We had a chat with Toomas Koost, our Renewal Product Manager. You can truly call Toomas a jack of all trades - his experience ranges from managing IT projects and finances to doing sales and providing tech support.
Toomas started at Fairown in the beginning of the year and has very ambitious goals. He wants to find simple solutions to complex problems and knows that it’s possible with a strong team such as Fairown’s. Toomas is committed to using every possible option to save the planet - reduce the consumption of natural resources and greenhouse gases.
Tell us about your professional background.
Over 8 years, I worked for a corporate and marine travel agency. A small part of that business also included a travel agency platform. I spent the first years tinkering on it as a Project Manager. Two-three years later, we purchased a core of an online travel agency, and my job was to build the next generation travel agency booking tool in cooperation with an outsourced development team. We managed to build new functionalities that other players developed for years in just weeks. Unfortunately, luck was not on our side - it wasn’t the next rocket in the travel agency market. Down the line, we made profit, but it was not enough to prioritise it internally.
Over the years, I started to take over more responsibilities as a Corporate Travel Agent. I had the opportunity to work with unique customers in the Baltic market. Every day there was a new challenge to tackle and a problem to solve. As I gained experience, I started working with accounting and management to improve the reporting to auditors, clients, and other stakeholders. In many cases I was negotiating contracts with partners and clients.
All in all, I became a generalist in all areas of business. I had the opportunity to be a Project Manager for an IT solution, work as an Account Manager, do sales, provide technical support for colleagues, manage finances, and so on.
This February, I became a Renewal Process Lead at Fairown. By September, my role had changed too much, which is why it made sense to name it a Product Manager.
Why did you choose Fairown, what stood out for you?
In short: a complex problem, a simple solution, a massive scaling potential. These are the main phrases that come to mind why Fairown stands out from the rest. I’ve understood that I want to solve a problem that has a big impact.
I was curious when I first heard about Fairown. They were looking for someone to handle the renewal process and make it work. I came to the interview, talked to the CTO Taivo for an hour or two, and then it sparked - there is an interesting problem to solve. I am like a kid in a candy store if I see an interesting problem. I dove deep into the process, made MVP process sketches, and apparently the management liked it, because here I am!
Name some fun facts about yourself that we can’t find on your CV or social profile.
I really like board games, especially Dungeons & Dragons. Unfortunately with the latter, I am always the dungeon master;
I do not like swimming, the water is wet and not nice.
What drives and inspires you the most in your daily work?
Finding simple solutions to complex problems. I’ve learnt to push forward small, detailed tasks, but I really like to work with big ideas and find answers that others might have not yet come up with. Though, that is not enough for me. I’ve incubated a lot of big ideas, but only succeeded a few times - when a strong team is there. I’m lucky that Fairown’s team is full of brilliant people who make ideas and vision a reality. That is the biggest drive to move forward.
Where do you see yourself and Fairown in a couple of years?
In two-three years, I hope to solve bigger and more complex problems for all Fairown’s customers. Fairown itself has become a self-sustainable organisation, which provides value to all stakeholders of the circular economy. If one link is losing, the whole circle falls apart - it is our job to aggregate this.
The only way to win the race of saving planet Earth is to use every option in our arsenal to reduce the consumption of new natural resources and the amount of greenhouse gases.