We're back this week with another Ghost Sighting 👻. Ghost Sighting puts the spotlight on the most important part of Ghost - the people. We're heading to Sweden to meet David Matslofva, a member of our Engineering team.
David, tell us a little bit about where you're located in the world and if you've got any furry roommates that live with you?
I recently relocated back to my hometown Stockholm in Sweden. The best thing about coming back is reconnecting with old friends and being closer to family and friends. I don’t have any pets, but my girlfriend has a cat that likes to keep me company while I’m working.
How did you end up in the security industry?
Playing computer games and building computers got me interested in computer science. One summer during high school I had a job at a dental practice that involved archiving journals to make space for a rack of servers that would enable the transition to digital journals. Accessing the room had some security checks and I remember asking myself what security controls were going to be in place to prevent someone from accessing the journals over the network. That thought stuck with me and when I was looking at colleges there was a new program that focused on networks, communication, and security that I ended up choosing. Since then I’ve been continuing to learn and work in the security industry.
What does a typical weekend look like for you? What do you like to do when not at work?
Living in California for the past 10 years has spoiled me with opportunities to do outdoors activities. I enjoy racquet sports, especially tennis and badminton. Lately I have been running more frequently and longer distances. A few weekends ago I participated in a 30k race here in Stockholm. Running is a good way for me to disconnect, recharge, and come up with new ideas.
Other hobbies include fishing, playing darts with friends, and futile attempts to play the piano. During our last Ghost team on-site we did a fly-fishing excursion which was a lot of fun and reminded me of fishing in northern Sweden with my cousins and uncles while I was growing up.
What are you most proud of in your career so far?
I think what I’m most proud of is the network I’ve built up and friends I made in the industry over the years. I’m also proud of the transition I made from being a consultant and end-user of security products to building software and contributing to new solutions.
What do you enjoy most about working at Ghost?
For me, Ghost was an opportunity to enter a new exciting domain within security and keep working with folks who inspire and motivate me to continue building and solving problems. I couldn’t be happier with the move and have really enjoyed getting to know everyone on the team. There’s something really special about joining a company at this stage - it’s challenging and rewarding to build a team and a product from scratch.
If you won the lottery, what’s the first thing you’d do?
I enjoy traveling and sharing experiences with family and friends so the first thing I’d do is probably something fun with as many of them as possible. This past summer I went on a trip with my girlfriend to the Amalfi Coast in Italy. I’d love to go back and spend some more time there with her.
