Working at Sift Science: The Business Edition

Interviewing at a new company can be nerve wracking, especially if it’s in a field you’re not familiar with. Our Sifties all come from interesting (and often non-fraud-related) backgrounds. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about working on the business team at Sift Science, answered by members of our Marketing, Sales, Solutions, and Strategy/Finance teams! 

Q: Sift sounds interesting but I have to say I’m not really passionate about fraud. Why should I work in this area?

A: by Miguel Veloz, Strategic Account Manager

Sift Science isn’t a fraud company. Sift is a first-class machine-learning company that happens to be battling bad guys. Most of the people at Sift never really thought about fraud before joining, and it’s been really fascinating to learn about the industry.

Another thing to keep in mind is that fraud is EVERYONE’S problem. As the world continues to rely more and more on e-commerce and internet services overall, the opportunity to protect that ecosystem continues to grow as well. Knowing as much as I do about the industry now, I’m really glad that this is the problem that we’ve chosen to tackle, because it truly makes a huge difference to how our customers are able to grow their own businesses. In short, I came to Sift because of the people, the role, the opportunity to learn and better myself with an incredible start up, not because of fraud.

Q: Sift sounds pretty great but I don’t know if I am ready to leave my large company. How did you decide it was time to leave? What was the transition like?

A: by Katherine Loh, Lead Solutions Engineer

I decided to join Sift because I felt like I could learn and grow faster at a startup than at Google. I had been at Google for two and a half years, and felt like I was ready for a totally new set of challenges. After my first month at Sift I felt like I had done more at Sift than I did in my first year at Google – the challenges and impact were immediate.

The transition was easy for me – but I had been at a sub-50 person prior to Google. I was back in an environment where it was largely up to me to manage my own time, prioritization and if I saw a problem, it was always fair game for me to tackle. The things I miss most are the subsidized massages and the cauliflower at the salad bar. And the video conferencing system. 🙂

Q: I’m really looking for a position that I can grow a lot in. What kind of skills have you learned during the last 6 months at Sift?

A: by Sarfaraz Rydhan, Solutions Engineer

I joined Sift Science to learn more about the business of startups, work closely with customers, and grow professionally and personally. Before Sift, I was in a software engineering role, so the last 6 months have been really educational.

Being at a startup, I’m able to work on many projects and with different teams – and each quarter I’m stretched to learn new things. Over the past couple of months I’ve negotiated with customers, worked on legal contracts, and learned about the sales process for Saas startups.

Through the collaborative environment at Sift Science, I sit in on product meetings and design sessions to get a first-hand look at the thought process of product decisions. I’ve learned the importance of design and messaging in software products.

Q: I’m doing some fairly interesting work at my current company. What do you find so exciting about your work?

A: by Nikhil Chari, Account Executive

There are two main things that make working at Sift Science exciting for me:

1. The product: Having a computer learn without needing to be explicitly programmed is fascinating. So is learning about it. I like still having so many questions months into things, and I’m genuinely interested in knowing the answers.
2. The Sift Science team and my place in it: Working at a startup like this gives me the opportunity to have a real impact. Also, with many processes still being built out, there is a lot of room for ideas and creativity. Beyond that, there is also a lot to learn on the technical side of Sift, so having a team that is collaborative and happy to answer questions is very valuable.

A: by Samir Rao, Business Associate

What I love about Sift is that I get a ton of different responsibilities and a lot of ownership over those responsibilities. I’m a part of the Strategy and Finance team so I get to work on a lot of the modeling and revenue forecasting that goes into how Sift looks strategically at its business model and its revenue traction.

The other thing about Sift, and startups in general, is that you get to work on a lot of projects across functions if you’re interested. So I’ve been helping out product and design with bringing in customers to get feedback, working with Solutions engineers to work through a large integration with a new customer, and collaborating with our operations team to launch a partnership with the YMCA. There’s always more than enough to do and a startup, if you’re willing to work hard, you get a ton of exposure really quickly. It’s an awesome experience!