I joined Meltwater in September 2006 and left in May 2010. In the nearly four years that I was with the company, I’ve seen the company grow from approximately 100 employees to over 700 employees based on every continent except Antarctica.

I recently sold all my earthly belongings (except for my iPhone, computer and essential clothing) and moved to Israel. Now based in Tel Aviv, I am looking to join a start-up team and plan to apply the key skills and lessons learned that I’ve acquired while at Meltwater.

I wanted to take the chance to reflect on and share those key skills and lessons learned. No better way to share this than through a blog post.

1. Culture is key. A clearly defined culture that all members of your company/team can relate to and have ownership of will make sure that everyone is aligned in terms of values and even work ethic. At Meltwater, these are summed up by the Norwegian words MER: Moro (have fun when you work, even if it’s hard. If you enjoy what you do, everyone wins), Enere (#1’s – whatever you want to be, have high standards and shoot to be #1), and Respect (respect for your work, colleagues and clients).
2. Believe in people. I have personally witnessed my colleagues accomplish some extraordinary things once they were given some training, necessary tools (financial backing, office space, phone and Internet), and a bit of encouragement. Some colleagues moved to foreign countries and managed offices on their own, others have launched new product divisions, while others, including myself, had the opportunity to start entirely new departments within the company. The right team with the right mindset and resources can achieve some impressive goals.
3. I learned to sell. Sales is the key to any economic success. Without the purchase and exchange of goods and services, we wouldn’t have an economy. I learned how to relate to customers, provide true value propositions and had the chance to practice the art of negotiations and closing deals. I don’t care who you are. If you want to experience success in business, you have to learn the value of sales skills.

These three lessons may seem simple, perhaps even intuitive, but it is in the application and execution where I really believe Meltwater gave me tools to create real value. Its been hard to not use the word “we” when referring to Meltwater during my networking here in Tel Aviv in the last few weeks, but I guess that’s natural when you live and breath something for so long. It may sound grandiose, but if there is one more thing I learned from Meltwater it’s that ANYTHING is possible!

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