About

My name is Paul Gaumer and I am a French software engineer currently living in the beautiful city of Angers.

My expertise in Front End engineering lies in all things React, from project management to framework and design systems development. I develop scalable and accessible web services for a wide range of businesses and support startups in their growth.

I most recently helped the leading multichannel shipping SaaS Veeqo develop its growth and core features following its acquisition by Amazon. This experience followed a previous expatriation of 10 years in Japan where I eventually founded and expanded the Japanese branch of Le Wagon Coding Bootcamp.

Working at Amazon

Experiencing the integration of a successful startup into the Amazon ecosystem was a truly unique and exciting opportunity. If you'd like to know how adopting the Amazon leadership principles, tools and management processes deeply transformed our ways of operating as a startup at Veeqo, and how it could benefit yours too, feel free to get in touch.

Startups in Japan

I moved to Japan in 2010 where I started my career in sales and marketing. My mission was to help foreign companies succeed in Japan through talent acquisition, product development focused on the Japanese market and the launch of IoT products like Babolat Play.

Learning how to code

After failing the launch of my first startup and interacting with an increasing number of developers, I decided to learn how to code by attending Le Wagon Coding Bootcamp in 2016 (full story here).

As no similar learning experience existed in Japan at the time, I joined the recent awakening of the Tokyo startup scene by co-founding and leading Japan’s very first English coding bootcamp: Le Wagon Japan

Our missions were to:

Teach programming to creatives and entrepreneurs
Provide a pool of talents to the growing startup community
Support the development of innovative solutions post-bootcamp
Educate the Japanese market to alternative education and lifestyle models

After 3 years of activity and opening two locations (Tokyo & Kyoto), Le Wagon Japan had trained over 150 students from 30+ nationalities, now working as software developers, UX designers, product managers or startup founders.

Lessons

"You know nothing, Jon Snow". I have been fortunate to meet amazing mentors and always seek an opportunity to dive into a new topic. There is no end to the learning process.
Programming requires a heavy dose of human skills, even more in a remote context. Communication, open mindedness and empathy go a long way in seeing a team succeed.

Talks

Founded Le Wagon Tokyo and Code In Angers Meetup groups. I love sharing topics I'm passionate about and regularly run workshops or join events. Past ones include:

Guest Speaker

Tokyo Fintech - Careers in Fintech & Recruitment
Venture Cafe - How to start a business in Japan, from visa to strategy
Sekai Creator Entrepreneurship Contest - Judge panel
BeyondLab - How to get started in Japan
Tokyo Tech Startups - Entrepreneurship 101

Workshops

JAMStack and Gatsby.js
Ideathon: Come with an idea, leave with a prototype
How to build a landing page in 2 hours
Introduction to UX design
Build your first React application
APIs for beginners
Technical workflow in Startups
Introduction to Ruby and Javascript

Podcasting

I launched the Japan Life Stories podcast in 2019 during the pandemic to share stories of foreigners who built a life and career in Japan. The initial motivation was to share the insights I would have liked to get during my first year in the country: how to find a job, grow your career, build a network, start a business... It turned out to be a fantastic way to stay connected to the local ecosystem and exchange with amazing people. The 11 episodes can be found on Spotify.