Yassine Belmamoun is the Co-founder and CTO of Manatal. They're a Thai recruitment SaaS startup that raised a $5.1M seed early this year!

👋🏼 How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

I am in charge of the engineering and product team at Manatal.

My role is to help and support my teams to achieve the following:

• Ensure that our software is functioning well for all our users.
• Design and build cutting-edge products, tools and features to empower recruiters and help them hire better and faster.
  

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🧐 What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

Something surprising about me? I was a national champion in my home country, Morocco, in the high jump (Athletics) discipline.

I decided to stop my athletic career when I received a scholarship to pursue my other passion, Mathematics, in France. I still miss it.

Something surprising about my job? My team counts 25 members from 16 nationalities, all based out of Bangkok, Thailand. I love to work in multi-cultural teams.

🏆 What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

It makes me happy and proud to know that the product my team built during the past few years helped companies hire over 100,000 candidates across 140+ countries.

I like to think that by improving the hiring process, Manatal was able to change the life of candidates and empower teams across the globe to make the world a better place.

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🔍 What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?‍

Transforming the world starts with hiring and empowering talented people capable of making a positive change.

I am very interested in how technology can facilitate this. HRTech is definitely the space that I am watching closely and focusing on for the following years to come.

💼 What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry?

‍I would give the following advice to anyone willing to build a startup:

• Build your self-esteem and invest in yourself: Learn that you are capable of learning anything you want if you put in the time and the focus.
• Get things done: Keep the focus. Execute well. Be disciplined.
• Health is wealth: If you lose your health, it's game over.

🗣 What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours?

User Experience. There is always something to improve in every Product and Service.

🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show?

TV Show: Ozark - For the ambivalence between empathy and rational thinking and decision-making

🍨 What's your go-to ice cream flavor?‍

Lemon sorbet, sour and tangy!