For Gaurav, Xapo Bank’s Technical Lead, Banking Operations, the ability to walk from home to office in minutes and remain in his hometown with his loved ones while working with a global team are things he would not trade for anything. We caught up with Gaurav to talk about life, work and all in between.
What do you like most about working at Xapo Bank?
The people and the mission! I can collaborate with Xapiens from all around the globe to leverage technology for enabling global financial inclusion and empowerment.
I also love the flexibility that Xapo Bank’s remote work culture gives me. I live in India, which is the Easternmost time zone in my team at Xapo Bank, so I'm usually the first one to start my work day. I have an office suite a few minutes walk from my house, so I have a place to go each day and get into complete work mode, without the downsides of a long commute. I'm not a natural early riser, so I'm grateful that I can head to my office late-morning and still get a few hours where I can enjoy virtual solitude before the rest of my team starts their work day.
What's your typical work day like?
I usually start my work day sipping on my first cup of coffee and catching up on missed communications. Then, the first half of my day is blocked out for deep work – usually a distinct coding task/review, or grokking product/design specifications, or solutionizing architecture. I have this "task of the day" already pencilled in from the previous day, so I can jump straight into it and already score a win by completing it before heading back home for lunch - yes, I have lunch at home every day!
When I'm back from lunch, I switch to collaborator mode, as by this time, more Xapiens are starting their work day, including some of my team members. My goal for the rest of the day is usually to be a multiplier for my team output, whatever form that might take.
As a wind-down ritual, I check in with my team and plan out my next day. As I leave the office, I'm fully unplugged from work for the day.
What does Xapo do to help you feel connected to fellow Xapiens in a remote environment?
We have a variety of initiatives to explicitly make time for social activities. We have a buddy program where a new Xapien is paired up with a tenured Xapien to help guide them during their first few weeks at Xapo.
We have a fortnightly donut call where you're matched up randomly with another Xapien who you might not be working with day-to-day. We also have many different social slack channels where we interact with all Xapiens asynchronously – like #dev or #news or country specific channels.
Each team has their own social events as well – my particular team has a weekly Thursday afternoon social event where one team member hosts what activity we do like trivia or pictionary – it's always fun!
What do you do in your free time?
As Xapo is globally remote, I can live and work from anywhere and I choose to live in Rajkot, my hometown. I was born here, have my closest family and friends around, and my town is, thankfully, still small enough that I can practically spend some time with people I love everyday.
As we have different day schedules, my family has a long standing tradition to have dinner together, discuss our days and unwind together. Then, it might be listening to my parents recounting tales from their yesteryears or going for a long walk with my wife or meeting up with friends to catch a game – there's seldom a set plan; except to enjoy the valued company of those I cherish.
Any other hobbies?
I love all things technology, so I spend a lot of time following my curiosities there. This ranges from playing with a new programming language or library, reading up on rapidly advancing developments in academia/industry or picking up a book recommended by my colleagues. You can also easily catch me lurking on Reddit or HackerNews.
I'm fascinated by a good film, so I'll watch almost any movie once (and my favourites, literally dozens of times!) – thankfully for me, having Xapiens from across the world suggesting movies is a much better recommendation algorithm than Netflix's.
At Xapo Bank, we believe that when it comes to talent, there are no barriers, just shared goals and attitudes. In our world, everyone deserves the chance to learn and grow, regardless of their location, background or ethnicity. We think globally, work collaboratively and inspire each other to continue pushing the boundaries of what's possible in fintech and digital banking.
If you want to join us and play your part in the future of banking, explore open positions on our Careers page.
You can also learn more about Xapo Bank’s crypto-enabled banking proposition and how we help our members protect and grow their wealth.
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