With September coming to a close, change is in the chilly Pacific air — and it’s not just the shifting seasons. All across Seattle, tech companies are gearing up for ambitious developments across products, platforms and internal teams as 2021 begins winding down into Q4.
But unlike the drastic falling of foliage or wilting of mountain wildflowers, these companies are exclusively keeping growth at the forefront of their minds.
For cryptocurrency company Coinme and digital media outlet Red Ventures, their services may not have much in common at first glance. But look a little deeper, and it’s clear that both organizations share a rooted passion for flexibility and embracing unexpected fluctuation in day-to-day challenges, whether that’s scaling for rapid customer growth or powering through a company acquisition.
“There is a set of belief statements at the heart of Red Ventures that really speak to the experience of working here,” Julie Linton, editorial director of education, said. “Everything is written in pencil.”
Looking to grow your career this fall? Read on below — they happen to be hiring.
Coinme offers an avenue for individuals to convert their physical cash into cryptocurrency. Through its network of bitcoin kiosks, Coinme hopes to democratize access to cryptocurrency across the country.
Why did you first apply to join your company, and how has your experience changed over time since you were a new hire?
The fintech industry, and especially the companies on a mission to change the traditional ways we think and handle our financial matters, are fascinating to me. That is what attracted me to Coinme. The company is on a mission to make digital currency easy, which excites me. I want to be part of it.
Joining the company was a learning experience for me, both in terms of understanding the business and product lines and increasing my foundational understanding of the blockchain, digital currencies and the crypto industry. The team has been very supportive, provided many resources and shared their experience and knowledge with me. With this acquired experience and understanding, I can now envision many possibilities and value propositions for our customers on products and features we can build and offer.
What’s your most interesting or exciting work-related challenge right now, and how are you overcoming it?
The company is in a hyper-growth mode, both in terms of the team (we are expanding and hiring) and the increase in the number of features and customers. This hyper-growth to scale the company is our most exciting challenge.
From a technical and engineering point of view, scaling can be your best friend or worst enemy. We are overcoming this challenge by proactively planning and working to make it our best friend. Our team perseveres by tackling our tech debt and eliminating scale inhibitors, in addition to tightly coupled areas in our architecture and investing heavily in the observability of our services.
Furthermore, our systems and services were built following an event-driven microservice architecture from the beginning, helping to make scaling a challenge that we are overcoming!
Red Ventures is home to a variety of news and business outlets that help consumers make more informed decisions about their purchases through premium content and personalized digital experiences.
Why did you first apply to join your company, and how has your experience changed over time since you were a new hire?
I initially joined the company when it was still known as Higher Education. After about six months, the company was acquired by Red Ventures, and it has been an exciting period of change ever since then. Following the acquisition, I was initially moved into Red Ventures as a content strategist on BestColleges.com, which then became a managing editor role for the site. Recently, I was promoted to editorial director.
Acquisitions can be bumpy, but in this case Red Ventures was committed to investing in growth and opportunity for our team, and it has been very rewarding to be part of this journey.
Priorities will change from week-to-week, but never at the expense of its people.”
When you’re looking to grow your team, what’s a quality that you look for in candidates, and why is it important at your company?
There is a set of belief statements at the heart of Red Ventures that really speak to the experience of working here. Things like, “everything is written in pencil” and “making every second count.” This is a company that embraces change and moves fast, so you can be sure priorities will change from week-to-week, but never at the expense of its people.
One of my favorite statements at RV is “leaving the woodpile higher than you found it.” When we are adding to the team, we look for people that are energized by change, excited about collaboration and not afraid to move fast and try new things.
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