Nikolay Vasilev

Digital Transformation

Pre-sales Solutions Engineer

 
DJI_0124-Pano (1).jpg

Who am I?


I am an experienced Solutions Engineering Lead with 10+ years in software development, team leadership, and pre-sales. I have a proven track record of architecting complex solutions, driving modernization, and supporting enterprise clients through the full sales cycle. At Hygraph, I increased revenue by 25% and contributed to a successful $30M Series B raise. Known for my tenacity and commitment, I consistently enable customers to achieve their goals and thrive on overcoming challenges.

Work

business-computer-connection-450035.jpg

Hygraph (GraphCMS)

Solutions Engineering Lead | Presales

December 2021 - Present

Sofia, Bulgaria

Hygraph is the first native GraphQL Headless CMS focused on Content Federation. As a frontend and backend agnostic API-first solution, GraphCMS enables over 50,000 teams around the world to create, enrich, and deliver content programmatically.

As the first Solutions Engineer in the Global Sales team, I have been instrumental in driving global business expansion by closely collaborating with the Commercial and Product teams. My role enables me to be a part of every aspect of the sales cycle for enterprise opportunities: from the initial discovery, through demo/evaluation, to the onboarding and beyond. I supported 6 figure ARR deals for clients in various industries like e-commerce, gaming and media, and financial services Thanks to my contributions, the company has grown its book of revenue by 25% and has raised $30m in Series B during my tenure.

In addition to this, my responsibilities encompass:

  • Strategizing and refining the pre-sales process to maximize conversion rates

  • Designing Competency Maps and Enablement for new team members

  • Driving seamless onboarding for key accounts


Progress

Senior Solutions Engineer | Presales

Mar 2019 - November 2021

Sofia, Bulgaria

I enabled large Enterprise customers to modernize their infrastructure and applications. That included upgrading their Progress OpenEdge stacks, moving their deployments to cloud providers, and future-proofing their implementations.

In addition to that I ran community enablement programs via organizing and delivering Webinars and supporting local User Groups across the region.


SourceWeave

Co-Founder

Jan 2016 - Feb 2019

Sofia, Bulgaria

Started SourceWeave as a Boutique Service Delivery Company and grew it to handle major Live Sports Events Scoring and their TV Broadcasts. As a small company, I had to handle almost all vital aspects of the day-to-day operations such as Project Management, Recruitment, and Business Generation.


MobiSystems

Team Lead

Feb 2016 - May 2017

Sofia, Bulgaria

Created OfficeSuite for Windows in under a year and managed initial commercial adoption.


Telerik (Progress)

Senior Software Engineer

Nov 2011 – Jan 2016

Sofia, Bulgaria

Created several new frameworks for TouchInput Handling, Application Performance optimization, and Drag & Drop Management

Projects

pexels-photo-374006.jpeg

VARIOUS PROJECTS

as part of SourceWeave

As a young company, we have taken some projects as subcontractors for other companies. Naturally, some of them don’t want to disclose their subcontractors, so I won’t mention some of the companies and projects by name.

Soccer scouting platform for the US market

We took on development and improvements for the largest US-based Soccer Scouting WebPlatform build on top of ASP.NET MVC that exposes a REST API to integrate a mobile app, complementing the platform.

Role: Solutions Engineer, Project management

Duration: August 2017 - November 2018

Expertise:

  • Front-end and Back-end development

  • Software architecture

  • API for iOS Mobile Application

  • Distributed offline data handling with conflict resolution

  • Hosting

  • CI/CD

  • Payment providers integration

  • Report generation

  • Dedicated training - end-users and tech staff

  • Various APIs integrations

  • Product management

Technologies:

  • ASP.NET MVC, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, WebAPI, Telerik KendoUI, Braintree, EntityFramework, MS-SQL, OAuth, Azure Cloud Services, Azure DevOps

  • External frameworks: GotSoccer API, Braintree

 

 

Technical debt evaluation system

We built and integrated an internal technical debt evaluation system for a major cosmetics company based in France.

Role: Solutions Engineer, Project management

Duration: December 2017 - March 2018

Expertise:

  • Back-end development

  • Software architecture

  • Hosting

  • CI/CD

  • Report generation

  • Internal API’s integration

  • API Documentation

  • Dedicated training - end-users and tech staff

Technologies:

  • .NET Core 2.1, Angular 2+, WebAPI, EntityFramework Core, MS-SQL, OAuth, Azure Cloud Services, Azure DevOps, Swagger

  • Integrated API’s: Internal end client Score calculations API


SCORING AND LIVE BROADCAST SYSTEM

Bulgarian Gymnastics Federation,

Bulgarian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation

Yovchev.png
 
fig.png

We designed and developed the whole judge scoring system for the Bulgarian Artistic and Rhythmic Gymnastics Federations, compliant with all official FIG regulations and requirements. The system was used in most regional competitions and World cup events held in Bulgaria in the Olympic cycle 2016-2021. 

Role: Lead development, Project management, Customer relations

Duration: July 2016 - March 2020

Expertise:

  • Front-end and Back-end development

  • Desktop development

  • Mobile development

  • Software architecture

  • Report generation

  • DB design

  • Network design

  • Custom Server configuration

  • IP cameras integration

  • Live broadcast integration (TitleBox)

Technologies:

  • ASP.NET MVC, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, SignalR, WebAPI, WPF, Telerik UI for WPF, Android, EntityFramework, SQLite, Windows Server 2012

  • Custom integrations: TitleBox broadcasting software, IP cameras remote command and batch recording

Education 

academia.jpg

Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski

Bachelor of Informatics (not finished)

2009 - 2013


Telerik Academy

Software Development Track

2010 - 2011


Foreign Language School "E. Josif"

Intensive French and English curriculum class

2004 - 2009

My Story

 
profile.jpg
 
 

Currently, I am a Solutions Architect at Hygraph (GraphCMS).

I began my career in the desktop software development division of one of the world’s leading 3rd party component providers for the .NET ecosystem (Telerik, now Progress).In the 5 years, I spent there, I worked on numerous UI and UX components and frameworks for WPF and Silverlight. At some point, I started wondering what the other side of the business is and wanted to see how a concrete business case software solution is developed, not just the building blocks I was used to developing, so I joined the product company offering the most downloaded office app on Google Play (MobiSystems - Office Suite).

From the get-go, I started working on a desktop version of the suite and building a team that can extend and support the application bundle in the future. I trained several developers and lead the team for a year and a half. During that time I learned a lot about the business and development processes for a big software project and began to develop a vision for а company of my own.

At the beginning of 2016, a very good friend and colleague of mine and I started SourceWeave. We had the vision of providing the best possible services to help companies evolve in the modern era and bring their processes into the digital age. We believe every single customer should feel they have a dedicated team that can support them on the way to achieving their vision. Unfortunately, not everything works out. Here are some of the lessons I learned from the SourceWeave experience.

At the start of 2019, I returned to Progress in a more customer-facing role in Pre-Sales. I am helping existing customers on their journey to evolve their legacy applications and promoting Progress Solutions on various venues including conferences, user groups, and webinars.

After nearly three years at the forefront of an enterprise sales team, it was time to move to a more challenging role where I can put everything I learned throughout the years. I took the role of a Solutions Architect at Hygraph (GraphCMS). I am working closely with all teams in the company to strengthen our Pre-Sales processes and help expand our business globally.

 
 

Free Time

I usually enjoy a wide variety of hobbies during my free time. From adventures with my dog, Casper, to just grabbing a captivating book, these are some of the activities I dedicate myself to, when I get the chance.

Snowboarding.jpg

Snow Gliding

Everything related to a plank sliding on snow. I tend to favor snowboarding and splitboarding, but I enjoy skiing just as much.

There just is something magical in the process of finding your path and planning a line down a conquered hill.

IMG_0702.JPG

Mountain biking

As an alternative when snow is missing from the mountains, I usually trade the snowboard for a bike and go trail blazing through the forests or high meadows in the mountains.

I am blessed with living in a place where the mountain is just a 20 minutes drive away, so be it in the morning before work, or the afternoon before kicking back on the couch with the wife, a quick ride is all it takes to turn a good day into a great one.

Photography and Videography

Alongside my other hobbies and my youtube channel, I picked up the art of creating and editing videos and playing around with photography as well.

While I am very much an amateur in those fields, it is something that I am passionate about and it has become a big part of my life.

Check out some of my shots here or on my Instagram.

CONTACt