# Technical leadership

Canonical: https://gaboesquivel.com/lead

I lead from inside the code. That means setting direction, making the architecture decisions a team has to live with, and staying close enough to the implementation to answer for what ships.

## Forming a team around a product that did not exist yet

Launching Wink, Costa Rica's first neobank, meant forming a development team that didn't exist yet. As Lead Engineer I put that team together while I built the React Native app and AWS backend it would work on.

- [Wink](https://gaboesquivel.com/project/wink)

## Owning product and technical direction while staying in the code

At Bitlauncher I owned product and technical direction for a team of two full-time developers and up to five part-time contributors working on specific tickets. I coordinated delivery and stayed hands-on across the stack, responsible for both the architecture and the work shipped through it.

- [Bitlauncher](https://gaboesquivel.com/project/bitlauncher)

## Holding architecture across client, services, and chain data

At AMC I owned the frontend architecture between the creative and backend teams. At Bitcash I led the exchange across interface, services, and chain data, so matching, signing, and indexed state stayed one system.

- [AMC Yeah TV Facebook App](https://gaboesquivel.com/project/amc-yeah-tv-facebook-app)
- [Bitcash](https://gaboesquivel.com/project/bitcashbank)

## Validators, a private chain, and onboarding engineers

At EOS Costa Rica I helped launch the EOS mainnet and operated validators, built Grant Thornton's private EOSIO chain, and onboarded engineers through workshops around TicoBlockchain.cr and CryptoCantinaCR.

- [EOS Costa Rica](https://gaboesquivel.com/project/eos-costa-rica)

## Technical communities

Outside the companies I worked for, I founded Costa Rica JS and co-founded AsoBlockchain so technical knowledge could move through the region's ecosystem instead of staying inside one employer.

- [Costa Rica JS](https://gaboesquivel.com/project/costa-rica-js)
- [AsoBlockchain](https://gaboesquivel.com/project/asoblockchain)

## Writing about technical leadership

- [Engineering in the AI Era](https://gaboesquivel.com/blog/2026-02-engineering-ai-era)
- [Engineering Principles](https://gaboesquivel.com/blog/2025-02-engineering-principles)
- [Architecture Decision Records](https://gaboesquivel.com/blog/2024-07-adrs-in-software-teams)

The [work library](https://gaboesquivel.com/work) has a page for each project, with the stack and the implementation details.