The Teamleader Titans - Episode 1: Benny

Four in total, if you count everything. I was first hired as a copywriter to produce content to advertise the Teamleader software. One day Jeroen (CEO of Teamleader, ed.) asked me if I wanted to call some people and schedule a meeting with him. Suddenly I had the role of Inside Sales Representative, although I really didn’t have any experience in Sales. It was a glorious case of learning by doing. Then, when these same customers started calling me back with follow-up questions, my responsibilities were extended to include customer support and onboarding. I guess it’s normal when you’re working in a start-up that you take on a number of roles in those first few years. Finally, I went back to content creation, which led to Product Marketing and then evolved into Go-to-Market.

I know it sounds cliché, but I have so many great memories. It’s almost impossible to pick one. If I had to, I’d go for the company fold-up (get-together with the entire company, ed.) in 2018 which was held at Nest, the old library in Ghent. That’s where the Teamleader band (music group composed of Teamleader colleagues, ed.) performed on stage for the very first time, with me as their bass guitarist. Also, there was a legendary silent disco afterparty.

1. The first funding round in 2014 was the first investment of 1 million Euros. We were literally staring at our bank account with the entire team, counting all those zeros. We had to see it to believe it. The second funding round in 2016 was special from a personal point of view because I got the opportunity to announce it on stage at the Web Summit in Lisbon. I remember it vividly because the news was met with thunderous applause.

2. Our first Work Smarter event in 2016 which I helped organize together with a small core group of colleagues. I was mainly responsible for the technique like the stages and the sound. I have to say it was all surprisingly professional considering the fact that we'd never done anything like that before. As usual, the afterparty - in the Art Cube in Ghent - was quite memorable as well.

3. The company trip to Milan in 2018. It was crazy because we went there with the entire company. Personally, it was a great experience because I got to know a lot of colleagues better there. I also remember recreating the Teamleader logo with everyone and taking a picture of it with a drone.

In the early days, it was good to be a generalist. You were expected to take on different roles. And to grow as a young startup, you need people who dare to try things and experiment. That’s changed. Nowadays we are looking very specifically for certain profiles and specialists with concrete expertise. I too have grown more into a specialist role within the GTM team. However, one of the perks of being a GTM marketer is that I still come into contact with a lot of departments. That means I can make very good use of the knowledge I acquired in my previous roles.

Maybe I would have put more of myself into it. I was 22 when I started and I knew nothing about how a company works. I barely knew anything about marketing. I had no idea that Teamleader could become such a success. In the beginning, it was just a job, I wanted to make some money. Had I known it at the time, I would have looked at it differently and taken it a little more seriously from the start.

Despite all the changes the company has gone through, I am still here. I think that shows adaptability. I don’t think I really expected that 10 years ago. But once I was truly invested, I wanted to be there through the highs and the lows.

I’m excited to exchange experiences and know-how with the other companies under the Visma umbrella!