Mitja BezenšekChief gardener

A little background

About me.

I’m Mitja (as in “nice to meet ya”), Chief gardener at tldraw, formerly an arrow bender. I like figuring out how things work and making things of my own. Over the years, that’s meant researching algorithms, building products, leading teams, and helping run a food blog.

How I got here.

  1. Growing up

    It started with games

    C64 → Sega Mega Drive → PC

    I spent a lot of time playing games on the C64 and Sega Mega Drive. Eventually, I wanted to know how they worked. In high school, Joker, a Slovenian computer magazine, introduced me to programming. Now I could try making things myself.

    The game Tyrian
    Tyrian. Many hours well spent.

  2. College

    Finding my direction

    Computer science · a semester in Denmark

    Choosing what to study was easy. I went to Ljubljana to study computer science and got especially interested in programming and algorithms. I also spent a semester in Denmark. College went by too quickly, particularly that part.

    Ljubljana at night, with a lit footbridge over the river and the castle glowing above the old town
    Ljubljana, where I studied computer science.Photo: Aleš Kravos · CC BY-SA 4.0 · resized, converted to WebP.

  3. –

    University of Ljubljana

    Junior Researcher & Teaching Assistant

    After college, I stayed on as a researcher, working on network protocols and multicast routing. I studied how Steiner trees could help route data and co-authored a survey of parallel and distributed algorithms for the problem. I also taught programming, algorithms, and data structures. Teaching wasn’t something I’d pictured myself doing, but I quite enjoyed it.

    A network diagram illustrating application layer multicast
    Multicast: getting the same data to several places.

  4. –

    Zebra BI

    Chief Technology Officer

    I joined Zebra BI as its first developer and helped build our first product. I chose the technology, worked on product decisions, and handled technical support. Over the next eight years, I helped launch more products and led a team of four developers. By the time I left, the company had grown to around 20 people.

    Zebra BI waterfall charts comparing income statements with budget
    Actual vs. budget, in Zebra BI charts.

  5. – now

    Vibrant Plate

    Owner · side project

    Alongside my day job, I look after the technical side of our food blog: WordPress, design, page speed, and SEO. I also help with photo and video editing. Together, we’ve grown Vibrant Plate to more than 100,000 monthly visitors.

    Tomato and lentil stew with leafy greens and bread in a ceramic bowl
    Tomato and lentil stew, from our kitchen at Vibrant Plate.

  6. –

    Pitch

    Senior Frontend Engineer → Engineering Manager

    I joined Pitch’s DataViz team to work on charts and tables, including making them render faster. Later, I managed a team of four engineers working on charts, tables, shapes, embeds, and the design panel. I spent more time hiring and mentoring, and helping the team improve how we built things together.

    Pitch’s presentation workspace and mobile dashboard on a purple background
    The presentation workspace. Image: Pitch.

  7. – now

    tldraw

    Chief gardener · formerly arrow bender

    There’s a surprising amount of work behind a canvas you can draw on. I’ve worked on the editor, SDK, and VS Code extension, and helped build the sync engine and the logged-in experience. These days, I’m trying to sneak in a command palette.

    The tldraw browser window with a handwritten hello on its white canvas
    A quick hello on the canvas. Image: tldraw.

Outside of software.

I like to travel and take photos. We write about our trips on Gremo nekam. Closer to home, I cycle, go to the gym, and tend to my garden. So the gardener title isn’t entirely made up.

Kyoto’s Golden Pavilion reflected in a pond, surrounded by green trees
Kyoto’s Golden Pavilion, from our trip to Japan. More on Gremo nekam ↗