“I’ve never been a fan of working remotely” – Wojtek Sadowski from Packhelp
In the “5 things I can’t work without” series, we ask web workers what they can’t do without in their job. Today guest: Wojtek Sadowski from Packhelp.
Wojtek Sadowski is the CEO and co-founder of Packhelp. He leads a team of over 170 employees and is continuously developing the company in order to create and provide the right packaging for every product using the latest technology. Sadowski has over twelve years of experience in the software, marketing and printing industries. He has been featured on Forbes’ 30-under-30 list three times in a row. He is also a successful angel investor and advisor to other startups. In the “5 things I can’t work without” series, he reveals what he needs to do his day’s work successfully. Driving to an office in the morning plays an important role for him.
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5 things I can’t work without: Wojtek Sadowski from Packhelp
Data, data, data: If there’s one thing I really can’t work without, it’s reasonable data. We have built up a rather sophisticated data stack that informs us in real time about almost everything that is happening in our company. And there are a number of tools that help me stay on top of things and stay in control. To name just the most important: Segment, Amplitude, Fullstory, Survicate, Bigquery, PowerBI, Survicate, Iterable. The tool stack is elementary for me. Making an important decision without having access to useful information and data is inconceivable to me. Without data, I actually feel blind, and I know that many of my colleagues feel the same way.
Mental challenges: Although I am CEO, I originally come from product development and therefore still enjoy finding solutions for our customers. Developing functions for a large number of users is a great challenge and requires a strong mental focus. Sure, here too you have to identify your homework using data in order to build a decent product version, but the thought process is the icing on the cake for me. I just love being part of this process where different actors with different skills and opinions have to work together. In the meantime, I’ve also found the right tools for me to develop sensible concepts with other people remotely and in real time. I prefer to use tools like Figma or Abstract. This not only speeds up problem solving, but also shortens the time to the next mental challenge.
Podcasts: Unfortunately, I’m the kind of person who always complains that they never find enough time to read. That’s why I switched back to listening to more podcasts. Also because, as an avid reader, I found that good podcasts make an impression that is just as strong as I usually only knew from good books, newspapers and magazines. And there are great shows about literally everything. I love to mix business topics with my personal interests and hobbies, and in addition to stimulating me, that gives me back a little of the otherwise lost time commuting. Some of my favorites are: Acquired, Masters of Scale, Operators, The Daily by New York Times, and Darknet Diaries.
Office instead of remote: Frankly, I’ve never been a huge fan of working remotely. I know a lot of us find this extremely productive these days, but it never worked for me. It gives me a lot to be surrounded by great and inspiring people. It may sound implausible, but even simple water cooler conversations bring me joy and stimulate my creativity. I am a person who puts a lot of energy and commitment into running my company. I really enjoy spending time at work and enjoying working with the people I work with. That’s why it’s very personal to me, and I see it as part of my job to maintain our friendly, open culture in the company.
Festivals in summer: To be honest, I miss summer festivals so much. Last year was probably my first summer without a festival in over 15 years. For me there is no such thing as this one festival, just as there is no one type of music for me either. I consider myself more of a genre agnostic as I prefer to mix different styles. And besides, I would miss too much because we have a pretty great festival scene here in Poland. You should definitely visit them: Garbicz, Opener, Wisloujscie or Audioriver are among my favorites. If you go there, you can almost always find me in the front row!
By the way, all other articles from this series can be found here.
