Michael Erasmus is Buffer’s Newest Backend Hacker

I’m pleased to announce that Michael Erasmus has completed his 45-day Buffer Bootcamp and is

Michael has been such a pleasure to work with.  His recent passion lies in data science, and he’s been leading the exploratory analysis that our growth team is doing at Buffer.

He also built out what we call ’seamless’ experiments.  Seamless is a way for us to conduct A/B tests measuring conversion funnels on any generic metric.

In this short time, Michael has had some really great ideas, like our weekly technical sync up where we discuss all things tech within the team.  Through this, he suggested we create @bufferhackers, a Twitter account that’s curated by all the developers at Buffer. Michael has also written a

We ask new team members to write a little something about themselves for Buffer’s team page as well as answer a few fun questions (adapted from Vanity Fair‘s famous Proust questionnaire). Read on to get to know Tom a little better:

Straight from Michael

On Buffer
I knew I wanted to work at Buffer since I learned about the company, its phenomenal team and awesome values. Every day here is a blast, building an amazing product, working with top class team and making customers happy all over the world. I love coding and using data to gain insight on the world. I also love surfing and living close to the ocean, so working remotely and having a lot of flexibility keeps me stoked every day.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Twilight on a warm late winter’s day. Sitting on my board out at the lineup, watching perfectly clean 2-3 foot waves rolling in. The light drizzle just has subsided, and a vivid rainbow across the ocean has taken its place. A new set pushes in, I paddle for the leading wave and miss it. The next one comes in, breaking beautifully on the right. I’m in just the right spot to catch it :)

What is your favorite journey?
A few years ago before we got married, my wife and I had an amazing tour through Germany and Switzerland. We didn’t have a lot of money, so we had to make do with staying in dingy hostels and with friends and relatives. In one hostel, I actually got a few flea bites :) Still, it was the best holiday I ever had. I remember being blown away by the incredible beautiful lakes and mountains in Switzerland and had a lot of fun partying in Berlin.

Who are your favorite writers?
There are so many! I feel really comfortable with Stephen King, and I have read almost everything he has written. One of my recent favorites is Joseph Heller and I really enjoy Hunter S Thompson. The best book I’ve ever read is For Whom The Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Easy one! I love my wife, my son and baby daughter more than anything in the world. I really love living in Cape Town and being close to the ocean.

What is your greatest extravagance?
I’m pretty addicted to gadgets, and I spend way too much on them. I don’t like getting rid of old or obsolete hardware, I still have old computers, iPods and assorted keyboards, mice and cables gathering up in storage. I get pretty sentimental about them too.

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I really enjoyed chatting with Michael in Cape Town before he started at Buffer, and I’m looking forward to working with him in New York!  You can find him on Twitter at @michael_erasmus.