DramaFever: why this NYC company’s tech team is based in Narberth

Foreign video streaming site DramaFever is headquartered in New York City, but its tech team is based in Narberth.

It kind of just happened that way, said CTO Darrel Herbst.

Herbst, who joined the venture-backed company in 2008, originally worked from his home in Narberth. The team’s first developer, Jamie Xu, happened to live nearby, too. When Herbst started hiring more developers, he gave them the choice of joining the Narberth office or the New York City office.

“It just so happens that we have found most of the people on the tech team from the Philadelphia area,” Herbst said.

He opened the Narberth office in 2010 and 13 people work from there. A few tech staffers work out of New York City, he said.

Here’s what the teams use to communicate, according to project manager Victoria Marinucci:

• Google Hangout for meetings
• Slack for everyday communication
• Github to communicate and track development

They also have company-wide activities like outdoor barbecues, trips to Six Flags and a big holiday party, she said.

DramaFever is like a Netflix for Asian and Latino dramas, but it’s free. It has more than 15 million unique visitors each month, said head of marketing Yale Wang.