“VeePee what?” somebody asked at the camping site a couple of weeks ago. “I thought you where starting as independent consultant,” another person asked on Linkedin. These are valid questions considering that, before joining XebiaLabs, I was, indeed, ambitious to become an independent consultant and I had planned to start a new assignment in that role. So, it makes sense that my friends and colleagues would be totally surprised that, when XebiaLabs asked me to become their new VP of Product Development, I jumped at the chance.

But there are some really good reasons why I decided to work for XebiaLabs. Here are the top 6.

1. Xebialabs creates products that have a huge positive impact on their customers

I’m very motivated by what is possible. I love showing people what they can achieve within their organizations and helping them improve their systems so they can reach their goals. I intended to do this as a coach, team by team and company by company. However, by guiding the XebiaLabs development team to continually improve our products—XL Release and XL Deploy—I can still do this work but with a much larger impact. In my role at XebiaLabs, I’ll not only have an immediate, positive imact on the development team, but on all our customers throughout the world.

2. As VP Product Development I can be entrepreneurial

One reason that becoming an independent consultant appealed to me was that it offered entrepreneurial opportunities, especially as compared to working for a large organization. At XebiaLabs, I have a lot of responsibilities but also a lot of freedom in how to get things done. With around 120 colleagues, the company is small enough to be entrepreneurial but big enough to have a strong foundation to build upon.

3. Great company vibe

Combine a good vision, a clear purpose and great engineers and you get an excellent culture that’s creative, productive, and fun. This describes XebiaLabs. All this, along with nice coffee and good laptop and the right tools, makes XebiaLabs a great place to work.

4. Working for a front runner in the market offers an excellent environment for learning

I love to follow developments in the DevOps market and understand how IT is rapidly changing and accelerating. Working for Xebialabs provides an excellent opportunity to keep up with market trends as they apply to our own products and those from other companies.

5. My experience and coaching skills can help the development teams at Xebialabs

Despite the fact that I’m very positive, I realize that XebiaLabs is not heaven on earth. That’s why I love working for this company. With a little bit of coaching, our development teams can continuously improve, and people can strive every day to grow their knowledge and skills. I’m happy for the opportunity to put my coaching skills and experience to work for the good of my teams.

6. International, outgoing, startup

I like to travel because it lets me meet other people and experience other cultures. I also love to write, speak, and to be part of a flourishing company. These are the ingredients that put a smile on my face and a twinkle in my eyes.

I hope this answers why I think joining XebiaLabs was a great move to make. If you want to know more about me or my thoughts on the company and our products, please use the comments section below.

I’m looking forward many great days ahead with XebiaLabs.

Kind regards

Andreas