Why ‘I don’t need the best people, but I want the right people’​ — made me join Taxfix!

I was so so unhappy. All my energy, all my enthusiasm, all my positivity was gone. Sometimes, I woke up on Saturdays and couldn’t move in my bed; not even put the plates in the dishwasher. I didn’t know what was going on. Normally, I am like a ball jumping around — everywhere. But now I was like this. I went to the therapist because I was afraid that I have depression or maybe a ‘burn-out’? At the end of that none of that was the case; I realized I needed a career change. The moment I quit my job, all my energy and enthusiasm came back.

At first, I thought “Taxes? “No, neeeeeext!”

Suddenly Taxfix popped up and my first impression was — hell no! Don’t understand me wrongly here, as for the last three years I worked for venture capital which I also never planned and taxes would mean switching to fintech and even taxes. This is not me! So, I had a look at my network and saw that three friends of mine had been in touch or worked at Taxfix. I gave them a call and literally, everyone was a big fan of the founders and the culture & colleagues. During my talks, I understood that Taxfix is not only an app for doing your tax return in 22 minutes but with an amazing vision to create a personal (tax) accountant for everyone which is smarter than a tax advisor — solving a real-world problem with the potential to massively scale. And with Taxfix having raised €42 million from top-notch investors in just two years made me feel quite comfy, too. (If you are interested how they came up with the Taxfix idea — read here).

“I don’t need the best people, but I want the right people”

When I met Mathis, one of the founders, the first meeting, he didn’t ask me a single question but let me start talking first. For one hour I simply questioned his business idea and how sustainable this fintech is for the long run. To be honest, I loved his answers! At one point he dropped “Marian, I am not looking for the best people, I am looking for the right people”. In my mind I was like “Omg, marry me” — I loved this answer so much! I deeply believe that a company needs different people at certain company stages and at this moment I thought “I am the right one for right now — take me”. Having this said, I feel that companies that only go with the “best people from the best business schools” are making the wrong choice. The result leads to killing diversity, and no chance to strive for premium performance. It is not without reason that Taxfix values are Trust, Understand, Deliver, Develop — which might sound pretty generic at first but will help us to not only be the right people for the job but become the best people in the respective areas.

Radical authentic employer branding — right from scratch

I strongly believe that companies who are experiencing steep growth are in need for someone who takes care of the employer brand and not in a late growth stage where you already have negative stories that are hard to change. Personally, I want to make sure that I cover everything internally and externally to create a really amazing place to work, so that during the growth phase and beyond, employees keep saying “we love to work at Taxfix”. And this, in my opinion, only works through radical authentic stories. I won’t lie, there is a long way to go with failures, tears, but also with celebrations and learnings & development to create a successful employer brand. But I am so ready through my gained experience and so excited about this new chapter, and that should be the foundation for every new role you take!

Between you and me, there are also all the perks at Taxfix — events, free drinks, free company lunch, office dogs, 27 days paid holiday, stock options, competitive salary. So, why don’t you join me? Have a look at our career page.

This article was originally published as a LinkedIn article and only reflects personal views.