Get to know the people who are working to make Bondora the best online investment platform in Europe through the exciting Bondora Superstars blog series! This series will showcase their passion for what they do, their personal investment experiences, and a few fun things you didn’t know about them. Curious to know more? Read on to see how our second Bondora Superstar got into investing (Hint: It’s not what you expect):
👨💼Bondorian since: 2015
💻Role: Development team lead
🚀Team: Capital – Growth
A day in the life of Kaarel
Kaarel’s official title may be ‘Developer team lead’, but his real role is to keep everyone happy. And with such a goofy, always-smiling and full of energy personality, he excels at it every single day.
Starting his Bondora journey in 2015 as a UI Test Developer, he has worked his way up to his current position as Dev team lead. Most of his day he spends communicating with people; be it a developer, marketer, support exec, the list goes on. He’s the middleman responsible for understanding and conveying information from one party to another. And, of course, making sure that it’s implemented smoothly.
Spirit animal: The platypus. It’s a genuinely interesting combo of an animal from ancient times. Plus, it’s super cute.
When you see Kaarel work, you can tell he just loves every moment. When asked which other role he would choose at Bondora, he chose Dev team lead again!
“The thing with Bondora is that we have a multitude of responsibilities, so I already feel like I’m tapping into several aspects at the workplace, be it UI design, marketing, support, accounting… You never get stuck in one place for long. Here you can make a difference and not feel like a cog in a machine. I have kind of made the Bondora platform my responsibility, so to see it improve and flourish – that’s the best feeling.”
The only time when Kaarel isn’t smiling is when you give him goat’s cheese. He absolutely hates it. He once accidentally ate sushi made with beetroot and goat’s cheese, and in his words, it was a total “abomination”. Instead (take note colleagues) give Kaarel Kirju koer—it’s his favorite sweet treat.
📚 Kaarel’s must-read book:
“Dune” by Frank Herbert. One of the recurring themes is to never depend on something fully, but to try and be as independent as possible.
Let’s talk about investing
When and how did you start your investment journey?
“In January 2015, when I made my first investment into Bondora. It all started when my wife attended a women’s investment club. She got the bright idea that I should start saving money and investing it into our future. Funny thing is, that was the last time she attended that club…” 😉
Since that first initial investment, he’s been adding something new to his existing portfolios each year. Because working at Bondora for over 5 years has taught Kaarel that diversification is the holy grail of investments.
But this year, he decided to focus on another kind of investing; emotional investing. It’s a fantastic way to grow yourself, which, in turn, will have a positive effect on you and everyone around you. Kaarel is a “social animal”, and by investing in his emotional growth, he can be better equipped at understanding people, communicating in his job, or just making someone smile at the workplace. And for him, that’s the best return on investment there is.
Wise words: “Live and let live.” My mission is to make others happy by being happy. And if I can spread joy around that people will share in turn, then I’m happy as can be.
And that’s it from Kaarel, our goofiest, most cheerful and smiling Bondorian Superstar. Stay tuned for the next one, coming soon!
The views and opinions expressed in this article is that of the individual, and not Bondora’s official view.