP, and CallRail to optimize the sales pipeline and track campaign performance more effectively.

CTO

BrandYourself, Inc.

March 2011 - June 2017

I managed the team of developers through multiple versions of the product with successful launches each time. I was the initial designer of the PHP framework used to build the first few versions of the product. We employed deep learning technologies for object recognition in photos as well as sentiment analysis for text. My focus was on using faster-rcnn and training the model using an in house image annotation tool. I designed and built a low cost GPU server configuration to aide the initial deployment of deep learning for production without a substantial financial commitment.

Technical Cofounder & Vice President of Engineering

Double Dutch Studios

September 2010 - Jan 2011

Sole developer on an initial alpha product for inSparq. Developed in PHP, using Google APIs with OAuth/OpenID.

Director of Software Development (singlesnet.com)

Match.com

March 2010 - Sept 2010

After the sale of Singlesnet.com to Match.com I moved from CTO to Director of Software Development and helped transition the company knowledge to the new management team.

CTO

Singlesnet.com

January 2009 - September 2010

Managed a team of 30+ developers and oversaw the management of our in house physical server infrastructure. I managed a 500+ server datacenter deployment running Debian Linux, an Isilon storage cluster, F5 Networks BigIP, and many other enterprise hardware offerings. Singlesnet.com was sold to Match.com in early 2010. I was part of a team working with an investment banking firm to secure a sale.

Software Developer / Network Engineer / CTO

Various Companies

1999 - January 2009

I started my professional career with a Windows Jabber (XMPP) client called Rival Messenger. Rival Messenger quickly became very popular and I gained credibility as a developer. I transitioned from Visual Basic development to PHP web development. I designed and deployed the server infrastructure for Singlesnet.com, an eventual physical deployment of 500+ servers that required knowledge of linux scalability and high availability. During the period of Singlesnet.com growth, we migrated datacenters to cut expenses with zero visible downtime to our users. I scaled email delivery and built an in-house CDN. Based on this work, we presented at a MySQL conference our findings for storage engine performance using upcoming storage technologies.

Projects

  • NullG

    NullG is a modern anti-gravity racing engine built in C++20 and Vulkan. It brings classic high-speed racing energy into a clean, simulation-first engine with crisp rendering, source-aware asset handling, multiplayer, audio, HUD, tools, and a growing research pipeline for smarter computer-controlled pilots.

  • talkiepi

    talkiepi is a wifi walkie-talkie for kids and their friends. I designed the enclosure using Fusion360 and I wrote the software in Go.

  • Dirt Rally Carcade

    I designed and built a tabletop "carcade" from scratch using Fusion360 and 3D printing. The unit is powered by a tiny Intel motherboard/CPU combo and runs SteamOS.

  • Sim Racing VR Motion Rig

    I designed a 3DOF motion platform that was cheaper, smaller, and more flexible than the commercial offerings. Built using 80/20 extrusion and aluminum brackets that I designed in Fusion360 and machined myself.

  • Cheap 1U GPU server

    I designed a cost effective, scalable GPU server platform for BrandYourself, Inc.'s upcoming deep learning powered technologies.

  • CNC and 3D Printers

    I built a 3HP tabletop CNC using open source hardware and software. I then used the CNC to build large format 3D printers.