There have been some big recent announcements at MeisterLabs: We’ve launched a collection of integrations with Microsoft, enabled 1,000+ more via Zapier and released our MeisterTask Business plan too. However, none of this would’ve been possible without our growing team. So, with more launches just around the corner, we’re delighted to welcome a few more team members on board!
Our latest team members – Philip, Christoph, Marie, Markus, Justin and Norbert – have all recently joined our Vienna and Seattle offices. Spanning roles across client relations, office management, and development, here’s a little more about each of them:
Philip Pilwarsch – Client Relations
My Background:
I was born in Lower Austria and grew up in a small village in the countryside. I studied international business administration in Vienna and during my bachelor studies, discovered my passion to explore different cultures. I studied and worked for some time in Asia, gaining lots of cross-cultural experience, before deciding to do a postgraduate degree in international management in Portugal and Brazil. My time in these countries allowed me to get to know a number of totally different cultures, which I loved. I gained professional experience in very diverse companies, ranging from multinationals to start-ups. Most of my positions were customer facing or strongly related.
My role at MeisterLabs:
At MeisterLabs, I’m working as the Client Relations Manager. This position combines my professional interests in sales and client liaison, with my global interests of working cross-culturally. I work with an agile and diverse team in an international environment and I’m communicating daily with people from around the world, whether they’re my colleagues, our existing customers or teams that could benefit from our products. I enjoy representing MeisterLabs, as it’s not just the product that we offer, but the service we provide to our clients, delivered by a cool crowd of people who are passionate about what we do.
About me:
I see myself as an open-minded and outgoing person, who is always up for getting to know new people and cultures. I am a communicative and sociable guy that likes to meet friends or invite them over for dinner. Sport is an important part of my life. I played basketball for 14 years. If you meet me in person, you’ll know why it’s the perfect sport for me 😉 I consider myself a happy, joyful, and humorous character and I hope to pass this vibe on to people around me.
Christoph Fink – Office Manager
My Background:
After I had completed my Austrian community service, I was asked by the head of the workshop if I would like to stay on longer and work as a part-time caretaker. For me, this was an obvious choice, as I really enjoyed the work. After working for four years as a caretaker for a group of 8, while being the sole carer for one woman specifically, I decided to part ways. I took a brief detour and worked for two months as a computer specialist before the MeisterLabs advertisement for an Office Manager caught my eye. So here I am!
My role at MeisterLabs:
As Office Manager, my range of tasks is pretty broad. From cleaning the kitchen, taking out the trash, and buying groceries, to accounting, organising relocations and enhancing a good office climate, I really enjoy the diversity of the duties I encounter at MeisterLabs. My colleagues always have requests and wishes that I try to meet as soon as possible, so they can focus on their work, without having to worry about anything else.
About me:
Outside of work, I enjoy spending time hanging out with my dogs and friends, watching TV-shows, listening to music and playing video games. When the sun is shining, I enjoy playing football, rafting, climbing and many other outdoor activities. MeisterLabs’ CEO, Michael Hollauf, recently semi-tricked me into participating in the Vienna City Marathon, so I’ve had to pick up running again too.
Marie-Therese Fischer – MeisterTask Backend
My Background:
I studied Sociology and Communication Science and after some years faced the decision to either become a PR person or a journalist – neither of which seemed very fitting for me! So I started focusing on research and statistics, tutoring at the University and working on scientific projects for the Academy of Sciences, the University’s Social Sciences Faculty, and the ORF, Austria’s national public service broadcaster. When writing my master’s thesis, I got a sneak peek into programming and was thrilled. I went and bought myself an 800+ page book and started my first project. Since then, I’ve worked as a software tester, as well as a frontend and backend developer for three startups in Vienna. During this time, I’ve experienced some very different styles of working, leadership and social behavior – ranging from nightmarish to inspiring. In spring 2018, I joined MeisterLabs as a backend developer.
My role at MeisterLabs:
I’m part of the MeisterTask backend team, currently responsible for importing data from other tools and creating exports and backups of our user data. For example, I recently led on the delivery of MeisterTask’s new Wunderlist importer, allowing users to import all data, including existing lists, tasks, and subtasks, directly from Wunderlist into MeisterTask!
About me:
In my free time, I love to be out in the open, enjoying nature from my hammock or going hiking. I’m totally into self-made stuff like teas or bath salts from collected herbs, cooking vegan chocolate with pink pepper, or baking bread and cupcakes. Besides that, I’m a level 2 Krav Maga student, which is a form of self-defense, Hearthstone enthusiast and human gunslinger/ bounty hunter when playing P&P RPGs.
Markus Gassenbauer – Android Developer
My Background:
I was always a mobile guy. The whole mobile journey started in the last year of HTL (a form of higher technical college in Austria) where I undertook a Java Mobile (J2ME) project. I liked it so much that I searched for a J2ME job and found one in a small company based in Vienna. The main focus there was always on mobile development, as I worked on 3 J2ME apps and 4 Android apps, but also helped out in other areas of development, as well as on technical support. After nearly 13 years with the company, it was time for a change, so I joined MeisterLabs!
My role at MeisterLabs:
In spring 2018, I joined the MeisterLabs mobile team to take both of our Android apps, for MindMeister and MeisterTask, to the next level. Building up an Android team will be an exciting task! There is already a great base for the Android apps and I look forward to growing them further, both with my experience and in collaboration with the iOS team 🙂
About me:
My wife and I have two kids, a boy (11) and a girl (9). My spare time is fully packed with excursions on weekends with the family, meeting friends and going to the cinema, running once a week, and squeezing in some gaming in-between. During my evenings, I’m mostly YouTubing and Netflixing.
Justin Burdick – Client Relations (North America)
My Background:
I grew up in a small, rural, one red light town in central New York. I try to emphasize the “small” and “rural” as it was 90 km from the nearest airport and far from the skyscraper-filled environment most think of when picturing New York! After high school, I moved to Tampa, Florida where I studied Global Business at the University of South Florida, while working in sales and business development for various telecommunications companies. After graduating in December 2017, I immediately packed my car with the destination of Seattle, Washington, and the objective to start a career with a fun and exciting company like MeisterLabs 🙂
My role at MeisterLabs:
As a client relations specialist out of the Seattle location, I am responsible for generating and developing new business in the North American region through outside prospecting and responding to inbound leads. I enjoy this role because it allows me to think creatively about ways to generate interest in MeisterLabs’ solutions and also finding new ways to penetrate the North American market.
About me:
When I’m not working, I try to be outdoors as much as possible, as I enjoy hiking, camping, and snowboarding. When the weather keeps me indoors, you will usually find me reading a good book or strumming a guitar. I’ve been a musician my whole life, so along with playing guitar, I also sing and play drums whenever I get the chance. Although I may have enjoyed playing loud, fast, punk rock songs in my younger years, I now just mostly play mellow songs on my acoustic (I must be getting older).
Norbert Spot – iOS Developer
My Background:
I’m a Hungarian from Slovakia living in Austria, fortunate enough to speak 4 languages. I grew up in a small city close to Bratislava and after finishing my BSc. in Computer Science and working for a year as a Web Developer at IBM, I decided to move to Austria. I first landed in Graz, where I lived for 6 years, finished my MSc. in Computer Science and started working as an iOS Developer at a local startup. After a while, the city started to feel a bit small so when I got married, I felt it was time for a change. After considering multiple options, we decided to move to Vienna, where, before joining the MeisterLabs team, I first worked for an agency and then at a travel startup, both as an iOS Developer.
My role at MeisterLabs:
My role at MeisterLabs is to push the development of our iOS apps forward and help to make the apps even more awesome!
About me:
I’m a hobby photographer and I always carry my camera with me. I also love to travel. For me, the journey is the destination and I look for unusual itineraries. I won’t fly straight to Southeast Asia if I can find a cheaper route half way down the Globe, for example through Ethiopia and South Africa, instead. Fun fact: I’m a movie and tv show fan and as a high school kid, I used to work at a cinema and sneak into movies for free – don’t tell anyone!
We’re delighted to have Philip, Christoph, Marie, Markus, Justin & Norbert on board!
There’s still space in our bustling offices in Vienna and the U.S. though. Check out our jobs page to find out the positions we’re hiring for.
If you don’t see an opening that fits, get in touch via [email protected] to let us know where you see yourself on our team!