Growing Up Fast: Welcoming Seven New Members to the Meister Team

With the holidays just around the corner, we’ve unpacked some of our gifts early  — a special delivery of new colleagues to the Meister team.  In this post, we welcome Madlen, Panna, Andreas, Sebastian, Julian, Nicolai and Ivan to the Meister family. 

Growing Up Fast: Welcoming Seven New Members to the Meister Team

Madlen Rapberger – Head of Business Development

Quick facts

Age 34
Nationality Austrian 
Previous Job Sales Director at Brainloop
Describe your role at Meister in exactly 10 words. I identify exciting opportunities to grow Meister’s customer base even further!

Hi Madlen! What is your defining characteristic? 

Interesting question! I’d say a healthy blend of curiosity and courage with an occasional spritz of silliness. 

What has been your favorite job to date? Why? 

The opportunity to launch a dedicated business development department at Meister is definitely one of the most exciting tasks I have been entrusted with so far in my career. What makes it particularly fun is that I get to work with super smart, highly-diverse, open-minded people. It’s rare to find a company that pairs all the perks of a startup culture with such a high level of professionalism and dedication. 

What single aspect convinced you to join Meister? 

If I had to choose one (there were actually quite a few), I’d probably say the founders, Michael and Till. Super smart and successful, yet very humble and down to earth.

Panna Mészáros – Business Development Intern

Quick facts

Age 22
Nationality Hungarian
Previous Job Digital Marketer
Describe your role at Meister in exactly 10 words. I find potential customers and markets to accelerate Meister’s growth.

Hello Panna. Why do you love doing what you do?

I love exploring new opportunities to further grow the company. I feel like it’s a really great mix of looking at and analyzing the data, then developing a strategy on future steps and directions. It encourages me to think out of the box and find creative solutions, which I love.

How would you describe your working style?

I would say that I’m comfortable working on my own. However, I really like working together with others because I think it’s great to have that social connection at work. Having someone to give a little push, if necessary, can make all the difference. 

What are you hoping to achieve in your time at Meister?

I’m an intern, so mostly I’m looking to learn. I’m especially interested in how to identify business problems, how to choose strategies to address issues, and how to plan and execute those strategies to achieve these goals. I am hoping to gain real-world experience and an insider look into how a successful company functions, mostly through the feedback of my colleagues: I’ve already made great connections with many friendly, open-minded people.

Andreas Strasser – DevOps Engineer

Quick facts

Age 28
Nationality Austria
Previous Job Co-founder of my own startup
Describe your role at Meister in exactly 10 words. I enhance the Meister digital infrastructure as a DevOps engineer

Hello Andreas! Describe yourself in 50 words or fewer.

I’m naturally curious. I have to know why something is the way that it is, not just accept it as fact. I love to tinker around with basically anything, which might be a good characteristic at work but leads to a lot of disassembled objects on my desk at home.

What would you say is your greatest achievement to date?

Away from the office, I completed a non-stop round trip of Europe with a sailboat. It’s crazy how priorities can shift in a different environment!

What was your biggest question/concern before you joined Meister?

Moving to a new city and starting a new job during a global pandemic was definitely something I thought would be more difficult than it actually proved to be. Thankfully, the team at Meister was supportive during the transition: it hasn’t really been a problem so far.

Sebastian Stancu, Front-End Developer

Quick facts

Age 27
Nationality Romanian
Previous Job Frontend Developer at FNT Gmbh
Describe your role at Meister in exactly 10 words. I am a Front-End Developer for the growing MindMeister team.

Hi Sebastian! When did you decide you wanted to be a developer?

During high school. It was during this time that I discovered my love for code and I haven’t really thought about a different career since then.

How has your education helped shape your career so far?

Obviously, it plays a role, but I wouldn’t say the experience was defining. I learned more about development on my own — through experience and the work of others — than I really did at school.

Why is Life@Meister different to working at a different company?

For me personally, Meister is the first company I’ve worked at that ‘s truly international. I’m based in the Vienna office, but with the customer base and the diversity we have in the team here, it could really be anywhere in the world. 

Julian Janisch – Front-End Developer

Quick facts

Age 25
Nationality Austrian
Previous Job Front-End Developer at Delinski (The Fork)
Describe your role at Meister in exactly 10 words. I implement exciting new front-end features and fix existing problems.

Hello Julian! What is the thing you are best at?

I’d say my key strength is the ability to find solutions for problems. In other words, I’m good at making things work.

How did you prepare for your interview at Meister?

As soon as I found out I’d been offered an interview, I started reading all about the company and got familiar with the basic technologies used here e.g. React. Seeing as this approach worked, I would advise others to read as much as possible in advance from the Meister website and FOCUS blog.

What is the most important aspect you look for in a new job?

Flexibility. I’m a bit of a cliché as a developer in that I sometimes like to work at unusual hours in the day. It’s great to really have some freedom to do that (within reason of course) here at Meister. 

Nicolai Dahl Jeppesen – Digital Marketer

Quick facts

Age 28
Nationality Danish
Previous Job Paid Search & Shopping Manager at waterdrop
Describe your role at Meister in exactly 10 words. I work with paid social media, apps, and email marketing.

How would you explain your job to someone you’d never met?

I work on promoting Meister products through paid advertising on social media, optimising our app store presence and sending out email marketing campaigns. Essentially, all this has the goal of increasing sign ups and subscriptions to our tools. So if you start seeing our ads on your social media feed, wave back — that was probably me. 

What is the most important aspect you look for in a new job? How does Meister do that for you?

I think of it sort of like a cocktail. You need 2 parts interesting tasks, 2 parts like-minded colleagues who share your ambition, and then a great atmosphere to garnish. I realised while writing this that I have no idea how to make cocktails. 

What I know for sure is that I felt really welcome from the beginning. I can tell that people are a lot happier here than at so many other companies I’ve worked for (even in Denmark, the second-happiest country in the world). Despite being very comfortable, it’s amazing that there are so many opportunities for interesting challenges, professional improvement and increased responsibility. 

Had you used any Meister product before you applied for your current job?

Yes! When I started studying for my Bachelor’s degree, we were introduced to MindMeister as a way for us to brainstorm and map out our projects together as a team. It’s nice to think that I’m working on marketing the same product that helped me start my digital marketing career. 

Ivan Kukovec – Designer

Quick facts

Age 20
Nationality Croatian
Previous Job Freelance UI Designer
Describe your role at Meister in exactly 10 words. I design client-facing visual materials for the Meister marketing team.

Design is important for Meister. How do you see your role in regards to that?

It is, and it should be for all companies. I believe that design is more than just about making something look nice and balanced. My job is an opportunity to capture the attention of potential customers and talk to their needs and frustrations, presenting our products as their solution. 

Is design art? If not, why?

I guess they’re both about making pretty things, but design is not art. Design serves to solve a problem, it has a purpose beyond itself.

What makes being a designer at Meister special?

It’s nice to feel welcome. The great attitude and appreciation that the whole company has for design and the role it plays in a successful business is really special for me. It really makes you feel like you are valued and a part of the success of the company.

Sounds like you? Check out our current open positions and kickstart your career with Meister!