Maxim Glaezer

San Francisco Bay Area, California

About Me

Who is Maxim Glaezer?

While my nearly 20-year career in software development anchors my professional life, my passions extend far beyond code.

  • Way before LeetCode, HackerRank, and Codility, I created the first platform for testing programming skills right in-browser.

  • When faced with new challenges, I step out of my "comfort zone" naturally. For one of my projects I taught myself electronics and microcontroller programming to make light-animated garments.

  • When it was necessary for one of my projects, I learned how to compose music and lyrics, took some vocal lessons, and transformed my ideas into song form.

  • I capture life through portrait photography, compete in backgammon, and stay active through yoga.

  • My current passion is exploring AI to revolutionize how we learn foreign languages.

Software

Development

As a Software Professional

From processing millions of financial transactions to orchestrating city-wide vehicle logistics, I've spent two decades building systems that directly impact business success. My solutions have helped companies scale their operations, enter new markets, and achieve significant cost savings.

I combine deep technical expertise with practical business sense. Whether it's high-throughput trading platforms or complex SaaS applications, I build systems that remain reliable, maintainable, and adaptable to changing business needs.

Having worked across banking, trading, retail, and machine learning, I bring valuable cross-industry insights to every project. This diverse experience has shown me how to consistently deliver successful software projects, regardless of the industry or technical challenges.


Real Results

I've seen what even small teams can achieve when they work optimally within a given context.

For example, at AutoReturn, my team created a logistics platform that outperformed solutions built by teams several times our size, contributing directly to the company's successful acquisition by a private equity firm.

Earlier, with just six developers, we built and deployed a nationwide payment system that processed millions of transactions - a project typically requiring much larger teams.

This wasn't luck - it came from understanding exactly what we needed to do and how to best use everyone's skills. By focusing on what matters for each specific project, we consistently delivered results that surprised both users and stakeholders.



My Approach to Software Development

I've learned that following generic, standard approaches in software development usually leads to average results. Every developer is different, and every project brings its own challenges and opportunities.

The best outcomes happen when you understand and work with these differences, adjusting how you work to match the specific needs of the project and the team.

Context is everything. When you understand the project details and the people involved, you can help the team achieve much better results than just following some standard playbook.


How I Work with Teams

I enjoy both writing code and helping teams work better together. When I'm working with a team, I focus on understanding how everyone works best and what the project needs. I don't believe in forcing one way of doing things. Instead, I keep checking what's working and what isn't, and adjust as we go.

Sometimes we work within SCRUM, sometimes within other methodologies - but it's what you do within these frameworks that makes the difference.

I spend most of the time coding and solving technical problems alongside my teammates. This helps me stay connected to the real challenges we face and means I can contribute directly while helping the team work better together. Whether I'm focused on writing code or helping coordinate the team's efforts, I adapt to whatever the project needs at that moment.



Testimonials

From My Colleagues

Beyond Code

After Hours

Here are some of my personal projects and hobbies.

While some websites are no longer active as new projects took priority,
I'm happy to share details about any of them.

LazyGift.com
One of the first smart gift recommendation engines, ranking #3 on Google. It helped users find unique presents by learning about the gift recipient through interactive questions.

BetterProgrammer.com (archive)
The first platform for testing programming skills right in the browser, developed in 2007 way before HackerRank, LeetCode and Codility. Despite numerous partnership offers, I kept it free for everyone. The site was retired with the advent of LLMs, which made solving coding challenges easier, and as I moved on to new projects. At some point, James Gosling (the creator of Java) passed my test.

Light Animated Dresses
A project that pushed me into entirely new territories. Starting from zero, I learned electronics, microcontroller programming, and various wireless protocols to create innovative illuminated fashion.

A picture is worth a thousand words. See them in action on YouTube.

MindGamesCenter.com and FishBust.com (archive)
Being a serious backgammon player myself, I created this platform with world-class players to connect them with students seeking expert tutoring.

Quant Trading Platform
I partnered with quantitative traders to build a platform that used Machine Learning and Neural Networks to identify trading opportunities in US stock options around earnings announcements.

Portrait Photography
Strangely enough, I'm a multiple times published photographer, known in the photography world as Max Allison.
An ongoing passion where I've developed professional-level expertise.

Using LLM in language learning
My current passion is exploring AI to revolutionize how we learn foreign languages.

Contact

Please email me at:
FirstName DOT LastName AT gmail.com