
At first thought, visiting a coffee shop for WALA might sound a bit strange. But 43 Factory has all the characteristics we love: The place is run by young, passionate, talented people; coffee craftsmanship is the goal, providing value customers is top priority; lean business model.

Plus, they make crazy unique coffee.

Happened in March, our visit to 43 Factory was a great opportunity for us to learn how a coffee shop operates, from their hiring principles, their logistics, their been sourcing and roasting process. From our member’s takeaways, it’s not much different from how we look at software engineering and software talent management.

- Actively seeking talents. Hire fast, train fast and let people go just as fast. When your culture is well shaped, you can spot, almost immediately, whether someone is a good fit.
- 43 Factory doesn’t shy away from letting people know they import bean from overseas, as long as the beans add up to their high-quality delivery to customers. Going against the current is okay, as long as you believe and are great at what you do.
- Every small detail matters. At 43 Factory, we see intentions behind every little subject, from the way they design the shop, to their choice of cup. Just like every line of code matters.
- Knowledge/experience accumulation is a real thing. Someone who starts out as a waitress might be a store manager tomorrow if they care enough to learn. We don’t get to stop learning.
- The people is the business’ brand. Every staff in the shop is the face of their brand. Customers remember great services through their staff that serve them.

As a we left 43 Factory, we definitely got a boost in energy, and also in our perspective. It was a great reminder of the importance of learning from other people, from other industries who are passionate about their craft.

Later that day, Phuong messaged us sharing that the unscripted session with Techie WALA was a a reminder of why she’s with 43 Factory, as she told her stories and answered our questions in the most natural, honest ways. Making new friends too, of course.

Thank you to the solid Nhu Phuong for hosting us and sharing 43 Factory’s stories with us. You can pay a visit to their cozy coffee shop at 422 Ngo Thi Si, Danang.

And you can definitely look forward to our next WALA.

![](assets/43-factory-wala.jpg)

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**WALA: to walk around, learn around.**

In our line of work, we hear and talk about domain knowledge all the time. WALA aims for exactly that: we, people in tech, take a break from sitting in front of our computers, to go out, connect with new people, and get to understand other businesses.

Through stories collected from Techie WALAs, we hope our community members get the chance to learn from others’ successes and failures, gain insights into what works and doesn’t, and reflect on their own works and practices.

Besides, breaking away from the stereotype of “tech people are introverts” is always fun.


Our visit to 43 Factory, a unique coffee shop in Danang, revealed surprising parallels between coffee craftsmanship and software engineering. We learned valuable lessons about talent management, quality delivery, attention to detail, continuous learning, and brand representation through passionate staff.

43 Factory

43 Factory WALA: Lessons from coffee craftsmanship for software engineering


The tech world has much to gain by learning from other industries. Techies always look for unconventional ways to seek insights and learnings. Recently, we had the opportunity to visit DZS Media, a film production company in Ho Chi Minh City, the powerhouse behind hits like “Siêu Lừa Gặp Siêu Lầy” and “Chị Chị Em Em 2”.

During our visit, we witnessed DZS Media's meticulous production process. They've built a facility for every purpose - soundproof recording studios, talent training rooms, reference libraries - leaving no detail overlooked. Their discipline and work ethic were stunning. Every step was engineered to get it right the first time, a requirement in the film industry.

We were stunned to discover DZS Media's process mirrors our own software engineering practices. The high cost of film redos means that they need to understand the importance of getting it right the first time, and be super meticulous in their work, and they understand the importance of getting it right the first time. Their processes are structured to ensure that there is not need for a redo. This was a huge reminder for us as software engineers.

- Be an expert in your craft, then expand to bigger things.
- The film production process is mostly waterfall, so it's crucial to ensure that each step is done correctly to avoid high costs for redos.
- DZS Media's margin is high, but the success rate is not that high. Therefore, it is essential to have an expert eye to know which movies might have a higher chance of success. Same way, we choose which software development projects to be part of.
• The content of a film must be good to be successful, regardless of the marketing, advertising, or famous actors.

Despite their success, DZS Media stayed humble. We were awed by their ability to wrangle celebrities and foster an environment where creativity and hard work thrive. We left with profound respect for the film industry - and the Herculean efforts behind blockbusters like Chị Chị Em Em and Siêu Lừa Gặp Siêu Lầy.

Our visit to DZS Media was an eye-opening experience, and we are grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from such a talented and dedicated team. We believe that we can take some of the lessons we learned during our visit and apply them to our own industry. We hope to have the opportunity to work with DZS Media in the future and see what we can learn from them again.

Til next WALA.

![](assets/dzs-media-wala.jpg)
___

**WALA: to walk around, learn around.**

In our line of work, we hear and talk about domain knowledge all the time. WALA aims for exactly that: we, people in tech, take a break from sitting in front of our computers, to go out, connect with new people, and get to understand other businesses.

Through stories collected from Techie WALAs, we hope our community members get the chance to learn from others’ successes and failures, gain insights into what works and doesn’t, and reflect on their own works and practices.

Besides, breaking away from the stereotype of “tech people are introverts” is always fun.


Our visit to DZS Media, a successful film production company in Ho Chi Minh City, revealed surprising parallels between film production and software engineering. We learned valuable lessons about meticulous planning, getting things right the first time, and the importance of expertise in both industries.

DZS Media

DZS Media WALA: Lessons from film production for software engineering


We’ve always wanted to visit [SP Group](http://spgroup.com.sg/), one of our partners, but the pandemic made it impossible until now. This year, the opportunity finally came when we decided to attend Echelon X in Singapore.

Meeting the SPG team in person was insightful and rewarding. We learned more about the challenges of digital transformation for enterprises, remembered why SPG chose to work with us, and saw how we could promote a growth mindset for our engineers.

Plus, our friends at SPG make amazing soju beer bombs.

Everyone in our team for this visit would have their own takeaways, but a few things resonate with all of us.

- For a partnership to work, all engineers from SPG and Dwarves should act as one team. SPG treats our team as their own, which helps our collaboration. They train and lead everyone together, fostering unity.
- SPG showed us that digital transformation is more about people and their ways of working than technology. There's a gap between the tech department and the rest of the organization. True transformation starts by overcoming resistance to change and fostering a culture of learning and adaptability.
- SPG is so large that each department operates almost like an independent company. Employees are deeply rooted in their established workflows, and introducing new technology often feels like adding more work rather than simplifying it.
- Data security is a big concern at SPG. Internal teams have strict, lengthy processes to access data, and it's even harder for external partners like us. While AI and other tech are being discussed, the main issue is keeping data safe. Engineers must be aware of security and privacy, often dealing with regulatory challenges.
- While adopting trending tech like AI and AR is great, the real challenge is using them to solve business problems. What sets top engineers apart is their ability to understand industry-specific issues and use technology to address them.

All in all, visiting SPG for us reinforced our direction of how we should grow our team and how we should look at the bigger picture of the tech scene. Engineers need to expand their perspectives beyond just coding.

We are greatly grateful for how welcoming and open the SPG team was to us. We look forward to continue contributing to the changes SPG is making every day.

![](assets/sp-group-wala.webp)
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**WALA: to walk around, learn around.**

In our line of work, we hear and talk about domain knowledge all the time. WALA aims for exactly that: we, people in tech, take a break from sitting in front of our computers, to go out, connect with new people, and get to understand other businesses.

Through stories collected from Techie WALAs, we hope our community members get the chance to learn from others’ successes and failures, gain insights into what works and doesn’t, and reflect on their own works and practices.

Besides, breaking away from the stereotype of “tech people are introverts” is always fun.


We’ve always wanted to visit SP Group, one of our partners, but the pandemic made it impossible until now. This year, the opportunity finally came when we decided to attend Echelon X in Singapore.

Consulting > Wala