Meet ROKKEX Team: Chief Operating Officer (COO) Modestas Markevicius

6 min readMay 30, 2019

Modestas Markevicius became interested in IT and hacking at a young age and had a drive to always learn new things. This interest led to careers in multinational IT companies and banking companies where he has 4 years of sales, IT operations, support, support management, and cybersecurity experience. Modestas’s technical and interpersonal skills allow him to reach the goals set at ROKKEX to ensure that client’s support experience is as fast as possible with no delays and maximum efficiency.

You’re the youngest manager in the team, however, you’ve already proved that you’re a considerate person which other c-level people can count on. Tell us more what shaped you in a person you’re now.

I started working quite early what allowed me to gain experience which people of my age usually don’t have. I became financially independent at 16 and could afford to rent a flat, buy clothes and food, and just do whatever I want (I could have also driven a car, but in Lithuania, it’s allowed since 18 years old).

I got my first serious job in the SOC (Security Operations Center) team of one of the largest Scandinavian banks. I am a tech geek and a person who loves to dive into details and think outside the box, that’s why I started experimenting with the knowledge base, learning how numbers were calculated, and how everything worked in general. I dug deeper to learn why the incident had happened and how we could avoid that in the future. Time is never your best friend when it comes to cybersecurity — saving a minute on one alert analysis, might save an hour at the end of the day — I was interested in how to be more efficient and improve the workflow. I was never afraid of taking tasks which supposed higher responsibility than my position suggested.

That is why I quickly gained trust from managers, and they were asking my opinion on technical and operational matters. That’s how I started feeling more responsible than my position suggested. Trust motivated me to develop my knowledge and become more considerate

You are one of the co-founders, what was your first reaction to go all in for this venture?

I have always been passionate about cryptocurrencies, the technology behind blockchain and innovations they bring. I was trading and mining crypto — spending all of my free time reading and discussing it. When Lukas (ROKKEX CEO) approached me with an idea of building a security-focused cryptocurrency exchange, I did not have a second thought.

I tried a lot of exchanges, and all of them had different flaws. Support experiences were just frustrating with response times of a week or more, no sense of liveness, as they would not even respond to pings. Cybersecurity was also a threat as exchanges and coins got hacked on an almost monthly basis. I was driven by the idea that we can do better and the industry needs it!

Who is COO? What responsibilities do you have?

I don’t have two same days, but I can divide my working day into two parts.

In the first half of the day, I help our CEO Lukas on day-to-day operations of the company: working with CFO to get the numbers, on-boarding new team members, hiring people from abroad, conducting interviews, etc..

The second half is devoted to bridging the gap between the teams. I clearly understand who from the ROKKEX team can fulfill a certain task, so I’m addressing the right person describing the issue, and tracking the progress. Sometimes it’s me who adds code in the <head> of the page due to my tech experience. Sometimes I’m responsible for finding the most cost- and time-efficient way to fulfill the task. My colleagues call me a hands-on person. :)

The best description of my work is “PROBLEM => SOLUTION”

What’s the hardest challenge you’ve faced so far? How did you handle it?

Concerning the operational challenges, recently I had to find the alternative to daily standups that were taking way too much time (nevertheless, they are valuable since all team members are aware of their colleagues’ tasks and workload). So, I implemented a chatbot which is really helping us out, since anyone can read the standups if needed (not forcefully). This helps me out to know where people struggle and find solutions. Can’t say that it was a tough issue but that is the one I can recollect. :)

What are the most important aspects of a company’s culture?

Helpful environment. Everyone has to help their colleagues: share their knowledge and insights. Because we are working toward the same goal — build a strong product.

Also, a person should not be afraid to give feedback to their colleagues. I believe that feedback helps people improve. I don’t want to see a hierarchy in the company. We are all on the same level. Don’t be afraid to shoot a question. Don’t be afraid to give constructive criticism. We are separated by our tasks and responsibilities, but we are taking the same path. If a person is struggling, I’ll give a helping hand. There is no I in the word “team.”

How will ROKKEX change in two years, and how do you see yourself creating that change?

With our goal to open a tokenized securities exchange, I feel that not only crypto investment but securities investment will be available to more people around the world. Not only by geolocation but also financially.

From my side, I’ll focus on the Support Department. They are the first persons to be reached by you — our client when problems arise. They should always be there for you when you need it. Our goal is to deliver a trusted, dependable, and knowledgeable Support team — it’s one of the ROKKEX priorities as you can see in our White Paper.

If you had to talk about one personal thing you like the most, what would that be?

In my early years, I was always tinkering with our family’s computer — that lead to breaking it, and other people having to fix it. Then I asked myself, “If they can fix it, why can’t I?”. Eventually, that led me to the fascination of RC Planes. I could tinker with electronics for hours making them fly, then crash, and then I had to tinker again to fix them. When they rose into the air, again and again, it was an unforgettable and rewarding experience, all my long evenings after school paid off.

Later I became interested in drones. I was excited by their technology. They are complicated to build and fly, but it was a challenge I was willing to accept. They are really universal and fun to fly in first-person view (FPV). With all the technology we have nowadays, it’s great that experiencing a bird’s eye view is now possible. I built multiple drones myself, including racing ones, back when they were not even popular. Drones and electronics, in general, are my biggest passions.