New adventures in the work life

About half a year ago I decided to leave my research position at the university and look for new adventures: life is too short to do things which you don’t enjoy.

In the past few months I’ve spent time traveling, read a pile of books and started swimming again. Work-wise, I’ve been talking to a couple of very nice companies, but unfortunately most of them proved to be impossible due to my inability to relocate (at least for now).

In the end, I ended up with not just one, but two new adventures:

  • Wondergraphs: I’ve joined Wondergraphs, a start-up based in Leuven which is building a cool product around data analysis and data visualisation. A nice combination of tough engineering and user experience design work.
  • Flow Pilots: Together with Jan Van de Poel (who was my teammate during my internship at IBM) I’ve founded Flow Pilots, a creative agency that designs and builds innovative web and mobile applications.

Life is definitely different now compared to back when I was working on a PhD. I’m definitely doing a lot more hands-on work, which can be hectic, bus is delightfully fast-pace. I’m also doing loads of design work which is a nice balancer for the analytical work that’s software development. And I’m learning a ton about running and developing a business. Considering all this, I’m happy to say that the decision I made six months ago was a good one.

Do what you love doing in life. It’s a crazy ride, so remember to have fun along the way!

April 17, 2011 08:50 #wondergraphs #flowpilots #career

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