What’s it like to work at 9fin? We ran a quick-fire round with some of our employees (9finners) in this interview series. Their answers were full of energy — just like a shot of espresso in the morning ☕

In this interview you’ll hear from product manager Georgia Orfanou, as she discusses moving from a law firm to the product team, the scale-up environment, and being humbled by her baking experiences.

Hi Georgia! Firstly, what does the product team do?

It’s famously difficult for people to understand what we do! The simplest way of thinking about it is that we’re here to solve problems for our users.

Our job is interesting and complicated, in that we have to figure out which problems to solve — which solutions will benefit users, have the biggest impact and ultimately serve the company mission.

We do this by gathering as much information as possible — we talk to our users to get a solid understanding of their day-to-day problems and how 9fin helps them.

Describe your team in three words.

Friendly. Curious. Nerdy.

What made you decide to join 9fin?

Before 9fin I was a paralegal at a law firm. I then moved into a product role within the firm, and it solidified my feeling of wanting to move from a corporate environment to a tech startup.

I cast my net wide, but 9fin had really impressed me with its product.

I had an interview with Runa (Søberg, lead product manager), Huss (EL-Sheikh, CTO, co-founder) and Steven (Hunter, CEO, co-founder) and I was sold — their personalities shone through and it was obvious that they took their work seriously without taking themselves too seriously.

What’s the one thing you’d tell people about 9fin that they can’t guess through the website?

Two equally important things:

• We set hugely ambitious goals for ourselves and what we’re building
• Celebrating wins is as much a part of the culture as our ambition to build something that changes the industry

What makes people successful?

Being comfortable operating in an environment where there’s constant change is an underrated value. Coming into a new job, everything feels new and you expect that feeling to subside once you’ve found your footing.

There’s rarely any firm ground at a scale-up, not like there may be at a well-established corporate. You have to place one foot in front of the other and keep going — that’s the scale-up life!

On the plus side, working at 9fin means you’re never mindlessly doing your job — and for people to be successful and happy, they have to be comfortable with that.

Can you share your biggest achievement so far?

I’m really proud of how much our legal products have grown in the time I’ve been here. They were amazing when I joined, but we’ve really made strides in making sure we’re offering even more, across different verticals and geographies.

That’s definitely not an individual achievement, but a team effort that I’m happy to have contributed towards.

What excites you?

Learning and being exposed to anything new, whether that’s ideas, experiences, or food, really excites me.

I tried making croissants lately — I have no experience baking French pastry but I wanted to give it a shot. It was humbling.

Can we expect some homemade croissants in the office any time soon?

Sadly, they didn’t quite work out — you have to keep the butter really cold. My boyfriend and I were in a super cold room, wearing our puffer jackets, rolling the dough, but still not quite getting it right.

Some succeeded, some failed, but they all tasted delicious in the end.

What advice would you give someone who wants to join the product team?

Bring your own voice into the conversation! Part of what makes our team so strong is that we discuss, debate and refine our approach. We’re always learning from each other, so we want people who would find this kind of environment engaging.

Thanks, Georgia. 👋

We might not have homemade croissants for you, but we do have an inclusive, flexible culture — if you’re interested in joining us, check out our careers page here.