Blog
March 14, 2019
Malte Polzin has been working in digital business since 1999, focusing on marketing and digital commerce (B2C and B2B). As former CEO of DeinDeal AG and Brack Electronics AG, as well as Onedot Advisor, Malte is a passionate speaker, consultant, and moderator.
Who is Malte Polzin?
A cheerful and humorous person with a great passion for digital technology and working with people.
What is it like to work as a consultant? What are the biggest advantages and disadvantages?
Well, I ended my active career as a full-time consultant after my time at Carpathia. But I found it advantageous to deal with different problems in projects with a wide variety of clients (size, industry, customer segments). It’s very exciting and you can learn a lot. On the other hand, you never really settle in one place, which was the reason I decided to switch back to the operational side. I am currently looking for a new challenge and taking on smaller assignments so I don’t get “rusty.” Supporting Onedot as an advisor is a very exciting side job for me. The product and the team won me over very quickly, and I would like to contribute my experience to accompany and support them.
A word that best describes how you work.
Empathetic.
Tell us a little about your background and how you got to where you are today.
If you are interested in my career, I would refer you to my LinkedIn profile. Some people say I have had a great career—to be honest, I sometimes have to remind myself that I have been fortunate enough to work on many exciting topics and in many exciting positions. But titles, for example, have never been that important to me. I’ve always done what I enjoy and then I put my heart and soul into it. Then a certain amount of success almost automatically follows. Working with people is always important to me. Whether as a colleague or a manager – I don’t make a distinction between the two. Achieving goals together is always my priority.
How is your workspace set up?
I don’t have a fixed workplace at the moment. I try to use my desk in my home office as little as possible. I currently work either in coworking spaces, at Starbucks, at companies owned by friends, or at clients’ offices when I take on smaller projects. It’s very refreshing not to be tied to a fixed location for a while. But at work, I prefer a desk with two monitors, for example. Once you get used to it, you really don’t want to do without it.
Walk us through an interesting, unusual, or complicated process that you have experienced at work.
Issues relating to employees, for example during a reorganization, are naturally interesting and more challenging than complicated. Even in younger, growing companies that are constantly changing, it is always very demanding to take everyone’s feelings into account and moderate in a motivating way. Even though this happens time and again, it is of course something completely different from day-to-day management tasks. How do you recharge your batteries or take a break? Time and communication with my wife are very important to me. I like to really switch off when playing a round of golf—if I don’t, my score suffers accordingly. During the day, I allow myself breaks—unfortunately with a cigarillo.
What is your favorite side project?
I’m trying to learn tango.
What are you reading right now, or what would you recommend?
I’m not a bookworm. I read a lot of specialist literature/blogs and am increasingly listening to podcasts. I recently compiled a list of the sources I read on trading in my blog here.
Who else would you like to see answering these questions?
Jeff Bezos.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
«Culture eats strategy for breakfast» It’s old but so true.
What is a problem you are still trying to solve?
Quit smoking.
How do you view artificial intelligence/machine learning in retail?
I think it will become one of the central topics, whether in analysis, customer access, or the optimization of internal processes. I don’t think we can even imagine yet how important it will become.
What is your advice for the retail industry?
Constantly reinvent yourselves, create unique experiences for customers, and develop services (ideally with a separate revenue model) that clearly differentiate you from Amazon and others. Automate the backend wherever possible, especially in Switzerland, where personnel costs are so high.
How do you see the development of trade in 2019?
Further disproportionate growth of large platforms, but also many that can serve customers in their niche even better with new approaches and business models, thus creating a real raison d’être for themselves. In general, the online share will grow by double digits again this year, and things will get really tight for many brick-and-mortar retailers.
In your opinion, what best describes the future of retail?
«Reinvent or die».
Find out more about Malte Polzin and his thoughts on digital topics at polzin.ch.