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Interview: Magda Wermińska's Insights on Picodi, Poland, and Polish Start-up Scene
Insights on Picodi, Poland, and Polish Start-up Scene
One simple thing
that I enjoy about this one way black hole of content and photographs called blogging
is that, surprisingly, I get to talk (and meet) to strangers-turned-friends
from all walks of life (yes, people nowadays are stubborn to leave comments in
my blog but would prefer to drop me an email? lol)
From bloggers, to
musicians, to graphic designers, start-up CEOs, stay-at-home moms, I’ve replied
to emails from one of the most random set of readers, all for the love of
travel and work life balance. Which is of course, holy-smokes! It’s restlessly
irresistible – like weak-kneed and stutter-love kind of thrill to read and
reply to these people.
Anyway, before I go
completely rogue with my random streak of ramblings, I think everyone of you
will enjoy this post. You see, I got an unanticipated message from someone
from Poland a couple of weeks ago who turns out to be
the wittiest bombshell of this parallel
universe! :)
She works
at Picodi and she’s into eloquent music, and breathtaking
architecture, and travel, and no this isn’t a scrapbook of her likes and
dislikes. Haha! So I’ll stop myself from
drooling about all the nice and sweet things to say about her, and just focus on the very nice and sweet
Q&A we had – check out the interview below.
Enjoy!
*****
Bowdy: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and where you are
from?
Magda:
I come from a small but picturesque town in south-eastern Poland called Sanok. I moved to Kraków to study
languages – English and Spanish. Later on, I picked translation as my
specialisation. I love translating and working with texts, but I disliked the
idea of working from home. I realised this quite soon, so I applied to this
little known startup company… that soon was to develop into a global e-commerce
Group called International Coupons, owner of the website Picodi.sg. My adventure with
affiliate marketing started about 3 years ago. I began to work on the coupon
project when it consisted of only 10 people. I’m proud to be a part of this
team and witness the company growth.
Bowdy: What are the 3 things that people would be surprised to know
about Poland, and why they should come visit?
Magda:
I can think of three totally unrelated things: (1) Polish people have a really
great wedding tradition – each foreigner invited to a Polish wedding will have
the time of his/her life. We have wedding reception that turns into a great
party with snacks, cakes and hot meals coming all night long (not to mention
the drinks), wedding band and dancefloor full of dancing couples. Foreigners
are surprised by the traditional Polish wedding games. (2) The weather here has
become unbelievably surprising. In this very moment it’s snowing heavily here
in Kraków, and it’s only 12th of October! Tourists who thought it
would be perfect to visit Poland in autumn might end up very surprised indeed.
(3) We’ve plenty of towns that can really bring back the medieval times: visit
Kraków’s Old Town with a beautiful Town Hall, or enjoy a cup of tea or coffee
in cafeterias located in medieval basements and cellars. I also strongly
recommend to visit Gdansk, which is also a charming historic center. Poland has
so much to offer!
Bowdy: What is it like working in a start-up company in Poland? The
Good, The Bad, The Funny?
Magda:
Start-up scene in Poland is emerging, especially in Kraków which has become a
real startup hub in Poland. The good thing about working for a start-up is that
it gathers really interesting individuals who together develop a sense of
common purpose. Each employee may have a real impact on the company and is
listened to – I have seen this and experienced myself. Thanks to the dynamic
environment, you can always learn a new skill or expand your knowledge. The bad
aspects is that startups are taking lots of risks in order to grow – some
projects fail and the company needs to learn from mistakes and move on towards
new goals. The fun part are definitely our company party, meetings after work
and once a year – company weekend trips.
Bowdy: Tell us your typical day at work.
Magda:
Most days I arrive at work quite early, even before 8am as it gives me time to
get emails done and check the latest stats. Mondays are quite important since
we do the summary of the previous week and create plans and priorities for the
upcoming week - this way we make sure that targets are being reached and ad-hoc
tasks won’t surprise us that much. I’m working closely with my team member
Monika, who is responsible for collecting and publishing voucher codes and
offers on our websites. Together we engage with social media and solve the most
time-sensitives request from IT. I’m also responsible for translating press
releases, writing industry related news and articles in South Africa and
Singapore and then, contacting with bloggers and editors of online magazines.
The time truly flies and around 4pm I am ready to head home.
Bowdy: Apart from your job, do you have other passion projects you are
currently involved in?
Magda:
I love the digital world, but from time to time I simply need to log off and do
things that don’t involve the Web – I’m a voracious reader, always carrying a
book with me. I’m really passionate about film music, musicals and opera so I
regularly try to attend music events in Kraków. I also use my marketing skills
to help out my sister who owns a lingerie business (she’s a designer and
producer of exclusive women’s lingerie). I’m planning to engage on her project
even more by helping her launch her own online store.
Bowdy: Any advice for people who would like to work in a start-up
company in that side of the world?
Magda: Don’t
hesitate to apply as you’re just once click away from a great adventure.
Foreign talents are more than welcome to join the Polish startup scene – one of
startups’ main goals is quick global expansion, so people from different
countries and cultures are needed to share their knowledge and experience. In
addition, the recruiting process differs from the one you might experience at
corporations – if the recruiter feels you’re “the” candidate, the recruiting
process closes in 2 meetings. If you live outside of Poland, but want to move –
Skype interview will be enough. Plus, don’t be discouraged by our difficult
language – startups won’t require the knowledge of Polish. If you know English
on a communicative level, you’ll be fine!
So…. now who
wouldn’t want to work in a start-up (in Poland) after reading this? Haha!
Keep working like that! http://www.pegahranjbar.com
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