{"id":305,"date":"2021-07-04T18:28:35","date_gmt":"2021-07-04T18:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s831831266.inkitt.de\/?p=305"},"modified":"2021-07-05T17:46:20","modified_gmt":"2021-07-05T17:46:20","slug":"laura-valeske-venture-developer-inkitt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/s831831266.inkitt.de\/laura-valeske-venture-developer-inkitt","title":{"rendered":"Meet: Laura Valeske – Senior Venture Developer at Inkitt"},"content":{"rendered":"

We met our Senior Venture Developer, Laura Valeske, who shared unique insights about her three and half year long journey at Inkitt.<\/em> <\/b><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Laura has seen her own role evolve and she\u2019s watched the company grow from an innovative start-up to an industry game-changer. With degrees in business and finance, Laura was perfectly suited to take up an operational role in the company straight out of school, and she\u2019s become an integral part of the Inkitt team ever since.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hi Laura! Thanks so much for chatting today. Can you tell us your job title and what your work entails?<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

Sure. I\u2019m the Senior Venture Development Manager. I have an operations role within the company which is pretty wide spread. I essentially do things to help keep the company running from the operational side, including finance, bringing new projects forward, and fund-raising.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although three-and-a-half years may not be that long in the grand scheme of a work career, it\u2019s an eternity at\u00a0 a start-up. How has your job changed and grown since you\u2019ve been with the company?<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

When I started, I was a venture developer, but I was also solely responsible for recruiting, human resources, and finance. I managed the office, planned the parties, and other fun stuff. Part of my job was to take care of the employees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So, you were essentially a jack of all trades?<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

Absolutely. You have no idea how many tables I\u2019ve built!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That\u2019s funny, and it makes sense. In my opinion, part of the excitement when signing on with a new venture is the ability to do so many things and learn about the business from the ground up. But as the company grew, did your role become more focused?<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s narrowed. Some of the different roles I had, grew too big and are now managed by other people. For example, recruiting and human resources have been taken over by others. I now own our entire Finance function, as well as manage occasional strategic projects where someone is needed who can coordinate across multiple functions, like the launch of our newest format: Audiobooks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The vision for Inkitt started as one thing and morphed into another. You were there to witness this evolution. Can you talk a little about the changes you\u2019ve seen in the company over time?<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

I started at the cusp of a big change. The company was moving away from Amazon publishing and trying to do something new. I witnessed the team come together and ask what made us great? What could we do moving forward that was different? I got to watch the development of <\/span>GALATEA<\/span><\/a>, Inkitt\u2019s exclusive and innovative reading app. I was there when the concept was first developed, through the testing, right through having our first GALATEA best-seller and making our first million from that. I was also involved in the first venture capital\/Series A raise which helped us secure funding from an amazing US investor. We\u2019ve grown and learned so much since the early days; it\u2019s exciting to see Inkitt having found product market fit, and now scaling to meet our ambition!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Everyone I talk to mentions the incredible culture at Inkitt. It seems like it has remained consistent in that innovation and hard work are rewarded and independent thinking is encouraged. How would you describe the company\u2019s culture?\u00a0<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019d describe it similarly, and the culture hasn\u2019t changed much over the years. We\u2019re very open to new ideas, and we support people\u2019s hard work to bring something new forward. We also get the opportunity to try working on new and different things. For example, I was asked to support content and come up with a plan for audiobook production. It was such a random thing for someone who\u2019s never worked in content! But it gave me a chance to do something I might not have otherwise. Now we have over thirty seasons live on audiobooks. This kind of thing happens for so many people in so many different departments. We come together, put our brains together, and do something innovative and new for the company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What do you like best about your job?<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

I like that I get to try out so many different things. I\u2019d be really bored if I had to do the same thing every day! I also never wanted to work in the dry finance side of things. I wanted to do fundraising and venture development, which has a more creative side. I get to do that here. It\u2019s exciting and a challenge to help solve problems for the company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You moved to Berlin to take this job. How do you like your new(ish) home?<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

To be honest, Berlin was never a city I wanted to live in, but now I love it here! I love the culture. It\u2019s super vibrant. And because most of my colleagues aren\u2019t from Berlin either, it\u2019s fun to explore the city with them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What would you say to someone who was thinking about a job at Inkitt?<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019d say that it\u2019s amazing to work with so many smart and driven people. We are always running toward our goal, and it\u2019s fun to do that with people who are passionate about the project.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thank you for being part of our journey, Laura!<\/p>\n

At Inkitt, we believe that every author in the world should have an equal chance to succeed. That\u2019s why our mission is to discover hidden talents and turn them into globally successful authors. Join us on our mission and start the next chapter of your career with us!<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We met our Senior Venture Developer, Laura Valeske, who has started working at Inkitt over three-and-a-half years ago! With this article, she will give you exclusive insights into her own path at Inkitt.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":561,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n