This series of interviews is meant to show the more personal side of people whose names you see in email threads, LinkedIn feed, and presentations. Questions and answers in this interview cover personal stories of developing a career in the programmatic industry, and our interests beyond mobile.
Hi, Alberto. Tell me a bit about yourself. Where are you from? How did you become a part of BidMachine?
Hi! I am Italian, currently living and working in Barcelona, Spain.
When I had my first interview with Appodeal (specifically, to work for Appodeal’s product that later became Bidmachine), I was still living in Bratislava, Slovakia, working for IBM. Basically, a former IBM employee who already worked at Appodeal needed to hire a versatile teammate for her fast-growing team. So she thought about me and proposed to have a couple of interviews. In the end, it all worked out!.
What is the best thing about living and working in Barcelona?
Well, Barcelona is a beautiful mix of good food, positive vibes, nice weather and beaches. Moreover, the startup scene is constantly growing, and this is especially true for the ad tech industry. At the moment I couldn’t ask for more!
We also have the beach right in front of our office. So even commuting to work is simply a pleasure.
Since we’re still in the middle of the pandemic, I will ask you to share a bit about how you cope with the Covid-19 restrictions and its consequences? How did your lifestyle and workstyle change?
My lifestyle changed a lot—an Italian guy living in Spain is not the best combination when it comes to Covid-19. I strictly followed the quarantine rules from day one. And it was not easy—I learned that the less you do, the more you feel like taking a break, even though you were not doing much. It becomes a vicious cycle. We are just not made to be inactive.
Still, I tried to take advantage of some of my free time and energy to attend some interesting self-improvement training about advertising, e-commerce, and business law (yes, I am a certification hunter and a MOOC addict).
If you didn’t work in the mobile ad industry, what would you do for a living?
Good question. I would probably occupy the same role but within the IT, Fintech, and/or e-commerce industries. But the most accurate answer would be that no matter what I am doing, it will not last forever. I like to see my career as a journey that consists of very diverse chapters, the combination of which allows me to add value to people around me. It is all about learning and using your knowledge to do something better.
What’s the most interesting thing you’ve read or seen this week?
I would say the Nasa-SpaceX launch. I still have to figure out how Elon Musk could make a sustainable business that no one on Earth (but him) has developed for commercial purposes. It is mind-blowing.
I just hope that the business aspect aside, it will not turn into a long-term solution to evade the issues that we caused on this planet. Humans can be quite good at running away from their responsibilities.
If you could meet a famous person who is not alive anymore, who would it be?
Any true visionary entrepreneur. They all have something in common, something special that is hard to describe. You notice it only when you talk to them in person. The way they think and make decisions is just different. And it fascinates me a lot.
By the way, most of the people I admire are still alive. And I wish them a long life ahead.
But to answer your question about the famous person from the past, I would pick a true genius— Leonardo da Vinci. He is not really an entrepreneur in the modern understanding of this word, but he is definitely a unique figure.
If you could travel anywhere in the world to work remotely, where would it be?
I would most probably keep changing locations every 2-3 years. I enjoy learning about new places and cultures.
Do you have a favorite quote that inspires you?
In the era of social media and misinformation, I would definitely consider the following quote very timely: “Nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first understood” (Leonardo da Vinci).
Not making that mistake requires the right approach towards any source of information and big dedication. I still make simple mistakes, but still do my best to get better and make sure I don’t repeat them.
BidMachine is a suite of programmatic solutions designed to connect mobile app publishers and advertisers to work without obstacles. BidMachine programmatic ad exchange employs in-app bidding technology and has over 60 demand partners integrated. BidMachine is part of Stack—an ad tech company that provides monetization, UA and analytics, and scales mobile businesses.
