It takes courage, curiosity and support
Seven years ago, at the university of Linköping, I was walking around campus with Erik, Robin and Carl planning on where to eat lunch. It was my last year at the International Business Program, I was writing my master thesis and I had no clue what I wanted to do or where I wanted to work when I graduated.
I knew one thing though and that was that I did not want to work with accounting or anything related with bank, finance or consulting for the big four (those were basically the types of companies visiting my program wanting to promote to work for them, which I have nothing against, it is just that it was never for me)
As we walk around not really finding anything exciting to please our stomachs, we encounter a friend of ours. She asks:
— Guys, have you eaten?! There is this lunch seminar with Schibsted Media Group. They are giving free sushi to everyone during the presentation and I have 4 seats left and it is really important we do not leave any empty seats.
Me:
— Schibsted? What? Media company?
Well, hungry as we were (and a little curious, because non of us had ever heard about this Schibsted company) we agreed on attending the presentation.
After one hour I had barely put the wasabi in the soy sauce. I was blown away by the two trainees presenting. They both had such an unpretentious and humble yet very professional and ambitious way of being and they were talking about media and technology and possibility to work on international level already as a trainee. A new world opened up to me and that day I became determined that this was the place I was going to work for after finishing my studies.
Five years ago I was doing my third placement for Schibsted (the trainee program was two years, four placements). I was now working with “Blocket’s” International team (shotgun team) in Stockholm and I was responsible for launching the site in Peru and Bolivia (yes, from Stockholm) and also going to Minsk, Belarus (ironically with the very same guy that presented the trainee program (as a trainee) back at the lunch seminar, who now was my manager), to set up a local office (because I speak Russian). I had just come back from a six month job in Madrid and I felt that this was it. I had been living abroad for several years in several cities, I was finally back in Sweden and I really liked the office in Stockholm. Maybe it was time to “settle down” and buy an apartment (all my other friends were doing it, so it seemed like the logical next step)
For ten weeks I was going every Sunday to visit apartments, entering in several bargainings and ending up not being able to match against the highest bidder. At the same time applications for the fourth placement were sent out and in the list I find: Product Analyst Web at bomnegocio.com (Brazilian version of Blocket), Aug 2012 — March 2013, Rio de Janeiro, contact: Ana Julia Ghirello. As I go through the rest of the list, the girl next to me (former trainee) looks at the contact name for Rio and goes:
- Max! You have to apply this job in Rio. I just met AJ (Ana Julia) on a conference trip and she is the most amazing person. I know you want to settle down in Stockholm and that you are looking to buy an apartment but this is only six months and I think you would be perfect to work together!
After one year in Brasil I was asked if I was willing to create, build and launch the mobile area of the company. I told them that I knew absolutely nothing about apps and mobile and they replied:
- Neither do we! but we need to have apps and we need a team!
Two years ago me and AJ quit the company, a couple of months after it merged with OLX. I had told her about my dream to create GoodPeople and she told me hers about abeLLha. We shared the dreams to more people and one in particular decided to go all the way with us. His name is Fel Mendes and since then we have built not two but three businesses together (Check out our latest product: Honeycomb)
I have always wanted to be successful and happy and for me this means to conquer and realize my dreams in practice. To do that you need to have the courage to act on your curiosity, to share your dream with others and most importantly to have people supporting and helping you building that dream no matter what. And when you do that, opportunities will rise and it is up to you to take them or not.

