It’s been two weeks since I started at Wave. Onboarding went well. I’m settled in and starting to take on real project work.
I’ve enjoyed getting to know people and learning how the business works. It’s different from most places I’ve worked. Here’s how:
First, Wave is an app-first business. Most of my career has been in websites. I’ve touched apps before, but never focused on them exclusively. It’s been fun digging into that world and getting set up. I’ve got test devices ready and my machine is dialed in for development. Thanks to Claude and everyone who helped me get going.
Second, Wave operates in Africa. My whole career has been at companies focused on North America. Automattic and Shopify were global, but their center of gravity stayed North American. I was born in Africa myself, but there’s still a real cultural gap between there and here that I’m working to close. I’ve loved learning new customs and ways of thinking. It’s intimidating, but exciting. I’m lucky Wave takes customer research this seriously. I’ll need to lean on it to do good work for Wave and its customers.
Third, Wave has a mature product culture. Most places I’ve worked were still building that muscle. For a lot of my career, I’ve had to play that role myself. One thing that stood out right away is Wave’s product charter. It puts customers first, favors informed decisions, moves fast, and keeps scope tight while working toward a fuzzy end state. That’s basically how I aspire to work already. I’m looking forward to practicing it and learning from some very smart people here.
Fourth, we operate in French-speaking countries. Living in Canada, French isn’t new to me. Doing customer research in French is. We have translators, so it won’t be a blocker. But I can’t shake the feeling that I’d get more out of hearing customers firsthand.
So yes, you heard it here first. I’m learning French. More on that in another post.