Neutrona - 2013<>2015

Back in October/November 2012, Maximiliano Villalba (we worked together at MCI) thought I could be a great fit for the Service Manager position and he offered me the job in at Neutrona Networks, but I was traveling with EMC and was actually having fun, enjoying a tight agenda to meet customers from training and certification purposes, so I passed on that chance.

Nevertheless, there was a pivotal point when I was asked to interrupt my vacations back in January 2013 for an emergency travel to the UAE. The purpose of the trip was to show how a 90cm antenna back-pack worked to a World Food Program committee in Abu Dhabi. The trip itself was super long and included multiple stops. First off I had to go to Munich via Madrid, travel by car from Munich to Raisting, unpack the antenna, test it, confirm it was operational, pack it again, travel back to Munich and jump on a new plane towards Abu Dhabi. I land in Abu Dhabi and the antenna is seized by UAE customs since I needed to present certain paperwork to officially import RF/Satellite components into the country. On top of that, my suitcase was lost somewhere between Buenos Aires, Madrid, Munich and Abu Dhabi, so I took a couple of pictures of how the antenna airline packing looked, and headed down to the office.

Went to the hotel, took a shower, went to the mall, got some new clothes, and headed down to the meeting with WFP. The meeting lasted about 15 minutes. When they asked me about the antenna, I mentioned the customs scenario, took my cell phone, showed them the pictures I’ve just taken and previous pictures of how it looked while in Raisting, assembled and tested. That was sufficient to close the deal. We shook hands, WFP was off the meeting.

Went back to the hotel and put myself to sleep for about 6 hours, trying to adjust to the time-zone difference. Woke up, called my wife, this needed to change… fast. I went through my options and remembered Max’s offer back in 2012, so I sent him an email. We met in February, got the job offer in March, started working in Neutrona in April 2013.

The Service Manager role was very horizontal, you got to talk to pretty much everyone in the company just to guarantee end-customer's satisfaction. It sounded too broad, but in practice, it was very attractive. I had to put together reports to show how Neutrona was handling their opportunities, got to talk to sales and see how we could support them, it required soft skills, as opposed to the ones I had, being used to IP, Satellite Communication and training people based on experience. I was afraid at first, but adjusted super-fast into the role and how I could be of service to Neutrona.

The entire Neutrona team, and the new hires that happened between 2013 and 2014 shaped the company pretty much into what’s known for nowadays. It felt like a big family. We had big asados and the locations were changing month to month. Along with Juan Botana, we initiated a movement that lasted multiple years, which we called, “Martes de picadas”. Any given Tuesday, we walked over multiple desks asking for spare change, and then walked down the supermarket and put together assorted appetizers and cold-cuts that suited everyone on the 7th floor. We went from simple cheese and snacks, to complex sausages and sandwiches. We started small with just 5 or 6 and we went big, growing up to 25-30 people enjoying the new “tradition”.

Looking back, I can now label this part of my life as the “Emergency landing” chapter. I was used to traveling over 50% of the year, my wife was used to it and now we had 2 kids and got to spend 2013 and good part of 2014 officially "grounded". It took some personal re-inventing and it was OK, very much needed back at that time.

Late in 2014 there was a trip to Mexico City, where we managed to visit customers and providers. Daniel Vilchez, Max and Mario Saavedra were part of the travel team and we had a blast. This was the first time I took a plane in almost 2 years, so on the way back, I couldn't come empty-handed, so managed to stop at the DUTY FREE and returned with only 15 bottles of Whiskey. It felt very good.

In early 2015 there was another trip to Chile, same purpose, but this time with Max only. I was starting to like it again. It all made sense in May when I was selected to go to ITW in Chicago, US. Yes of course, Max was also part of the trip, but this trip opened multiple opportunities for me to engage directly with customers and providers alone, and also to share moments with other colleagues, such as Daniel Monetto, Martin Volpi, Daniel Vilchez, Pablo Rosman and many others.

The way I handled myself during that trip formed long-lasting relationships with the individuals mentioned earlier, and generated a big impact on the customers and providers I’ve engaged. I was starting to talk for myself, not just through Max.

After the 2015 mid-term performance and salary revision, Max (without saying so) made it clear that there was no room for my ambition while working under him. I asked for options and a few were presented, with a new set of objectives to be met by Q3 and Q4. I was thrilled by the challenge and opportunity, however having to express that I wanted more, just to challenged with, didn't feel very good inside.

Interesting how things happened after that meeting, since I received a notification email from LinkedIn that Jeff Kietzmann was the Director of Service Management at EMC, and no longer managing the NOCs in UAE. I sent a friendly congratulation message which he replied with “Want to come back to EMC?” and just like that, "Operation Return" was initiated. More about this in tomorrow's article.

The almost 2.5 year run was a wonderful adventure where I met and worked with amazing people. Special thanks to the following:

I met Luciano Salata and Mateo Ward, who were the C-levels at Neutrona when we were just 30 individuals as a company back in 2013. Their passion and vision filled every gap in the team where multiple hours were required to get the job done. They had a very clear purpose and they knew the type of company they didn't want to become. The freedom and space provided was superb and allowed me to engage with them directly, on multiple occasions.

I met Mario Saavedra and Martin Volpi, who were responsible for quoting and handling a massive number of requests every single day. During this first chapter at Neutrona, I learnt from them the discipline, reporting and how to better present the information to make accurate decisions.

Daniel Vilchez was Head of Purchasing and handled logistics back then. He was always smiling, always polite and making sure he was taking care of his team. A very candid individual who later took a major role in a different chapter of my life. He facilitated my hidden passion for motorcycles, making sure I made educated choices before I purchased my first bike. Spending time with Dani was the fun part while at Neutrona.

Daniel Monetto was the leader of Engineering at that time, and back then, I learnt from his dedication, his hard work and full picture analysis. We didn't interact much during this couple of years, but the few interactions we had were key for what was next.

David Flamini was an Engineering guru who was 3-4 steps ahead of everyone else, and had a brilliant mind, smart-acid-humor and kept challenging and innovating on a daily basis. I take from him the hunger for bigger, better and simpler.

Jorge Urristre and Diego Perez Holguin joined David on the impressive full back-bone deployment mission in LATAM. This took traveling, design, implementation, test and turn up and they both made it look easy. I take from Jorge the stamina and his relentless battling until the network gets steady. 

Pablo Rosman was working in Finance at the time, and introduced me to a high-stakes poker tournament he was used to playing with his community friends. He also had a different view on financial assets, how to have cheap/free fun and how to maximize every single opportunity. He lives his life that way, and I’m grateful I’ve met him.

Monica Passagino, who back then gave me multiple useful advice on how to deal with people under stressful scenarios. She was a warrior when it comes to HR and was always willing to bend the books just a little bit more.

Juan Angel Botana and Pablo Ricavarra were the key project managers from Neutrona, along with Gaston Fernandez Dorner. I knew Pablo back from MCI, and his dedication and detailed spreadsheets made accountability sound easy, when there was a lack of a fully integrated end-to-end system that facilitated the repetitive tasks of project management. Juan Botana was the miracle worker from Brazilian carriers, making sure his targets were acquired and exceeded. He was a great ping-pong player and I’ve enjoyed every single match we had. We both loved food and beer so there were plenty of excuses to talk about how to optimize workload over a cold beer, somewhere.

Sandesh Nagare was a great part of this story, and our daily confrontations made me better at International Diplomacy, that I’ve used on the upcoming challenges I’ve faced. Very frustrating at that time, however very nurturing for the future ahead.

Max Villalba provided me with tools and support during the initial months that helped me to understand the position. I’m grateful for the time and energy he spent making sure I captured his way of working, and also for the differences we had once I had a formed opinion on how to deal with a problem. It was the differences that set us apart, and allowed me to implement what I’ve learned at EMC when leaving Neutrona, and would have never taken that risk if it wasn't for him.

The entire sales team made it look easy. I take from Nicolas Cramer his documentation style, concerned more about the group that receives the information and how they receive it, and not just closing the deal. I take from Frank Vilchez his charm with the customers. Everyone in the industry loves Frank, he is technically savvy and knows how to engage people from every nationality. Graziella Avila and Andres Etchenique were very good at selling big capacities to big customers and making sure they keep the account protected. Tim Allen was super fun to work with. Relaxed but time driven. He handled one of our major accounts and we both engaged super challenging projects. I’m grateful I met him.

Beltran Esteva was leading the NOC and had a different angle from what’s been inherited from Arturo Perez’s at EMC, still relentless and unbreakable when it came down to quality and the way to support customers. I take from him his passion and dedication to capture, document and understand every solution installed, so it can be supported efficiently, later on.

Lots of individuals left to mention, but they all had a beautiful and meaningful impact in my life.

Thank you all!