Suggestions
Ivan Barajas Vargas
CEO + Co-Founder (Techstars ‘20)
Ivan Barajas Vargas is a computer scientist with over 20 years of experience in Software Testing and SQA engineering.1 He is currently the CEO and Co-Founder of MuukTest, a position he has held since March 2019.1 MuukTest is a test automation service that combines proprietary AI-powered software with expert QA services to help companies achieve world-class test automation.2
Prior to founding MuukTest, Ivan held several notable positions:
- Systems Technical Strategy Manager at EMC (July 2014 - February 2019)1
- Principal Software Engineer at EMC (October 2011 - February 2013)1
- Senior Software Engineer at CommVault (May 2010 - October 2011)1
Ivan's educational background includes:
- MBA in Strategy and Entrepreneurship from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School (2012-2014)1
- Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Systems Engineering from ITESO (2000-2004)1
Under Ivan's leadership, MuukTest has achieved several milestones:
- Participated in top startup accelerators like MassChallenge and Techstars5
- Received grants from the National Science Foundation's Small Business Innovation Research program5
- Included in Google for Startups Latino Founders Fund for 20235
- Raised a total of $5.76M in funding, with the latest round of $2.07M completed about 3 months ago4
Ivan is known for his expertise in QA and test automation, and he frequently shares insights about the industry and the impact of AI on testing through various platforms.36
Highlights
Software QA teams are understaffed, underbudgeted, and overworked.
At least, this is my experience in 90%+ of software teams.
Here’s what I’ve seen the most effective QA teams do to fix this:
PROVE that QA can help drive revenue & help engineering ship faster.
Almost everyone thinks QA is a huge cost and slows teams down. And they’re all wrong.
But how do we convince them they’re wrong? By PROVING it, not telling them they’re wrong!
Low-hanging fruit:
1 - Catching massive bugs as early as possible (and then communicating this without making engineering get defensive) 2 - Partnering with the developers to test features while they’re being developed or even as they’re being designed (so developers PULL for QA’s feedback, vs. trying to avoid it) 3 - Connecting everything we do as QAs to BUSINESS, PRODUCT, and ENGINEERING’s goals, NOT JUST QA goals (e.g., talking about the progress the customer wants to achieve, dev velocity, the customer impact of defects, etc, not just about test scripts and test coverage)
What else? What have YOU seen great teams do to get over the stereotypes about QA?
"Why does everyone seem to hate QA?" - Rob Snyder asked me this recently… it's a good question.
My take:
1 - QA is often viewed internally as the 'enemy,' slowing development down, 'taking away' budget and time from engineering, etc.
2 - QA teams reveal uncomfortable truths - like finding serious defects that everyone else missed SECONDS before you push to production; like making the team aware the software is broken and needs to be refactored with QA practices in mind.
Yes, this can be uncomfortable. Yes, it can feel like finger-pointing. Yes, it can feel like it's slowing you down.
However, in most cases, once solid QA and testing practices are implemented, everyone loves QA.
Because when you have good QA, you have:
- Fewer bugs getting to production, requiring late-night & weekend fire drills
- Fewer customers complaining & churning
- Faster product development because there's so much less rework
- More confidence when you release to prod instead of nail-biting and praying
- A partner for development, not an antagonist
And that is money well spent.
