Sometimes, while searching for a solution, you kick a stone and find a prize beneath it. This was the first time the COMPANY-007 job-search site had worked for me. A manager interviewed me in Madrid and invited me to meet the team in Dublin. I accepted.
I spent two days with them, mainly observing. It quickly became clear that I wanted to join. I did, and one of the most interesting and rewarding periods of my career began. I took responsibility for presales in Spain and Italy; Ireland and the United Arab COMPANY-008 followed later.
Remote working became familiar to many people much later. I began experiencing it around 2010. USBISTARTUP was a San Francisco startup developing open-source business-intelligence software and expanding internationally.
I started in the same room where I would eventually write these pages, demonstrating the software online and then visiting customers. The brand was little known in Spain, so commercial development was difficult. Meetings could feel like a succession of objections. We knew the product was working elsewhere and kept going. The arrival of Big Data gave us a new opening.
Then came a different challenge. I was tested on English-language commercial work in London and Belfast. A salesperson complained that my English was not strong enough for the position. He was right. My manager chose to invest in me: she sent me to San Francisco for three weeks with one clear objective—to improve it. An immersive stay in a startup gives you plenty of reasons to learn quickly.
On my return, Dubai became the major test: a week to demonstrate the solution to a large customer in the COMPANY-008. It felt as if everything rested on one match, and I accepted the challenge willingly.
For a Spaniard, Dubai’s climate can be an opponent in its own right. I quickly learnt to leave the jacket and tie at the hotel. Even a nighttime swim was not as refreshing as I had imagined. Yet I remember the week fondly: hard work, demanding conditions and a clear objective.
On the final day, I defended the proof of concept before the customer’s senior team. The important difference was not a cleverer slide. It was being candid about the solution and its limits. I spoke plainly, and they believed me. The experience left me with great respect for the people I worked with there.
Back home, events accelerated. The company wanted me to relocate to Dublin; I asked for the United States. We could not reach an agreement, and I resigned. Later, USSOFTWARE acquired the company.
