We sat down with our Marketing Manager, John, to chat about Nitrobox, his role, and a bit about himself.
What’s your role at Nitrobox?
I’m John, the marketing manager here at Nitrobox. It’s my job to understand our customers and prospects, create demand for our product, make that product easier to buy, and promote the company as a leader in our market.
Where are you located?
I’m located in Munich, Germany. I’m one of the first fully remote team members at Nitrobox.
One of my favorite places to walk near where I live. Especially beautiful in the winter!
How did you end up at Nitrobox?
It’s a bit of a long and winding story, but in brief, my previous boss, Dirk Schart at RE’FLEKT (now part of PTC), connected me with Nitrobox and Henner to see if it would be a good fit, and it was!
Why did you choose to work at Nitrobox and why work in FinTech?
I chose to work at Nitrobox as it’s an ambitious and growing company carving out a niche for itself in the very competitive European fintech market. I was motivated by the opportunity to “start on the ground floor” and really build a marketing department how I think it should be done, and I immediately felt the support to enable me to do just that. They’ve got a supportive company culture with a focus on personal growth and learning, and I strongly align with those values.
What is your morning routine before starting your work?
I’m a night owl so my mornings are often more about coming to terms with the reality of my existence than any real routine, but most days I have a protein shake and do a few chores or small exercises to wake up a bit.
Do you prefer remote work or going to the office?
I’ve never worked in a full “go into the office” type of job. My first full-time gig was remote, I telecommuted from Richmond, VA to Atlanta, GA, and I decided based on that experience that remote work was going to be one of the requirements of any job I would have moving forward. Before the pandemic that was often a hard sell, but today it’s obligatory to offer at least a hybrid working model and I couldn’t be happier.
Why are you working in a Start-up?
I like working on many different projects and with many different people. If I had to focus on one project for weeks at a time I’d go nuts. Also, I’d be hard-pressed to say any other type of company structure in Europe has the same kind of career growth opportunities. Working in a startup for 5 years easily equals double that in terms of experience gained. You really have to adapt, think critically, make mistakes, and learn in order to succeed. This was a steep learning curve for me, but looking back, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
What does your perfect “Feierabend” (German term for the time in the evening after work) look like?
Depends, really, on the day preceding the Feierabend. Some days I like to kick back and relax and play some video games or otherwise be a couch potato. On other days nothing sounds better than a drink at a bar in the sunshine with some friends.
Who’d you like to switch roles with for a day at Nitrobox?
Hoff. I’d like to see what it’s like as a product owner and what demands go with the territory. I’ve always been really curious about what the process of determining product use cases is, and how to best articulate stakeholder requirements into actionable tasks for the developers and UX designers.