We interviewed our colleague Manuel Balderrábano, product manager, to get to know him a little bit better and him to tell us about his experience in the company.
- For those who don´t know you, how would you define yourself?
For those who don´t know me, I would define myself as a kind of James Bond. Beyond that, I would say that professionally I am an optimistic person who needs to have new things on a daily basis. Personally, I always try to take everything with a good humor, and I allow myself to be a bit freaky, when I can.
- Can you give us an overview of your business career from its beginning to the present?
Putting aside summer jobs and stuff like that, my professional career has been linked to one of my passions, which is technology. I have managed to stay in IT throughout my career, and close to the GNU/Linux world as much as possible.
While I was studying for my degree I already started working as an embedded systems programmer. Twenty years ago, technologies like Linux, ADSL, WIFI, or even chatting over the Internet, were science fiction for the ordinary citizen. It is amazing to see where we are now, and the world that is opening up in front of us.
Once I finished my degree, I took a great professional leap by joining Panda Security, where I learned from the best. I made great professional contacts and good friends, with some of whom I not only keep in touch, but also we continue to collaborate professionally, that is wonderful. After that, I spent several years with mobile telephony project in LATAM, with millions of end users. It is quick to say, but if I think about it, it still makes me dizzy. After that, I spent several years at Securitas Direct working on IT projects all over the world. And now, at Fagor, as a product manager, I have a lot different, interesting projects and challenges of all kinds: IOT, Web, mobility, BI…
- What has been your greatest achievement in the position you hold?
It is difficult to choose …Perhaps I liked having seen the birth of the indicator panel. It´s one of those things that once you use it, you wonder how you ever lived without it. The most gratifying thing is when you start to perceive interest from users when contributing ideas, evolutions, functionalities … right now we are working on a huge project that will be a turning point for users, but I can´t say anything about it yet, ssshhh …
- How is the working environment with your colleagues in the company?
If I had to define it in one word, I would just say “Teamwork.” With two words “companionship and professionalism” and also, I would simply describe it as “fantastic”. And this is not only in my team, in the whole company there is a fabulous atmosphere.
- What do you like to do in your free time?
Oh, well, my children are in charge of occupying all my free time that comes up. Accompanying them to the games, studying with them, and a thousand other activities.
Also, although my thirst for technology is quenched a bit at work, when I can I am always driving everyone crazy at home with my projects, what if an ESP8266 here, a raspberry there … I see myself as Tony Stark and they should see me as Billy´s father in the movie Gremlins. But that is funny.
Finally, my other great passion since I was 15 years old is catching waves, and now I can share it with my children.
