A Day in the Life of an Exabeamer

Life in any start-up is bound to be wildly different one day to the next. The things you thought were important in the morning are obsolete by lunch. You’ve gone from editing a data sheet to writing new parsers to designing a product feature in the space of four hours.

At Exabeam, however, there are two constants from day to day – energy, and the ceaseless grinding of the espresso machine that is the soundtrack to everything we create. In the spirit of creating and innovating, ironically, when I pitched the idea of a blog post that was essentially a love letter to our deeply cherished DeLonghi, my idea was turned down.

Thus today, we’ll be talking about energy, and the two primary physical outlets it takes in our office.

Mobility

The sight of Nevo, our VP of Customer Service, running from his office to the other side of the building to consult with Engineering is a daily occurrence. Nir, our CEO, doesn’t so much run as stroll. To meet him he is deceptively tranquil, but in truth he is full of ideas and observations and this vitality is betrayed in the laps he does around the office, the parking lot, the block.

Ziad, one of the Software Engineers, also likes to pace while he thinks – turning off lights that have been left on and tidying absently – but he is much taller than Nir and covers as much ground at a much more languid stride. Dickon, Head of QA, and Anu, Senior Director of Product Management, go jogging for something called “exercise,” but the rest of us only run if there is a bear in the office (or so I assume – this theory has not been put to the test).

Foosball

Our primary outlet is Foosball and it is both savior and demon of productivity. The table sits in the dead center of the office. There are frequently conversations about moving it somewhere else – a place where it won’t be as noisy, or to make room for more desks as the company expands. This will never happen however, because the Foosball table functions as a catalytic liaison between Product and Sales, who sit to the West of the table, and Engineering, who sit to the East. It’s impossible to remain insulated in your own development team when you are faced-off against the data scientists over tiny little men, exchanging trash talk, and learning the hard way that Vladimir from Sales played on a Foosball league in college.

In conclusion, these individuals and activities provide you a glimpse into a day in the life of the team that makes up Exabeam. Rest assured as our team grows, the energy and innovation will also expand as we welcome new members (but hopefully no bears).