The workplace landscape is evolving rapidly, as formerly shuttered businesses reopen their doors and the economy emerges from an acute pause. Remote work has offered new opportunities for businesses to increase the diversity of their workforce — individuals who were formerly unable to relocate to major hub cities are now contenders in the applicant pool.
As new positions become available, both employers and their applicants are bearing important new factors in mind. More than ever before, work-life balance and corporate values continue to place as priority items for job seekers. And with so much growth to prepare for, companies are on hiring sprees. The abundance of options means fewer candidates are willing to forgo quality of life and personal ethics, when a better fit may be just a few clicks away.
After such a tumultuous 2020, listening to stories of success and job satisfaction reinforces just how bright the road ahead can be. We met with a broad set of local leaders to hear why they accepted their job offers, why they’ve stayed with their teams, and what the future holds for their organizations.
What they do: Ocrolus is a human-in-the-loop automation company that transforms documents into data analytics with more than 99% accuracy.
The caliber of talent: “During the interview process at Ocrolus, a number of things about the company appealed to me, including the commitment to diversity, the exciting potential for growth, the vision for the product and the technical challenges that I would solve in bringing that vision to light. The most appealing factor was the positive interactions with everyone that I talked to. The caliber of the engineering talent coupled with the strong vision for the company made my decision easy.”
Continued learning: “With Ocrolus I see a place where I can apply the lessons I’ve learned as well as a chance to learn even more. Ocrolus has had great success with our human-in-the-loop ML offering. Using this product as a foundation, we are building focused APIs for specific industries and detailed workflows. As part of the Core API team, I’m really excited to work closely with our machine learning and product teams to develop and connect this core product in new and innovative ways.”
What they do: Native is a market research company that connects global organizations that have questions with locals able to collect data used to answer them.
Ready for a challenge: “I had always run my own companies before coming here. Native is the only company that I felt could give me the thrill and the freedom of building something new, within a team of people with whom I was excited to spend time with. My coworkers bring broad and global experience, and from day one, working at Native has been high tempo, challenging and full of color. I’ve not looked back.”
Beyond consumer goods: “On the sales side, even in the midst of the pandemic, we’ve built a customer base with some of the biggest brands, from Coca-Cola and Pepsi to Heineken and ABInbev. We’re taking off, and I’m excited to expand our sales team and take those accounts global. I’m also itching to see what happens when we move beyond consumer goods — there are some really impressive new capabilities coming down the line that our customers are lining up to trial.”
“But most of all, I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of the team in New York, London, Bogotá in person, and opening up our Singapore office.”
What they do: Tropic is a software purchasing company that negotiates each new and renewing SaaS agreement on users’ behalf.
Growth-focused: “I was excited to join Tropic to get an up-close look at a growing company, while also shaping the workplace culture. The founding team at Tropic has worked hard to build a transparent culture that is focused on the growth of both the business and its people. My career path is in my hands at Tropic, as our managers strive to find the intersection between both Tropic’s needs as a business and each employee's specific career interests. This has encouraged me to think of Tropic as a long-term plan for the first time in my professional history.”
The benefits of diverse experience: “I joined Tropic as its sixth employee during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. I am overjoyed to see our growth over just this past year, and I am excited to see our continued development over the year to come. We have been able to hire an amazing team of thoughtful and insightful individuals who are contributors from day one. It has been amazing to see how happy we can make our customers — a feat that combines the efforts of each and every one of our teammates. As an early member of the product team, I look forward to being a core part of our progress toward designing solutions for software and purchasing management.”
What they do: Octane is a Fintech company with a mission to connect people with their passions. It aims to change the transaction process for large purchases such as powersports, RVs, boats and home improvements through automated underwriting, innovative credit products and financing.
Uncharted waters: “After a storied career in technology working for two tech titans in the Seattle metro (Amazon and Microsoft), I was looking forward to chasing a personal passion — to work in a startup and guide it to success. When I learned about Octane and its mission to connect people with their passion, I was intrigued. Once I realized that this meant helping customers who normally had no other recourse in pursuit of their passion, I was hooked.”
“As I spoke to the leadership team at Octane, it was evident that the team had all the right ingredients for success while making the world a better place overall. With the empowerment to chart the technology course as its CTO, I look forward to welcoming like-minded senior engineering professionals and leaders and innovating in uncharted waters.”
Redefining lending: “The lending industry is ripe for disruption. Consumer credit scoring models have stayed stagnant for too long. Just as software and technology transformed most industries in the last few decades, Octane is poised to redefine how lending is done.”
“In my role as Octane’s CTO, I partner closely with my C-suite counterparts in product, risk and operations, and my innovative engineering team to build transformational tools for the lending ecosystem. Our work brings joy to our customers, enabling them to go after their passion and making it a reality.”
“We hope to make the loan experience fun for our consumers. It is a lofty goal, but we believe we can succeed.”
What they do: Postscript is an SMS marketing company that helps e-commerce brands design and operate programs that keep users engaged and happy while driving substantial new revenue.
Exposure to e-commerce: “I love the founders and the team here at Postscript. Almost everyone I’ve interacted with has been kind and caring. Plus, the e-commerce space is awesome. Working for Postscript I get exposure to many different brands and their marketing strategies, which I find really cool.”
Solving hard problems: “I’m currently working on a next-gen SMS marketing tool that marketing teams can use to communicate with their customers. It’s a tricky and fun problem to solve, since there are scale and complexity problems around every corner.”
What they do: MANTL is an enterprise SaaS company helping traditional financial institutions modernize and grow.
A mission that hits close to home: “My family came to the U.S. when I was seven. My mom, who had run a successful business back in Colombia, found herself in a new country without much professional support or many business connections. Even after she became re-accredited in her field, securing financing to start a new company was difficult. Most banks were reluctant to extend credit to an immigrant woman whose entire work history had taken place in Colombia, which at the time was in a turbulent phase of its history.”
“Our local community bank saw it differently. That was 19 years ago. Today, my mom’s business is prosperous and stable, and she’s made it through the ups and downs thanks to her close partnership with our community bank.”
“MANTL builds software for community banks like the one that helped my mom get her start in this country. Having grown up with an appreciation for the value of these local institutions, I understood MANTL’s mission instinctively. We help community institutions develop strong digital offerings, which in turn positions them to help small businesses and consumers. I’m proud to be part of that.”
Redefining the digital banking experience: “Digital experiences have become central to how people do everything: school, work, entertainment, socializing, finance and so on. The difference with finance is that a lousy digital experience really hurts consumers. For instance, a consumer might actually benefit more from having a savings account with a community institution versus a megabank, but because community institutions don’t often provide strong digital experiences, that comparison is never made.
“MANTL is working to change that. We’re putting the digital banking experience under a microscope and building better processes, which community banks and credit unions can then use to outperform the big banks. This gives consumers real options and improves outcomes at the community level. MANTL will always be a product-obsessed organization, and while that comes with challenges, it also makes MANTL the right place for people who want to build and sell exceptional products.”
What they do: Collibra is a data intelligence company accelerating trusted business outcomes by connecting the right data and insights with algorithms through the Collibra platform.
A commitment to gender equality: “Two significant reasons I’ve stayed at Collibra are the inclusive culture and the limitless opportunities to grow my career. Collibra is dedicated to gender equality in the workplace, and I’ve been given a tremendous amount of support to help develop myself and my team into the rapidly scaling organization it is today. I’m consistently challenged by my senior leadership team to drive strategic initiatives, and execute on the big picture. Our leadership team does a wonderful job of offering mentorship, career growth, and ensures that their direct reports feel respected, valued and recognized.”
A knack for innovation: “The team’s innovation and drive excites me — you can have a motivating and inspiring conversation at any time during your work day. I’m most excited to be part of an organization that is continuing to establish itself as a thought leader at such a rapid pace. Our team does extraordinary work to help unite organizations around data and empower them to deliver accurate, trusted data. My team is directly responsible for reaching a breadth of customers and prospects so we can help solve real-world issues. We like to say that we are changing how organizations use data so that our customers can change the world.”
What they do: Maisonette is an expertly-curated baby and kids’ marketplace that helps modern families navigate the adventure of raising the next generation.
A modern tech stack: “When I joined Maisonette back in 2018, the company had just received Series A funding and the focus was shifting from proving the model to scaling the business. As the first site reliability engineer on the team, this meant a lot of responsibility to make decisions that would support our growth for years to come. To me, this was the opportunity of a lifetime. As a team we decided to rebuild our applications and the underlying infrastructure from the ground up. Fast forward two years: now we’re running on a modern technology stack with cloud infrastructure. It’s an incredible feeling to take a step back and look at the impact this endeavor had in setting the company up for success, but the work doesn’t end there. I’ve stayed at Maisonette — and will continue to — because of the opportunity to take this transformative work to the next level alongside an awesome team of people.”
Building an excellent customer experience: “What excites me most is the growth opportunities as we expand to markets outside of North America. This poses a very interesting technical challenge as we need to start hosting our services and infrastructure around the globe. I’m excited to work on this to ensure that every person shopping Maisonette has a great customer experience, no matter where they are in the world. It’s a thrilling step toward our company becoming a key contender in the global e-commerce space.”
What they do: 360Learning is a learning platform that combines collaborative tools with an LMS, enabling high-growth companies to unlock learning based on collective expertise instead of top-down knowledge.
Continuous feedback: “From the onset, my soon-to-be manager set the right expectations and gave me some of the best feedback in the interview process. It really showed me that he cared about my progression and growth as an account executive, and I knew that would follow should I join the company.”
“We have a culture of giving continuous feedback, and as someone who constantly wants to grow and improve, it’s panned out great for me so far. When you have a team that encourages growth and pushes you to be the best that you can, in my opinion, it leads to great success and allows one to thrive in that environment.”
Mirrored growth: “As an account executive, I’m tasked to acquire new logos for the company and as I’ve become fully ramped, I’ve had great conversations with multiple prospects. It’s gratifying to see that these organizations believe in our vision and see 360Learning as a top learning management system. We still have work to do, but being able to experience growth internally and externally as we grow our share in the marketplace definitely gets me excited to contribute to the journey that lies ahead.”
What they do: Bizzabo is an end-to-end event success platform that enables marketers to personalize their events and create rewarding and impactful experiences.
Empowered to grow: “When I first interviewed at Bizzabo, I didn’t know what I wanted to do in my career. I was applying for the office manager role to just get my foot in the door somewhere, hoping that I could grow within the company. That hope became a reality after two years. I was able to join the marketing team, learn new aspects of the business and develop my skills in a new domain. Over the last three years at Bizzabo, I have been continuously empowered by my managers and have felt the genuine care they have for me in my personal and professional growth. I come to work every day looking forward to learning more and know that I will be fully supported in my role and career development.”
A visible industry impact: “Bizzabo is headed to amazing heights. In my three years at Bizzabo, I’ve witnessed many changes and a lot of growth. We’ve more than doubled in size since I started, and I love that new Bizzaboers now get to experience everything I’ve loved about my time at the company. In my role on the marketing team, I project manage some of our largest team and company initiatives. It’s such a unique time to be part of the company, and I’m honored to be part of a team that’s making an impact in our industry.”
What they do: Ontra is a legal technology company that combines highly experienced corporate attorneys with cloud-based software to offer a scalable, end-to-end solution for negotiating and managing routine legal work.
A vision for the future: “I’ve watched the company accelerate, take flight, and then find out we acquired rocket boosters. Hyperscale is an awe-inspiring thing. There’s so much happening and so many important projects demanding attention that each new day is a thrill. At the same time, new team members not only add to our capacity to get things done, but also bring their own creativity and expertise that lead toward new opportunities.”
“Everyone at Ontra is focused on growth. People are here for each other. We practice respect, honesty and hard work every day. Great visions of the future are motivating, but it’s the opportunity to work with kind, talented and curious people that makes every day fun.”
“If you’re a technologist like I am, this is a place where you can reinvent how things are done in a way other companies cannot match due to inertia. For people earlier in their career, it is also a great place to learn and meaningfully contribute to individual products and big, strategic goals.”
A data-driven organization: “Our ability to measure, process, and understand our activity in a business context is growing every day. While industries across the board are transforming due to data technology, legal technology operates in a space that is both risk-averse and guided by precedent. We’re only now starting to see and understand the impact that technology, and particularly data, is having on the practice of law, as well as the businesses and professionals in the industry. There’s a stark contrast to where the industry was just a few years ago.”
“Data and machine learning are critical to understanding the large number of contracts on our platform. Those insights can drive efficiencies in the things we and our customers already do, and that in and of itself is pretty rewarding. There is an even more exciting prospect. Once we understand how we, our partners, and our customers operate, we can change our behavior to move the needle. That is the essence of being data-driven. If you’re really lucky, you may find a foundationally different way of doing things that shifts the paradigm and ends up being better for everyone involved. That’s the kind of change we’re hoping to create.”
What they do: Fetch Rewards is a mobile app that connects and rewards everyday shoppers for buying the brands they love.
Embodying core values: “As we’ve scaled the company, Fetch’s culture has remained remarkably consistent. Everyone I interact with makes a genuine effort to embody the company values daily, and it’s powerful to see how much employees care about their coworkers.”
Professional growth opportunities: “We’ve accomplished a lot since we first launched in 2017, but in the days, months and years to come, our goal is to become a household name across the world. We’re constantly evolving and changing, which makes our work even more exciting.”
What they do: Teampay is the first purchasing software built for fast-growing, technology-enabled businesses. Its products empower businesses to request, approve and track spending in real time.
Making an impact: “When I was evaluating Teampay against other job opportunities, my No. 1 priority was to find a place I could make an impact. I was working for a very large public corporation at the time, and it often felt like my work got lost in the shuffle and never really moved the needle. The idea of working for a startup with fewer employees seemed like a natural solution to that.”
“Since joining Teampay I’ve also discovered a strong sense of entrepreneurial spirit among the employees here. Everyone owns their corner of the business and takes pride in doing their best work, which encourages other employees to do the same. There is a supportive, uplifting culture here that I find motivates me to work harder than I ever did in my last role, and makes the work all the more satisfying.”
