The people behind Alasco: Meet our Frontrunners! - Markus as Associate Product Manager

After a long time in one industry, some may be motivated to challenge themselves by looking into another field of work. We want to promote this mind-opening experience and way of personal growth. Changing one’s field of work shows ambition and courage, which is what we need for our big mission to revolutionize the real estate industry. We are proud of every Alascian who finds their fascination in our company.

Markus joined our Product Team as a lateral entrant in July 2021 and reveals how he decided to join Alasco.

How did you know what you wanted to study, and were you able to gain work experience during your studies?

Markus: "During school, I always had an affinity for economics, so I decided to study business administration near my hometown in Passau. Despite the fact that I wasn’t quite a fan of the class on Information Systems, I did some internships during my studies where I, among others, worked on the configuration of an online shop for medical products. This was not only the first time in a B2B-Business but also the first time where I enjoyed encountering a more technical task. Additionally, I had the opportunity to spend some time at BMW for Human Resources, where I worked with a great team and learned a lot."

What did you do after finishing your Bachelor’s studies?

Markus: "As some might think I did not start with my Master’s or a full-time job right away. Since I did not have the chance to spend some time abroad I decided to catch up with a gap of nine months in New Zealand. During this time I did some more practical work in agriculture, which was a great way to calm down from the stress you face during your studies. Afterwards, I spent one year in Münster for my master’s in business administration with a focus on marketing strategy and data analysis. At the end of my studies, I worked at BMW for three months again to develop myself further into strategic marketing, but decided that corporate life was not for me. But obviously, my fascination for traveling continued, so I learned from my mistake before and went to India to study one semester abroad. Meeting all those interesting people and discovering the variety of nature was one of my most defining experiences! Doing a journey to an unfamiliar place gives me goosebumps to this day!"

How did you finally master your start into full-time everyday life?

Markus: "Having realized that life in a big corporation was not for me I decided, during and after my master’s, to work at Talentry, a recruiting Start-up in Munich. This I would call the beginning of my tech and Start-up path. There I was able to gain insight into the world of customer success while having many points of reference with our product. At that time, I also had the opportunity to shadow the engineering team’s sprints and thus to understand their main topics and solutions. Working on more project-based topics and looking into the product caught my interest."

You implied your growing interest in product management - how did you end up really chasing your career change?

Markus: "During the pandemic, I realized that I wanted to be more involved in product decisions, wanted to be more connected with the many stakeholders and take a place in the driver’s seat. Therefore I took my chance and participated in an eight-week online course at the Product School San-Francisco. There I was introduced to essential concepts and had to work on and present my own, company-specific case. Afterwards, I tried my luck and applied for product-related jobs, which also included the position of Junior Product Manager at Alasco. Because I follow Munich’s Start-up Scene I already knew Alasco and I lived nearby, so getting an answer after only a few days to hear that Alasco is open for lateral entrants made me incredibly happy - I guess it was meant to be! Already in the first interview, I loved the atmosphere and got an amazing impression about Alasco and its culture. It made me glad and proud at the same time when I really started at Alasco as Associate Product Manager!"

Were there any challenges as a result of your lateral entry? How did you cope with them?

Markus: "Of course, it was not easy to switch to a completely different industry and a new position at the same time. Thanks to our amazing, structured onboarding, plus the ability to work in an existing team of motivated Product Managers and Engineers, I could gain knowledge about the real estate industry and our product at the same time. Now I can say that the increasing responsibility over time prepared me for the more difficult tasks and made me feel prepared really quickly. Besides this, Alasco puts a big focus on customer interviews to learn about their challenges and find the best solutions for user problems. Every time during those interviews you learn a bit more about the real estate industry. Today I am proud to say that my immediate goal is to take over my own team and completely own the process between problem discovery and the solution delivery!"

What are your essential takeaways when you look back on your career?

Markus: "I can only stress that the focus on a perfect CV is overrated. I realized how beneficial it can be to do what you find exceptionally interesting instead of only doing what everybody tells you to, even if it means taking a step back for some time.? And I can speak from experience when I say that manifold experiences are incredibly helpful for a role as diverse as product management. Therefore you should not be put off by what a specific job posting says, because there is an incredible number of resources that can enable you to transition to your dream job, regardless of your background."