Ray Parkar

An unstructured collection of thoughts about building products.

  • Treat your team(s) like a group of capable adults.

    It appears that Ray’s Rants ™ is quickly becoming a thing amongst the people who work with me day to day. They have even suggested that may actually be interesting to more people so I’m going to share. Recently, I’ve been taking a step back to think about the most successful teams I’ve been a…

  • My appearance on the 101 Ways podcast about modernising monoliths

    Hey look! I did a thing. Always fun to talk with two of my favourite colleagues Anikh Subhan and Oliver Happy, we just recorded it this time. This certainly won’t be the last one either so keep your eyes peeled for more of us three getting into a groove and more of Ray’s Rants ™…

  • The six basic principles of great product teams.

    I was recently talking to a Tech Lead about some of the basic principles behind what great teams do when building great products from a tech perspective. He asked me if I had a presentation ready to go as I’d recently been up in front of people talking about this a hell of a lot….

  • Building teams is hard, start with trust.

    Building teams is really hard. I’ve been lucky to have been part of and lead some wonderful teams over the years, and one thing has been a common thread throughout all of them. Trust. The best teams I’ve ever had the pleasure of leading or being a part of have had this key trait between…

  • Apprenticeships

    Apprenticeships are a subject close to my heart. As someone who started my career as an apprentice, I’ve always been highly appreciative of the people and environment I was placed into at the beginning of my career. I started my career with really strong mentors and leaders who put in place a system that allowed…

  • Stop scaling, start building.

    Recently, I’ve noticed a troubling anti-pattern when building software. That anti-pattern is looking to solve the scaling problems, before you’ve even managed to build anything. While it’s important to note the limitations you may face, it’s even more important to deliver working software that achieves your goals as quickly and as well as possible. Let…

Who Am I?

I am a Principal Engineer, a leader in building teams that focus solely on one thing. Building great products at pace. I’ve created and led high functioning product teams at both large and small companies in the UK over the last 12 years and am at the forefront of championing product focused technology. I have led or created great product teams at Zoopla, Lyvly, Haymarket and Hargreaves Lansdown by being a pragmatic engineering leader focusing on great engineering principles paired up with a product focus. As of now I am a Principal Consultant at 101 Ways, helping various organisations build high performing product teams.

Outside of work, you’ll typically find me playing or watching some form of sport, with football being a firm favourite. I’m a petrolhead and a motorcyclist, given enough time in the day you will find me tinkering with some form of two stroke petrol engine.

Ray Parkar

Principal Engineer, Leader, Product Technologist.