EmployeeIn Focus: Franco Laiuppa

What does a typical day look like in your role?

My focus is on driving company-wide improvements, which means collaborating closely with teams across different departments. A big part of my role involves documenting processes and partnering with Anthropic on a range of daily tasks, from tidying up linear issues to testing coding alternatives for proof-of-concept work. Lately, I’ve been dedicating much of my time to our Office.js project, which is enabling Definely to run seamlessly across multiple platforms, including Office 365 on the web, Mac, Windows, and iPad.

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What’s been your favourite project or challenge so far, and what did you learn from it?

The Office.js project has definitely been my favourite. It pushed me to learn the Office JS API quickly and collaborate closely with our design and product teams to rapidly iterate on prototypes. It’s been a challenging but exciting experience that taught me the value of starting projects early and sharing rough concepts to gather feedback sooner. The project’s goal is to recreate our existing COM Word Add-In experience while making it fully multiplatform, an ambitious step toward greater accessibility and flexibility for our users.

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What’s the most fun moment you’ve had while working here?

One that stands out was when our internal release build pipeline broke, preventing a project from being released for testing. It turned into a full team effort. We all jumped on a call and collaborated through pair programming and troubleshooting late into the night (which definitely isn’t the norm here!). It was a tough challenge, but I really enjoy problem-solving sessions like that, especially when everyone rallies together. In the end, we got the code working and deployed on time!

Which of Definely’s values resonates with you the most, and why?

Two values really stand out to me. The first is “Be Human”. I really appreciate this as I prefer to think people are inherently good and sometimes going through difficult times which can affect how they work with others. I’ve experienced other workplace cultures where this value wasn’t truly lived, so it’s refreshing to see how honestly and openly people at Definely engage with one another. It creates a genuinely supportive environment that I value a lot.

The second is “Geniusly Simple”. I’m a big advocate for focusing on lightweight, iterative work and confirming direction early, learning fast, and building up features thoughtfully. To me, the best products come from putting customer value first and tackling problems in small, manageable steps. That approach not only drives better outcomes but also keeps the process focused and efficient.

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‍How would you describe Definely’s culture?

I think it’s one that takes pride in doing things well. I also highly value the openness of communication and the lack of roadblocks when interacting with colleagues, and I think that when we reach alignment, implementations and changes proceed smoothly. There’s a lack of bureaucracy that the team actively fights to prevent as the company grows. I also feel this is the one of the most diverse teams I’ve ever worked in. 

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‍What are you most excited about working on in the next six months?

Lots of things that I don’t think I can say publicly yet! Outside of this I’m very excited to help the set up of the platform team, and make the product even more resilient by working on our infrastructure and assisting teams with any architectural doubts or questions. I’m also really looking forward to working with new team members who are yet to join us as we’re going through a lot of growth right now.