My 5 years at Sezzle

Today I completed 5 years at Sezzle (ASX:SZL).

Looking back, I cannot believe what Sezzle has accomplished already. When I joined, all I said to myself was, I will work till I feel sleepy, everyday, including weekends and I will work on anything that Sezzle needs. Even if it is cleaning tables and chairs, I will do it. Crazy thing was, I had no expectations because I have failed a lot in my life. I don’t really expect any good out of myself so I never thought of the result or the outcome.

I just believed Charlie Youakim and Paul Paradis knew what they were doing so I just kept writing code.

The biggest thing was the pivot in 2017. Sezzle seemed like a sinking ship back then. We realized unless you can bring customers, merchants don’t care about paying less than they do per transaction. We all could see Charlie was worried. Then, Jenn Youakim found BNPL and that changed everything. I witnessed the insane leadership quality of Charlie to take the decision to pivot the ship.

Over the years, I have worked on multiple projects end to end of all kinds of technologies which are now on their own teams. Sorry to everyone who got my code. ??

Here’s a highlight of what has happened over the years.

1. Sezzle is now present in multiple countries including my home, India.

2. I have made the best friends of my life here. I have seen Killian Brackey grow into an amazing technology leader and a best friend who is there always. I have seen Emmanuel Isaac handle 30 people projects alone and be there always for Sezzle and us. I have seen Mia Bernad grow into an amazing leader who can think product and design in the best way possible. I have seen Jenn Youakim from filling the office pantry to managing all finances of the company. I have seen Amin Sabzivand become grow into an amazing leader while being humble all the way. I have seen all of them not sleeping, red eyed, working all the time and giving up everything, for Sezzle. I know at some point these people are going to build massive companies and solve huge problems of the world.

3. I have seen a lot of people achieve their dreams and more than their dreams because one person, Charlie one day decided to start something called Sezzle.

4. In 2016, there were 5 people, Jenn Youakim, Mia Peroff, Charlie, Paul and Sukhneer. Now, Sezzle has around 350 people. I miss working with Sukhneer.

From nothing really, Sezzle went on to become a billion dollar public company and I went from being a failure in school to something my wife, my parents and my friends can be proud of.