The journey from intern to C-suite requires time, dedication, and a love of the company — all things Jonathan Fernandes de Souza is familiar with. What started out as an internship at a small mobile marketing network in Hamburg eventually turned into a Chief Sales Officer position at a globally ranked and rapidly growing UA network. Now at a new office location and with almost 60 employees, exmox has expanded into something Jonathan could only dream about when he started.
Born and raised in Brazil, he first fell in love with Germany after completing a short-term internship here. After making the decision to return to Germany and work full-time, he found exmox. 8 years later, he is now the Chief Sales Officer, and his responsibility is to oversee the general sales and account management activities from a strategic and coordination level. Read his interview to learn more about this journey, how his career has shifted over time, and advice he’d give those wanting to work up to C-suite one day.
How did you first find out about exmox?
I was looking for an internship in Hamburg, and I was interested in the area of gaming. I ended up getting in touch with exmox’s founder and then CEO, Alper Eger, through an exchange program. When we met for the first time, it was in exmox’s first office which was in the back of a logistics company in the industrial region of Hamburg. When I got to the office, there was nothing there – no sign saying Exmox. I stand there and Alper comes out of a door, and says “Hey, Jonathan, the office is in here!” And that’s how I got into exmox.
Walk us through your journey from intern to C-suite.
As an intern and one of the only employees, I learned about a lot of different roles. At first I was doing business development and account management on the advertiser side. Back then, we didn’t have our products, so I was focused on the advertiser side, getting clients, and managing the publishers.
As I gained more skills, my career organically switched to being an account manager for publishers and advertisers, while still finding new clients. Over time I developed an all-encompassing experience of both sides of the business, building expertise, and ended up being responsible for both advertisers and publishers. Then my position grew from there.
What are you most proud of regarding exmox’s development over the years?
I’m most proud of our pivot into rewarded engagement or rewarded traffic, CPE. Back when I joined, exmox didn’t do that. We were just a UA network. We would find publishers that had install campaigns, and I was the one who had the idea to switch into CPE. There was a stigma around incentive at the time, but I saw some opportunities, and by then Alper trusted me enough to let me chase that. It ended up being the pivot that transitioned us from being just a network to what we are today.
What also really made a difference for exmox was the switch from third-party partnerships to our own products, in large part thanks to the work of our new CEO, Caglar Eger. Having our own platforms has allowed us to scale massively and gives us much more control in terms of how much we are able to deliver to our partners.
What about exmox’s future are you most excited about?
It’s a difficult question, because to me, this is the future.
When I joined, we were three people in a small, one room office. We hoped for what we are today, but it’s amazing to think about how far we’ve come. We are now a major player in the industry.
But I believe we’re at the cusp of becoming one of the top companies in the industry, thanks to the products, partners, and team we have.
How does a CSO typically spend the day?
I spend my day reviewing general performance in terms of revenue, looking over brief overviews of individual accounts and situations, discussing with the head of the department, and more. Once I assess the current topics, I find what I can do to help them or give some insights.
I also coordinate with the rest of the management team, discussing strategies, the future with the product, and how we sync with other teams. My duties have shifted a lot, from being extremely hands-on with every single thing, to playing more of an overseer role and managing people instead of the activities. One of the things I enjoy the most about my job is working with and developing the team.
What makes exmox special?
I really enjoy the type of environment we’ve cultivated here at exmox. It’s very important to us to foster a culture of teamwork, learning and growing. The goodness of exmox makes me happy to be here!
What advice would you give to those wanting to work up to C-suite?
If you’re looking to get on the C-suite path and to make a name for yourself, you really need to identify with the company and with your job. At some point, my job became something that I noticed had somehow clicked. I really enjoyed doing it. I then started thinking of the bigger picture. How do we connect the dots here?
If you enjoy your position and you can do it well, try to learn more skills. Show people that you’re your own agent, can come up with ideas, and that you’re always trying to develop. If you enjoy what you do and you’re diligent with your work, I think growth will come from that.
Be ambitious. Be clear that you’re looking for something more, that you’re taking on more responsibilities. Don’t be afraid to show that desire for growth in your role and to talk about it and plan it out.
Part of the culture we have at exmox is not to stifle people that are growing, instead, it’s appreciated.
In what ways have you received advice or inspiration in your career?
I try to take all the lessons I’ve learned from many people over my career and implement them. I’m very grateful to have learned a lot of things and received opportunities from Alper and Caglar. And sometimes inspiration comes from a casual conversation and we talk about something that really clicks with me.
Find Jonathan on LinkedIn here.