Photo copyright: Fabien Ruyssen
Hey Hackers! I’m Timoté and I’m the CEO @ dualoop.
First of all, a huge thank you to the HackerNoon community and staff for nominating me for a 2021 Noonies award! I’ve been nominated in the following category please do check out this award page and vote:
GROWTH: vote here
As someone in the product management industry, I believe that the most exciting technology trend of the present is the metaverse because it’s opening a completely new world of possibilities. Learn more about my thoughts and opinions on product management and my journey in the tech industry via the interview below.
1. What do you do and why do you do it?
I’m currently the CEO of dualoop, a consulting firm specialising in product management. I’ve been involved in the tech industry for the past ten years, leading product & marketing departments in companies of all sizes and shapes.
I’ve always been energised by the possibility of shaping products and teams. I take the most pride in coaching and advising people. That’s why I decided to quit operating roles and jump into the consulting space.
Since the launch of the company end of September 2021, we’re growing fast. Our customers range from startup studios to scale-ups and more established companies. dualoop counts more than 8 FTEs and aims to reach 35 FTE by the end of the year.
Aside from our consulting activities, we reinject a part of our revenue into the tech ecosystem by investing in pre-seed stage startups. We’ve made our first investment in 2021 and target to make up to 6 more this year.
2. Tell us more about the things you create / write / manage / build!
I’ve been involved in multiple initiatives over the past years, always balancing my time between my daily job, advisory activities and some side hustles. I take the most pride in my work at Talentsquare, Elium, Nowjobs and Achieved, where I met people that are still some of my best friends and business partners today.
I’ve now gathered all my activities and creativity under a single umbrella for the sake of my mental health and work-life balance.
I’m currently juggling my time between advisory & coaching sessions in multiple companies and running the firm. At the same time, I’m also scouting startups for multiple VC funds, including the Calm Company Fund and dualoop (of course).
In a nutshell, I’m spending my time doing what I enjoy the most, meeting talented people and modestly contributing to their personal and/or company growth.
3. How did you end up on your current career path? Do you like it?
My journey is atypical. I graduated with a Master in HR and started my career as an IT recruiter. I was much more interested in growth and candidate/customer acquisition than the actual job. I spent most of my time working on the recruiting firms’ web and social media presence instead of hunting people. I also developed a strong network in the HR local scene by organising meetups. Thanks to this, I managed to get my first job as a Product Manager in an HRTech startup, Talentsquare. That’s where my tech career started.
I learnt product management by reading articles, books and meeting peers. I made many mistakes and got lucky to be guided by comprehensive brilliant minds. Over time I worked hard to develop my practice and take any opportunity to learn about product management and all related fields and before all about myself. My career gradually evolved toward more senior roles, and I started touching almost every company process.
It’s been a humpy bumpy road full of mistakes and learnings, but I believe every career path is unique. I take a lot of time to reflect on my actions and their consequence to improve. I could have done many things differently with more or less success, but I’m proud of where I am today, and I wouldn’t change anything.
4. What tech are you most excited or passionate about right now and why?
The metaverse is probably the most exciting and worrying evolution of the decade to come. It’s exciting because I feel it will be the most impactful evolution since the rise of Facebook and social network as a whole. Yet, it also worries me because of its attractiveness to people. I fear people will derive even more from the real world and genuine human interactions. From an economic perspective, I find it captivating because we may observe a breakout point where GAFAM (or GAMAM) will create their currency and become more potent than banks. Even though many millionaires may emerge from the metaverse, I’m afraid it will increase the digital fracture and reinforce the gap between the rich and the poor.
5. If we gave you 10 million dollars to invest in something today, what would you invest in and why?
I would invest part in NFT and initiatives leveraging the metaverse and the rest in the European early-stage tech scene. I believe that we’re only at the premise of the development of the European tech scene and that we need the support of tech entrepreneurs to support its growth. We need more smart money invested in very early-stage ventures to stimulate creativity, reduce risk aversion and create a robust ecosystem.
6. What are you currently learning?
I’m learning every day. Every interaction I have with a company founder, executive or product manager is an opportunity to develop my knowledge and learn about myself. Besides these human interactions, I spend a lot of time reading about strategy, labour law, product management and the NFT & the metaverse.
7. What’s the best advice you’ve ever given someone?
“Play the devil advocate” We all spend too much time trying to prove to ourselves and others that we’re right. While I believe we should spend our time proving ourselves that we are wrong. I feel it’s essential to take the time to understand others opinions and logical thinking to challenge our approach and representation of reality. By taking this approach, you prove to others that you respect them and value their opinions. It will help you strengthen your argumentation and increase your confidence in the answers you will provide. Even more, it will make your reasoning much more convincing and easy to accept for others.
8. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
When I had to take an important career decision, a good friend told me: “go to sleep. When you wake up, ask yourself: fast forward in 5 years, what will make you the proudest?” This time projection helped me choose a career path that I’ve never regretted.
About HackerNoon’s 2021 Noonie Awards
The annual Noonie Awards celebrate the best and brightest of the tech industry, bringing together all who are making the Internet and the world of tech what it is today. Please be sure to check out our award categories, nominate, and vote for the people and companies who you think are making the biggest impact on the tech industry today.
The 2021 Noonies are sponsored by: bybit, Dottech Domains, and Avast. Thank you so much to these sponsors who are helping us celebrate the accomplishments of all our nominees.