# Work

A short history of the companies and roles Paolo Donà has been part of.

## Staycity Group

- Chief Information Officer: 2019-07 to present
- URL: https://www.staycity.com

Responsible for technology vision and strategy across the group, and for the full technology stack: IT, web and mobile apps, data warehouse and BI, security, AI, third-party development, and the IT team, vendors and system integrators.

## Homestay.com

- Managing Director: 2017-06 to 2019-06
- CTO & Director: 2012-01 to 2017-05
- URL: https://www.homestay.com

Co-founded the global homestay marketplace after NiftySchool was acquired by Irish investors. Built the product, engineering, data, and multi-currency payments infrastructure from day one, grew the team to around 30, then stepped up as Managing Director to restructure the company and lead it to break-even.

## NiftySchool.com

- Founder, Director & CTO: 2009-05 to 2012-05

Founded and ran a SaaS platform for language schools. Grew it from a London pilot to 100+ schools across three continents; acquired by Homestay Technologies in May 2012.

## Mobile Interactive Group

- Product Manager: 2009-06 to 2011-06
- Lead Developer: 2008-07 to 2009-06

Joined as a senior Ruby on Rails developer on large-scale mobile platforms, then moved into product to define and run SMS content distribution and multi-channel marketing platforms used by O2, Vodafone, Three, Sky, Virgin Media and ITV.

## SeeSaw srl

- Founder & Lead Developer: 2006-09 to 2008-09
- Location: Verona, Italy

Co-founded and ran a boutique software consultancy serving small and medium-sized customers across Italy, including work for impresa.gov.it and Q8 Petroleum. Also ran the first commercial Ruby on Rails courses in Italy.

## Earlier roles

- Software developer / analyst: 2000 to 2006

Software developer and analyst roles at Archeometra and Supernet S.p.A., working across Java/J2EE, Liferay portals, and Ruby on Rails.

## Education

- University of Padua: Master's degree in Computer Engineering, 2000
- Istituto Tecnico Industriale, Belluno: Technical diploma in Electronics and Telecommunications, 1996