Mario is a dedicated hunter with a passion for developing IT channels and go-to-market strategies. In his leisure time he reads books, plays Hearthstone and devotes almost every minute to his daughter.
Can you tell me a bit about your role at GoCardless and how you got involved in the industry?
Here at GoCardless I am managing partners and alliances in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. For us, partners very often mean software and service companies that provide accounting and billing systems as well as gym and office management solutions. My background is in IT and software, so services and platforms like GoCardless were not new to me. However, the payment industry with all its players and challenges requires my daily attention and adaptation. I never planned to work for a payment service provider, but so far it was no mistake to have pivoted recently in my career.
GoCardless is an international company, and you personally work out of a coworking space in Munich. Can you tell me about the space and your experience there? And how has your experience lived up to your preconceptions?
We are located at Mindspace in the middle of Munich. The building has five floors and hundreds of offices in a variety of sizes for start-ups and large corporations. On each floor there is a common area with a kitchen and cozy seats where people meet to work, eat, mingle, and relax.
For our company shared offices are the perfect opportunity to install a team quickly in another country, rent seats and offices that suit the team as well as scale the team size according to growth and market demands. Everything we need to work successfully is provided by the space or the community management team here. For team meetings we can easily rent a shared meeting room for one or two hours, if customers are visiting us we can block a room for longer, or sometimes we just meet in the communal areas over a coffee.
For years, I worked for larger corporations that built their own offices, employing hundreds of people within an open space architecture. Hence, I was used to busy work environments that can be noisy at times, full of creative people who will be the next wave of founders very soon. However, experiencing innovative, Mindspace-like concepts firsthand began for me in 2019. Working in shared offices makes you aware of all the spaces that are flourishing in every corner of Germany. A big part of our customers and partners cherish this new concept as they see clear advantage in regards to cost, location, and flexibility.
Do you have any advice for space operators deciding on their payment processor?
The integration with a solution like Cobot is mandatory, from my point of view. Such a solution must be integrated with a payment provider that offers different means of payment to the customer. As a space operator I would appreciate variety, while also addressing clients worldwide and optimizing conversion and churn rates. One-time payment means for transactions are not necessarily the best way of collecting money.
What trends do you see developing in coworking, either from the perspective of a payment provider or as a coworking member?
It surprises me every time I enter a shared office how different the concepts are. The notion of sharing space is not new, but what companies and people make out of it differs immensely. The experience itself and the fact that you have to attract young talent and feel at home in a public area is a challenge and opportunity at the same time. To me, Berlin seems to be a little more creative than any other city in Germany.
In terms of payment gateways there is a clear trend away from classic providers and banks, which gives Fintechs a chance to meet the needs of the ever-evolving subscription and membership economy.
Thanks for your time! Can you share a few ways that people can connect with you and GoCardless online?
You can find us on LinkedIn. Feel free to get in touch with me directly at mboehm@gocardless.com.
If you aren’t already using Cobot as your coworking management software, give it a go! You’ll find that our features can help you run your coworking space more effectively and grow your community. Just sign up for a free trial or a live demo session. And if you have questions, our support team is all ears!
Happy Coworking!
