Davide De Guz is the Founder of Rebrandly, an industry-leading link management platform to brand, track and share short URLs using a custom domain name.
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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?
I’m a serial entrepreneur since, ever! When I was in secondary school I founded a local business, then my first startup, a few years later.
After my first exit, in 2010, I created a successful web agency, then I started my first SaaS business (ClickMeter) in 2012 and now I’m the proud founder of Rebrandly, the industry-leader platform for link management.
2) What does a day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?
I split most of my time between my two passions: the family and the job. The “tribe” is composed by my wife Monika and my two twins Maya and Alex.
I try to compress all my job-time in the working hours and get free for family time in the evening and weekends. Between the two there’s a lot to do so I prefer to get very focused on working hours and create quality time for the “clan”.
Most of the weekdays look like:
- 7:30 AM Breakfast altogether with the Family
- 8:30 – 12:30 Emails, team meetings, problem-solving
- 12:30 Quick gym or swimming pool
- 13:45 Work lunch and coffee break
- 14:30 – 18:30 Brainstorming with one senior member of my team or call with relevant customers.
Weekends are dedicated to family, friends and to my passion for reading and watching quality movies.
3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?
Everybody in Rebrandly is allowed and encouraged to work remotely at least for a couple of days every week. Our team is based in 4 different continents and we enforce a strong trust among all members at any levels of the company.
Working remotely means that the person is inspired to watch the company and his role from a different perspective.
4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?
I’m very lucky because I was able to create a job that I love. Everybody should be able to have an interesting and rewarding job. This is the main key to the balance. Think at that, how many hours you spend working? This is the only way to create an ideal balance.
It is my personal duty to talk with each and every member of my team and try to make their job as much rewarding and interesting for her/him as possible. If t happens, in your “free” time the only concern is not to think at the job too much even if you love it.
5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?
I’m constantly changing, trying to optimise my routines. I try to have very few but strong routines, to follow my instincts and leave space for my feelings.
6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?
My favourite book is Zero to One by Pether Thiel. And you can find the other nine in this list I created a few years ago: http://davide.link/10books Since then I could not find any better book to read. It also includes a fantastic book on remote-working.
7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?
Sure! My Mac, my AirPods and the wines my wife (she is a sommelier) let me taste every day. I’m also a fan of every good SaaS software I test at least two new apps per week!
8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?
I liked a lot the Elon Musk biography by Ashlee Vance. I was able to meet Elon in person and It was really inspiring.
9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?
The most element for creating the best life balance is to carefully listen to yourself. Do not just read what others have to say. Instead, listen carefully what you have to say try to understand what you like, what you are best at and always be honest with yourself and others, this is the only way to build a true and solid balance.
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