{"id":4332,"date":"2018-10-29T06:51:25","date_gmt":"2018-10-29T06:51:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostnoc.com\/blog\/?p=4332"},"modified":"2026-01-01T13:21:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T13:21:11","slug":"interview-with-wasseem-khayrattee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostnoc.com\/interview-with-wasseem-khayrattee\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview With Founder of 7PHP.com | Wasseem Khayrattee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Wasseem <\/a><\/u>is a professional developer. He is the founder of 7php.com as well as the PHP Mauritius user group. He has been conducting interviews with PHP pioneers and legends. He always seems active in PHP conferences. He has attended various conferences, including sunshine php conference in Miami, 2015, and the PHP north-west\u00b5 conference in Manchester in the oct of 2014. He has interviewed PHP legends like Cal Evans himself.<\/p>\n

HostNOC: Please tell us about your career. How did you start your career in PHP? What was the motivation behind it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"

(Wasseem during #AfricaCodeWeek initiatives)<\/p><\/div>\n

Regarding my Career:-<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wasseem:<\/strong> In brief, I transitioned from Junior Software Developer >> Software Developer >> Senior Developer >>Team leader >> Country Manager >> Chief Digital Officer.<\/p>\n

The longer parts..<\/p>\n

I started as a junior software developer for a Danish-based company, known as FrontLab Ltd. My first ever CTO (Mr. Ruvan Fernando<\/a>) and CEO, Mr. Brian Bramsted<\/a> – were the two most influential people in my career. Ruvankinda shaped my programming lens, while Brian helped me use that lens to \u201ctake good photos”. I am eternally thankful to both. I\u2019m lucky that to date, Brian still gives me invaluable advice when I\u2019m in need.<\/p>\n

I have breezed through various companies during my 11yrs+ of career so far, (which you can find on my LinkedIn profile, though not much detail as I do not believe in LinkedIn as much as in my own drafted CV).<\/p>\n

I have to say that I really appreciated the position of Country Manager while serving a great company termed as Redbox Digital – where I met the amazing Jonty Sutton<\/a> (CEO\/Founder) and Steve Desmet<\/a> (CTO). Both are great people from whom I\u2019ve learned good stuff. I am thankful to Mr. Jonty for the trust he has put in me since day-1 to construct, shape, and lead his company in Mauritius.<\/p>\n

Presently, I am Chief Digital Officer (CDO) for a startup known asTeamonite, for the last two years – this is quite special for me as well, since I have been the architect behind and involved in every step of the project, business decision making & including hosting aspects – and above all, creating a sound dev team behind. Teamonite is already a success in Mauritius, and our esteemed Mauritian Prime Minister, the Honorable MrJugnuthPravind Kumar, honored the launch. I am thankful to my current boss, Mr. Kendall Tang – who is yet another amazing person. Hopefully, our project is going to hit the overseas market – though I cannot reveal which country we are going to be in yet. But it\u2019s going to be big.<\/p>\n

Regarding how I started my career in PHP & motivation:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would kindly invite you (and readers) to go through my article here on 24DaysInDecember<\/a> to know what drove me. I narrated my life and PHP there.<\/p>\n

HostNOC:\u00a0 Please tell our audience about 7php. What is its core purpose? What prompted you to start it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wasseem: <\/strong>The core purpose of 7PHP is to engage and showcase the People behind PHP, aka The PHPeople<\/a>. PHP is just a language. What interests me are the people behind the scenes. These are the drivers of the language; they make the community around it – aka PHPc<\/a>. They are what guarantee the sustained success of PHP. I have them in my heart; there is no other community as generous, sincere, and helpful as PHPc. Those who know PHPc closely will understand what I\u2019m saying.<\/p>\n

PHPc is the best thing that happened in my life.<\/p>\n

HostNOC: You are a shining star in the PHP community. Which personalities have inspired you a lot in the Past?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wasseem:\u00a0<\/strong>I am humbled that you are giving me this consideration. But honestly, I believe that everyone in the PHPc who is constantly navigating audaciously through the choppy seas day after day is a shining star. They make PHP & the world a better place, be it core PHP contributors, PHP bloggers, authors of PHP-based systems, PHP mentors<\/a>, Meetup organizers, conference organizers or simply someone in real-life, helping someone else or a child learn PHP – including you, interviewing me regarding my PHP life.<\/p>\n

Personalities who inspired me in PHPc are:
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every single person in PHPc is an inspiration to me. I cannot name them all, but I would like to mention the following two people in no particular order:<\/p>\n