Leading at Roblox is a series that explores the career journeys of Robloxs leaders and discusses their roles, philosophies, and management styles. In this profile, get to know Dmitri Essiounine, an Engineering Director on Robloxs Economy Team.
Lets talk well-nigh your career path to Roblox leadership. How did it all start?
DE: In college, I unchangingly wanted to start my own company. I was constantly working on variegated side projects wideness varied verticals, from digitizing reward stamp cards (like the buy 10, get one free cards you can get at your local coffee shop) to a supplies review app that lets users rate their specific dish in wing to the restaurant overall. While none of these made it big, I learned a lot well-nigh merchantry and management withal the way. A natural next step for me was people management I unchangingly felt that leading a team is very similar to running your own small company. You proceeds similar skills and experiences, in a increasingly controlled and sometimes increasingly structured environment.
I started my Roblox career in 2016. Back then, it was just a 40-person web team all sitting on one floor nothing like our large campus today. We all served as a global on-call system, so If something tapped on the platform, one of us was on undeniability to icon out what was wrenched wideness any part of the platform: authentication, billing, game join, etc. in real time.
Id interviewed at companies of just well-nigh every stage and scale in the Valley at the time, and felt a strong connection to Roblox both considering of the companys size and the wondrous work stuff done. I first got into computer science by making games, so Robloxs transferral to the developer and creator polity resonated with me on a personal level. I wish I had Roblox growing up!
Anyone in the world can create on Roblox and earn Robux. Thats powerful, expressly with the number of creators we have. Hearing stories from developers well-nigh how they were earning money and unlocking creativity on Roblox was incredibly inspiring, and I was eager to be a part of this innovative ecosystem. I cant wait to see how we can make it plane easier to do this so increasingly people can create.
What do you do in your current role?
I oversee a few of the Engineering teams on Robloxs Economy Group. My teams are responsible for real-world and virtual purchasing, the developer mart system, and our new immersive razzmatazz initiative. Basically, anything that has to do with money on Roblox is my wheelhouse.
The Roblox economy is first-of-its-kind and genuinely mirrors the real world economy similar to other major global economies, we unquestionably track GDP. Sometimes we undeniability this the GRP, or Gross Roblox Product.
Dmitri Essiounine, Director of Engineering in Robloxs Economy Group
What keeps you motivated?
Ive unchangingly been a fan of towers things. Im motivated by creation, and consider myself a maker in both my personal and professional life. My parents unchangingly joked that the weightier way to entertain me as a young child was to requite me a woodcut of wood and nails that I would hammer in for hours.
Outside of work, I mash beer, tend a vegetable garden, puddle in game creation, and do woodworking. These hobbies are very fulfilling considering Im worldly-wise to physically create. I recently got into home automation and smart homes automation that makes your life easier. When I think well-nigh my career, its definitely the megacosm piece that has motivated me. Working at a visitor that empowers everyone to create is tightly fulfilling, and its moreover the reason why I believe Roblox has so much potential.
Dmitri is fulfilled by creating, whether it’s writing lawmaking or brewing beer
What are some leadership qualities that you appreciate?
In my opinion, the most important thing for a people leader is to truly understand the team that you are running, and to be flexible in style and tideway in order to fully support them. There are so many variegated types of leadership, companies, and climates thats why the increasingly flexible you are, the increasingly impactful you can be. The most constructive leaders I have seen are flexible and adapt their styles based on the climate, team, and companys needs.
Is there anything well-nigh your wits as a Roblox leader that you think is unique?
Roblox has a very bottom-up culture, and leadership is empowered by the executive team to run our teams in the ways that work for us. At other companies, there are a lot of top-down processes they try to fit you into a unrepealable leadership style that doesnt necessarily work for everyone wideness every group. What I fathom most well-nigh Roblox is that the visitor guides us to manage as if we are running our own small startup. The processes, measurement, and tactics we use are flexible. This allows leaders to develop their own style versus stuff pushed in a unrepealable direction.
What is something your team has recently workaday that youre very proud of?
There are so many! The one that Im most proud of is our focus on fraud. Roblox has a unique rencontre and opportunity with fraud since we run our own virtual economy with money transferring in and out all the time. Weve been focusing on this by pushing 2-step verification on large transactions, towers out machine learning on top of our heuristic rule system, and towers tools to identify suspicious activity. All of this has been helpful to modernize safety and lower instances of fraud. Weve made progress on this and will protract to focus here.
On the developer and creator side, Im proud of the team for respecting the polity and ensuring our developers monetize in the ways that work weightier for them. We are launching our immersive ads system, and its going to be flipside way for developers to monetize and icon out how to add razzmatazz in a non-intrusive way aligned to their immersive experiences. This is in line with our broder tideway of providing the tools and infrastructure for our community, and permitting them to operationalize however they want, with the tooling we provide. We have previously launched premium payouts with that same thought process and new features are in the works as well.
Dmitri and fellow Robloxians transmissible up between meetings
You mentioned Respect the Community, which is a Roblox cadre value. Is there a value that resonates most with you as a leader?
The two that resonate with me the most are:
- Take the Long View: Having worked at Roblox for seven years, Ive seen this value really help to diamond and momentum the systems that I own now. I moreover like that the full phrase is take the long view and iterate aggressively to get there. Its not well-nigh taking the long view by waiting months and years to unzip perfection, its well-nigh understanding where you are going and standing to optimize to get there.
- We are Responsible: Roblox provides teams and leaders with a lot of freedom. With that comes the responsibility to tightly own your domain area. When we think well-nigh this value, we think act like an owner. This really resonates and empowers me to powerfully run my team and ship products.
In closing, describe Roblox in the future. What’s it like?
I see Roblox rhadamanthine a true utility, enhancing people’s lives by permitting seamless liaison and providing users the opportunity to hands create custom digital identities. Its heady to think well-nigh our vision a billion people spending time on Roblox at work, at school, and any time in between. Im very excited well-nigh our future, and cant wait to see it come to fruition.
The post Leading at Roblox with Dmitri Essiounine appeared first on Roblox Blog.
