Cost of the setup: ~$6,2K with both laptops and monitor; ~$1,7K without laptops and monitor
Hey, Alex! Tell us a bit about yourself
First, to whoever is reading this, I hope you are well! And if you aren’t — that’s okay, too.
The past few years have been challenging for everyone. I can guarantee you that things do, and will, get better over time.
My name is Alex and I lead a Product Management function at a cloud computing software company.
In short, my team designs, develops and releases cloud-based software solutions. We help companies automate their preparation for and response to events that impact the way they do business (i.e. their operations).
Given that description, you can imagine the global pandemic’s impact on our workload over the past 18 months.
During the workday, Alex uses his TV as a second monitor for the MacBook. He has Outlook, Slack and other communication apps on that screen for monitoring and replies. When not working, Alex uses the TV to play games on the PS5 or watch Netflix. However, he’s likely “going to scrap the TV soon and look for something more practical for the space”. Download Alex’s wallpaper on Google Drive
I love my job because it allows me to combine both the creative and practical sides of my brain.
While I am responsible for developing innovative solutions, the result has to be easy to use, practical and reliable. Organisations and people rely on our technology to navigate incredibly difficult times — it has to look good and work better.
I didn’t start in product or technology. I began my career as a management consultant working with global financial services organisations — investment banks, retail banks, custodian banks, wealth and asset management firms, etc.
I would spend most of my week in taxi’s, navigating airports, checking into hotels, picking up guest access badges and responding to the next most important thing that the demanding client would ask for.
It was a grind — but I learned a ton.
For a majority of my consulting engagements, the end goal was to lift and place whatever program, methodology or project we completed into a sustainable technology platform.
How do we make this sustainable? How do we ensure that what we spent 8-12 months helping this client create becomes a living, breathing solution?
The answer was… there weren’t many answers.
I finally decided to transition to the technology side and help build software that actually worked for the people who use it every day.
I started reaching out to the network I had built while consulting and took my time in evaluating potential matches for the next move. Through that process, I found what I had hoped was the best match.
A few months of back-and-forth conversations, idea sharing and eventual interviews landed me at the company where I still sit.
It was a huge risk venturing into a completely new career, industry and technology landscape which I was not qualified — at least on paper — to take on with any substantial degree of confidence.
But it was the allure of a new challenge that made me both excited and motivated to take on the new role with a full head of steam.
Alex was keen on creating something that was “uber functional for work but could transition to a relaxing environment thereafter”. He painted the walls with an off-white ivory colour containing a hint of grey
I knew there was a better solution to be built and I was confident I understood what actual software users wanted to see.
I’ve learned that I love to build things. When I was 5, it was Legos. When I was 12, it was tree forts. When I was 18, it was drafting fantasy-house floor plans on architectural paper.
I was obsessed with creation, symmetry, spatial design and unveiling a finished product that was my creation.
With the rise of remote working and stay-at-home orders, my next creation became my home office/leisure setup. A place where I could both touch base with my product developers and transition to a virtual playground without batting an eye.
The pictures you see of my setup today are the reflection of many months of trial-and-error, setup-and-deconstruction and spending way too much time locked at home.
