Ben Wainwright, Co-Founder and CTO of Abodoo
Ben Wainwright is the Co-Founder and CTO of Abodoo the fastest-growing smart working careers platform for accurate hiring and reduced bias through technology.
His IT career with over 15 years of experience has encompassed diverse industries such as recruitment, telecommunications, media, and digital licensing technology.
Ben has been SmartWorking since 2004, has managed remote teams across geographies, and is an advocate for the decentralised workforce.
Who do you most admire in business?
Individuals that continue to push the envelope and strive for something that goes beyond profits and bottom line. Bill Gate's endeavour to tackle and eradicate Polio springs to mind. From a business model point of view I really admire what Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph have achieved with Netflix, but I'd like to see them take braver choices with their content.
What companies or brands do you like or do you think are getting it right?
Although it is many faults, I still cannot fail to be impressed by YouTube. When you look at a platform that receives something like 300 hours of content per minute, it's an extremely potent resource, and tool for so many and It has revolutionised the way we consume information along with Google of course. To get such a model right and seamless is no doubt a monumental and thankless task though. Is anyone really getting it right?
What is the best advice you have ever received?
"Just play, man!" It actually came directly from a musician I've admired for many years and essentially came down to the fact that we can get too bogged down in theory, and process, and structure, and form that we can forget to be true and in the moment and just play. I think that traverses most areas in life! It reminds me not to overthink stuff.
What drives or motivates you each day?
A genuine thirst for learning and creating. The byproduct of those two elements ultimately leads to something for others to embrace whether it is art or business.
What are your thoughts on the future of social media?
Hopefully that someone finds the Off switch haha! I'm not a fan of the overuse and synthesised apathy that it produces. My hope is that we all start to find a way to have real engagement and be more selective and precious about whom we share our content with. It's also overly dominated by a few companies, and to me, that is toxic and not safe for our data and personal information.
Do you have a mentor or do you mentor anyone?
I'm on the lookout for a mentor if anyone is interested! I've always been more interested in being the pupil rather than the master.
How do you network?
Selectively! I've spent a long time rocking up to events because of the expectation to do so but found many are difficult environments to make a genuinely new connection. These days I'm open to opportunities, but I tend to gauge them first to filter out situations I don't think to bring value to anybody.
How did you get into this line of work and What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same line of work?
Vanessa (Abodoo Co-founder) and myself combined our strengths when starting the company. Vanessa has a recruitment background, and I have a technical background, so the merge made sense for what we wanted to create with our business.
My advice is to be open-minded and accept that the hat you wear most of the time may not be one you would have chosen for yourself but wear it the best you can! The reality with founders and startups is that you have to adapt very quickly whilst you strive to eventually bring people around you that do it all far better.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
That best intentions don't directly equate to success!
What's the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
Professional and personal cultures that don't support the underdog enough. All startups are an underdog at the beginning, and that's a tough position without throwing additional stresses and barriers into the mix. We need to be more forgiving and open to failure and vulnerabilities. Our education systems need to inspire more confidence and determination.
What are you most proud of in your life?
Being the family man, I didn't know I could be.
How do you define success?
Contentment (not complacency) both personally and professionally.
What do you think your unique skill(s) is that has helped you become successful?
A combination of tenacity, creativity, and an open mind
What valuable lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience?
People may have more professional experience, but it doesn't necessarily equate to the right answer. Intuition is cultivated from all of your life experiences, no matter how big or small. Learn how to listen to others but also listen to yourself. Then make a decision based not on ego but on what feels intrinsically right.
You need to be an explorer cutting through the forest of opinions until you find your own true path. There is no one hard-set rule for business. There are multiple combinations, and it's ok to break the rules for the right reasons.
Is there anything new you are working on that you would like to share?
Abodoo's first product was our SaaS platform that connects professionals to career opportunities based on skill profiles and regardless of location, gender, or ethnicity. We are expanding on that offering with enhanced services for both our b2b and b2c audiences. We now have members in over 60 countries and are working on reaching companies in those territories too.
Where's your favourite place?
Home
What is your hobby?
Playing music
Best holiday of choice?
Always looking forward to the next one. Anyone got a recommendation?
What are you not very good at and What are you good at?
I'm not good at thinking when I'm around any kind of mess or clutter. I'm good at creative thinking in decisive moments... Unless I'm in a messy space of course!
Which words do you overuse?
Hmmm. I'm painfully aware of people's overuse of words like 'passion' or lingo such as 'baked in' and I've definitely been guilty of using both...possibly in the same sentence!
Your social media platform of choice?
Jeez. None of them If I can help it.
When are you happiest?
When I'm totally immersed in something that has my absolute focus and interest whether that's time with my family, constructing a creative solution, exercising, or listening to a piece of music such as Lingus by Snarky Puppy - go listen to it right now!
Your favourite writer, author, movie, singer, TV show?
I prefer factual reading, TV show and Film. I love most forms of music but particularly funk, jazz, and blues. I seem to be getting less tolerant of anything mediocre as I get older!
What living person do you most admire?
I want my daughters to have strong role models to look up to. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is an example of someone not born into privilege but striving to make changes in the political system despite the intimidation of her advisories, what's not to admire about that.
A positive quote you like to share with people
"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."