Why work in a startup in Sweden (part 1)

Since my startup experience in Sweden is about to end, I thought I would list down the lessons learnt from joining one.  Why you should join one, if it interests you.  Personally I would never join a startup in Sweden ever again, likening it to the Titanic, but here's my take on the good points.  Afterall there is always good in something, even if it wasn't what you expected it to be.

Super flexible environment
This is a big plus for me, there are no real rigid hours.  Sure, there might be core hours, but even those can be bent.  This is Sweden afterall.  People in my office arrived late, and no one really cared or bothered.  Some would disappear during office hours, and no one really cared or bothered.

You get the point.

Leaving the Titanic

It's almost Christmas time and I've been in Sweden more than 7 months now.  How time flies.  I've found a new job and will leave my present company most likely at the end of February.  To say it has been a rollercoaster ride is nothing short of insanity.  From drunk colleagues to people who simply refuse to ever show up to work on time to on-the-spot firings, this has been hands down the worst company I've ever worked for.  Everyday was like living in Trump's "The Apprentice: Swedish Edition" and comparable to real life Dilbert.  In fact I swear at times there's a camera living somewhere in the office recording our movements.

The Apprentice: Swedish Edition on Earth 2, without the hot girl.

Promoted at work

So me and two other guys got new titles at work.  I'm now "Scrum Master".  Note that I'm never a person to go with titles.  Afterall I already own Skyjuice Software and can call myself anything I want.  But now as a "Scrum Master" I have to take charge in leading the team, getting them to follow the process of how to develop software properly.

New title, more responsibility.

But why did I volunteer to take lead of the process?  Well simply because it was a complete disaster before.  Saying it was a disaster was an understatement actually, the team was run by someone who was a complete incompetent fool who did not even know how software is properly developed.

Can you survive a layoff?

So I was informed in confidence with regards to some terrible news.  Some people I may know will be fired soon but the exact details are yet to be determined.

Can you survive a... ?

I'm not inclined to say more except all of them have families and it's going to be quite tough on them.  What's worse is that they will not be told directly but be put on some sort of improvement program which will lead to them leaving the company anyway no matter how well they perform.  It's frankly rather stupid to be wasting their time as well as the company's time.  All of this is simply political.  So the clock is ticking for them and if I were them I would probably just leave because they have no future at the company.

  

Two weddings and no funeral

I have left Sweden and am currently in Singapore for two weddings, my cousin's and my brother's.  My cousin's was on the 4th of September and that was held at the W Sentosa, which is rather posh.  I have to say all of this poshness isn't for me.  That's the contemporary trend in Singapore, to have a posh wedding in a posh hotel with plenty of guests.  Maybe it's the non Asian in me speaking, but I would rather have mine at the top of a mountain with the bride and a photographer.

My brother's wedding was held at the Four Seasons hotel on the 11th of September.  The food was pretty similar to my cousin's, it was good but I wouldn't pay that much for it.  If you ask me frankly weddings today are just exorbitant especially the ones in Singapore.  I don't see the point in spending so much money for a wedding, wouldn't it be more prudent to save it for a nice honeymoon or future expenses?

Visby, Fårö, Gotland, Skansen, Stockholm, Sweden

Two weekends ago I spent several days in Gotland, the largest island off the coast of Sweden.  We caught the bus to Nynäshamn on the Friday and then the ferry to Visby which is the main town on Gotland.  It's amazingly beautiful and reminds me of the time when I lived in Australia, in particular, Tasmania.  I stayed in the town of Visby where it was medieval week.  Visby has a town wall, plenty of ruins, and is quite historic.  We visited the city museum on Saturday and Sunday me and Kerstin rented a car and drove to the island of Fårö, where we saw lots of rauks.  Which is pretty much rocks, you guessed it.  But yes that's how rauk is spelt in Swedish!  There are also plenty of apple trees here, just like in Oslo.

Almedalen, Visby.

Summer in Stockholm

The past couple of weeks have been quiet in Stockholm since it's now summer holidays.  Two weekends ago I spent some time in Farsta Strand.  It's not that far away from Central Stockholm, about 20 minutes by metro.  I was looking to do some fishing there, unfortunately my fishing rod was missing the part where you connect the nylon.  So unfortunately I had to use my work colleague's fishing rod, and not only that we didn't really catch any fish!  It was still fun though and it was a really nice view.

Farsta Strand.