rix1dotdev: update about.md

apps/rix1.dev-lume/about.md

@@ -6,35 +6,46 @@ layout: layouts/center-content.tsx
 I've found my home in product community of Oslo, in the intersection of technology, design, and sustainable energy solutions. After I joined [Otovo](https://otovo.com/) in 2016 as one of their first employees, I've helped grow the company to where we are today: Hundreds of employees, precence in 13 markets and tens of thousands of homes with solar panels on their roofs
 (and we're [not done](https://twitter.com/rix1/status/1688663122385457153) yet).
 
-I come from a life of priviledge, there's no doubt about that. I've probably been given more opportunities than most, but I also believe in making my own luck. I've come to understand that both history and life is only as straight as the stories we tell. So here's mine:
+I come from a life of priviledge, there's no doubt about that. I've probably been given more opportunities than most, but I also believe in making my own luck. I've come to understand that both history and life is only as straight as the stories we tell. So with that in mind, here's mine:
 
-During my informatics studies at NTNU in Trondheim, [my partner](https://www.instagram.com/siriholtnaes/) and I spent a year on exchange at UCT in Cape Town. When we weren’t studying, visiting vineyards or at the beach, I worked remote for a Norwegian startup, [CosyTech](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/cosytech). This was my first real job in the world of product. After [winning a few competitions](https://twitter.com/Torildnm/status/617090179862523908), Visa invited us to wine and dine at at their HQ in London – a weird but fun trip. CosyTech however, never found product-market fit. No customers meant no revenue, so we decided to close shop after ~12 months.
+While studying informatics at NTNU in Trondheim, [my partner](https://www.instagram.com/siriholtnaes/) and I spent a year as exchange students at UCT in Cape Town. When we weren’t in the computer lab, visiting vinyards or at the beach, I dedicated evenings to working remote for [CosyTech](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/cosytech), a Norwegian startup. This was my first real experience with startups and the world of _product_. Although we [won a few competitions](https://twitter.com/Torildnm/status/617090179862523908), CosyTech never found product-market fit. No customers meant no revenue, so we decided to close shop after ~12 months.
 
-[Andrroy](https://github.com/andrroy) and I then proceeded to freelance part-time together for the remainder of our formal studies. We built an e-commerce site for [wedding dresses](https://whitestory.no/), we MVP'd an [online learning platform](https://twitter.com/corsane_com), and spent about a year working on a "game" that was played in an [fMRI machine](https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.11.084202v1.abstract) as part of a research project. We had no idea what we were doing back then, but we were good enough that people paid us to play and have fun.
+[Andrroy](https://github.com/andrroy) and I proceeded to freelance together part-time for the remainder of our formal studies. We built an e-commerce site for [wedding dresses](https://whitestory.no/), we MVP'd an [online learning platform](https://twitter.com/corsane_com), and spent about a year building a ["game"](https://s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/rix1.dev/fmri+-+Human+Episodic+Memory.jpg) that was played in an fMRI machine as part of [a research project](https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.11.084202v1.abstract). We had no idea what we were doing back then, but we were good enough to getting paid to learn, play and have fun.
 
-In an unexpected turn of events while writing my [master's thesis](https://ntnuopen.ntnu.no/ntnu-xmlui/handle/11250/2403242) lead me to break my upcoming full-time position at [BEKK](https://www.bekk.no/), and accept a job offer from [DNB](https://www.dnb.no/), Norway's largest bank. This was thanks to <s>productive procrastination</s> a hackathon in 2016 that [went surprisingly well](https://www.dnb.no/dnbnyheter/no/din-okonomi/dnb-utfordrer-studenter-til-a-vise-seg-frem).
+An unexpected turn of events while writing my [master's thesis](https://ntnuopen.ntnu.no/ntnu-xmlui/handle/11250/2403242), lead me to break my contract for an upcoming full-time position at [BEKK](https://www.bekk.no/), and accept a job offer from [DNB](https://www.dnb.no/), Norway's largest bank. This was thanks to <s>productive procrastination</s> a hackathon in 2016 that went [surprisingly](https://www.dnb.no/dnbnyheter/no/din-okonomi/dnb-utfordrer-studenter-til-a-vise-seg-frem) [well](https://s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/rix1.dev/2016-05-11-dnb-digital-challenge-finansavisen.png).
 
-I was a bit hesitant to joining such a large organisation, but the kind folks at DNB convinced us to spend two weeks at the bank to get a feel for it. It was an exciting experience: We started what eventually would morph into their [Open Banking platform](https://developer.dnb.no/). However fun, my feets were still a bit cold. After a lot of back and forth, I ended up cancelling my second contract in just 3 weeks.
+During that summer, Hanna, Camilla, Siri and I (the team from the hackathon) spent a few weeks at the bank to get a feel for working in such a large organization. My impression was generally good – we were given enough freedom and trust to get started on a developer portal, which would eventually morph into their [Open Banking platform](https://developer.dnb.no/). However fun, I felt like I belonged in a smaller company. So I ended up cancelling my second contract in just 3 weeks.
 
-That morning, I walked back into the office of a client Andrroy and I had been working with for the past 6 months – the newly [founded solar startup, Otovo](https://www.dn.no/solenergi/grunder/energi/selger-teslaen-for-a-folge-i-elon-musks-fotspor/1-1-5560478). Beliving they had lost me to the bank, [Andreas](https://twitter.com/athornor) and [Simen](https://twitter.com/simenfur) were surprised to see me. The surprise turned into excitement when I asked if I could join full-time. I signed and started my first full-time postition as a software engineer that day, and never looked back.
+Instead, I followed my intuition and walked back into the office of a client Andrroy and I had been working with for the past 6 months – the newly [founded solar startup, Otovo](https://www.dn.no/solenergi/grunder/energi/selger-teslaen-for-a-folge-i-elon-musks-fotspor/1-1-5560478). Beliving they had lost me to the bank, [Andreas](https://twitter.com/athornor) and [Simen](https://twitter.com/simenfur) were surprised to see me.
+Their surprise quickly turned into excitement, and within an hour after I asked if I could join full time, the contract for a position as software engineer was signed. 2016 was a crazy year.
 
-2016 was a crazy year. Now, eight+ years and countless experiences later, I'm still having fun chasing the sun together with Otovo.
+Since then, I contributed to building nearly every product and I've taken part in all of the 13 market launches we've done.
 
-As you might figure, these experiences were never strategic career moves for me. However, I learned some important lessons in:
+I've always had a knack for design, so my first few years were naturally spent on front-end and customer facing experiences. However, one of the benefits of being in a small team you get to cover a lot of ground. I now look back at nearly a decade of front-end, back-end and mobile development, product development, UX and visual design, and even some marketing and sales.
 
-1. Navigating uncertainty.
-2. The importance of having fun.
-3. Placing bets on who to surround yourself with.
+This "all over the place"-attitude was kind of addictive, so as the organization grew, product management was a natural next step for me. I did that for a few years, pre and during Covid-19, where my team focused on setting our platform up for market expansion. First in Brazil, as a white labling effort for [Holu](https://holu.com.br/), then later launching Otovo in Italy, Poland and Germany.
+
+In 2022, my team transitioned into working on partnerships and growth. After a few years of applying our previous market launch experiences into this new strategic bet, around 20% of our sales were coming from partnerships.
+
+While this was a lot of fun and rewarding, but I also started to grow weary of spending too much of my time away from the day-to-day trenches of hands-on building. So when the opportunity to jump into engineering management presented itself, I took it.
+
+Today, I lead Otovo's marketplace team as engineering manager. We're responsible for building and maintaining the core mechanics of our platform. It's been a roller coaster, but I'm still having fun chasing the sun together with Otovo ☀️
 
 > ### I never worked a day in my life, I just laid back and let the big beat lead me
 >
 > [Fatboy Slim - Because I Got It Like That (remix) ](https://soundcloud.com/theclassicmixcdseries/on-the-floor-at-the-boutique-fatboy-slim)
 
-Away from the <kbd>keyboard</kbd>, I like to cook. Ideally for larger crowds - either for a bunch of kids at [Feriekolonien](https://www.feriekolonien.no/), or for my large family. I have fun when I can be curious, have attention to detail, do _just enough™_ planning and focus on <mark class="playful">playful execution</mark>.
+As you might figure, these experiences were never strategic career moves for me. However, I learned some important lessons in:
+
+1. Navigating uncertainty.
+2. The importance of having fun.
+3. Placing bets on who to surround yourself with.
+
+Away from the <kbd>k</kbd><kbd>e</kbd><kbd>y</kbd><kbd>b</kbd><kbd>o</kbd><kbd>a</kbd><kbd>r</kbd><kbd>d</kbd>, I like to cook. Ideally for larger crowds. Since 2019 I've been spending my summers cooking for the kids at [Feriekolonien](https://www.feriekolonien.no/). The rest of the year, I enjoy cooking for my (rather) large family. I have fun when I can be curious, have attention to detail, do _just enough™_ planning and focus on <mark class="playful">playful execution</mark>.
 
-I think dogs are pretty great. We've had three Belgian shepherds since 2007: [Sam & Tiva](https://s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/rix1.dev/dogs/sam-tiva-bamble.jpg) and most recently [Yoda](https://s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/rix1.dev/dogs/yoda-oslo.jpg) 🫶. A constant source of unconditional love, but also a daily reminder that patience, commitment and consistency go a long way.
+I think dogs are pretty great. We've had three Belgian shepherds since 2007: [Sam & Tiva](https://s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/rix1.dev/dogs/sam-tiva-bamble.jpg) and most recently [Yoda](https://s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/rix1.dev/dogs/yoda-oslo.jpg) 🫶. They're a constant source of unconditional love, and a daily reminder that patience, commitment and consistency go a long way.
 
-Life is better with music, which is why you'll always find me [listening to it](https://www.last.fm/user/rikardeide). Semi-long distance running and dancing are my go-to activities for keeping in shape.
+Life is better with music, which is why you'll always find me [listening to it](https://www.last.fm/user/rikardeide). Semi-long distance running and tap dancing are my go-to activities for keeping in shape.
 
 That should do it for now. If you still haven't gotten enough, [here's some content](https://old.rix1.dev/posts) from my old site that still haven't been ported.