Meeting Title: Brainforge Operations Career Development Check-in Date: 2025-11-21 Meeting participants: Uttam Kumaran, Rico Rejoso
WEBVTT
1 00:00:29.340 ⇒ 00:00:30.279 Rico Rejoso: How you thumb?
2 00:00:30.830 ⇒ 00:00:32.299 Uttam Kumaran: There we go. How are you?
3 00:00:33.030 ⇒ 00:00:33.919 Rico Rejoso: Good, how are you?
4 00:00:35.660 ⇒ 00:00:36.340 Uttam Kumaran: Good.
5 00:00:36.930 ⇒ 00:00:37.940 Uttam Kumaran: How’s the week?
6 00:00:39.580 ⇒ 00:00:45.599 Rico Rejoso: like the usual, but I guess a bit much more pressure on my end.
7 00:00:46.280 ⇒ 00:00:47.060 Uttam Kumaran: Oh, yeah?
8 00:00:48.120 ⇒ 00:00:49.960 Rico Rejoso: Yeah, I mean, there’s a lot of stuff.
9 00:00:50.290 ⇒ 00:00:52.939 Rico Rejoso: Personally, as well, happening since the move.
10 00:00:53.670 ⇒ 00:00:55.070 Uttam Kumaran: Oh yeah, how’d it go?
11 00:00:56.230 ⇒ 00:01:05.030 Rico Rejoso: We had a problem with the landlord last week, so I negotiated with a new one just this week, so I’ve been doing that after my shift.
12 00:01:06.050 ⇒ 00:01:07.300 Uttam Kumaran: Oh, really? Okay.
13 00:01:07.300 ⇒ 00:01:08.410 Rico Rejoso: But still, yeah.
14 00:01:08.530 ⇒ 00:01:12.649 Rico Rejoso: Yeah, I mean, we’re severely flooded, so we have to move out as soon as possible.
15 00:01:14.350 ⇒ 00:01:17.590 Uttam Kumaran: I’m sorry.
16 00:01:18.150 ⇒ 00:01:25.300 Rico Rejoso: It’s the same thing every year. It’s just that we don’t have… we weren’t able to, or capable of moving out.
17 00:01:25.510 ⇒ 00:01:27.310 Rico Rejoso: I’ll be stupid.
18 00:01:28.020 ⇒ 00:01:28.650 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
19 00:01:30.940 ⇒ 00:01:35.650 Uttam Kumaran: How is, yeah, how… so I guess I kind of just wanted to have time
20 00:01:35.790 ⇒ 00:01:41.040 Uttam Kumaran: To just talk about, like, how everything’s going, and… And how,
21 00:01:41.530 ⇒ 00:01:47.110 Uttam Kumaran: how you feel, like, at Brain Forge, and just get your perspective and feedback.
22 00:01:50.430 ⇒ 00:01:58.079 Rico Rejoso: Yeah, everything… I mean, joining Brainforge was really a big opportunity for you. I mean, like, I’ve been learning a lot.
23 00:01:58.090 ⇒ 00:02:08.439 Rico Rejoso: To be honest, every time I join a stand-up, especially when you and Robert are leading, since you guys have different leadership style, or the way you, you know, execute stand-ups.
24 00:02:08.440 ⇒ 00:02:20.130 Rico Rejoso: The terminologies first was a bit of a rough thing for me, since I don’t have much background on the industry, but yeah, I’ve been picking a lot. I’ve been sending, Sam.
25 00:02:20.130 ⇒ 00:02:28.169 Rico Rejoso: staff, you know, direct messages in case, there were, like, terms that I’m not familiar with, just to clarify things out, and I’m also doing my research.
26 00:02:28.280 ⇒ 00:02:29.819 Rico Rejoso: I’ve been interested.
27 00:02:30.290 ⇒ 00:02:36.539 Rico Rejoso: like, from the past week of, you know, the, the dashboards thing on Omni.
28 00:02:36.850 ⇒ 00:02:41.789 Rico Rejoso: I was… it kind of picked my interest, so I was playing around on it, so I’ll also.
29 00:02:41.790 ⇒ 00:02:42.810 Uttam Kumaran: Great, okay.
30 00:02:43.440 ⇒ 00:02:54.939 Rico Rejoso: referring to Mustafa for, like, some feedback on that, on what this is, what is that, and other things, so that I can… because I think it’s just a base knowledge that I need to, you know, speed up things with, so I can…
31 00:02:55.200 ⇒ 00:02:56.380 Rico Rejoso: adapt to it.
32 00:02:57.950 ⇒ 00:03:02.119 Uttam Kumaran: Hmm, okay, great. I’m glad, dude. Yeah, like, how do you feel, like.
33 00:03:02.380 ⇒ 00:03:06.390 Uttam Kumaran: you know, before you got here, I guess, tell me, like, how…
34 00:03:06.720 ⇒ 00:03:13.429 Uttam Kumaran: the things you were doing, and like, how do you think about your career here? Like, what do you… what are things that you want to end up doing that maybe we can support?
35 00:03:15.720 ⇒ 00:03:34.039 Rico Rejoso: It’s more on the learning and development side, to be honest, yeah. That’s… that for me was a big opportunity. I’ve been, like, stagnant for the past few months, with everything, because I wanted to, but I don’t… just don’t know where to start, and given the opportunity that I’m working with a lot of, you know, knowledgeable individuals.
36 00:03:34.040 ⇒ 00:03:42.240 Rico Rejoso: in different fields, I feel like I need to step up, too, and also do my part in, you know, innovating and improving myself, so it does
37 00:03:42.830 ⇒ 00:03:46.669 Rico Rejoso: Urged me to, like, learn, and, you know.
38 00:03:47.190 ⇒ 00:03:51.799 Rico Rejoso: put my interest in learning on how data stuff works, AI stuff.
39 00:03:52.040 ⇒ 00:03:59.969 Rico Rejoso: Ryan and I have been meeting as well, like, how do you do automation, stuff like that, and what do you do, like, from the base of it up to…
40 00:04:00.160 ⇒ 00:04:18.099 Rico Rejoso: finalizing it. So, yeah, I think that that part for me, is very, like, you know, the precious part of being part of Brainforge. Just giving me the space and people, individuals, resources, to learn from was a very big deal for me.
41 00:04:19.200 ⇒ 00:04:30.850 Uttam Kumaran: Great, dude. No, I’m very happy. I think, from my perspective, you’ve been great. I think… I don’t know how I could… we could get to this point without you, and I just want to make sure that you feel like
42 00:04:31.210 ⇒ 00:04:37.950 Uttam Kumaran: you feel comfortable, you know, as we start to figure out how to scale to the next point, but also, like, I want to start to…
43 00:04:38.250 ⇒ 00:04:41.380 Uttam Kumaran: To think about, like, where your career wants to go, like.
44 00:04:41.540 ⇒ 00:04:46.459 Uttam Kumaran: You know, we definitely have… we want to turn everybody at your level into leaders.
45 00:04:46.610 ⇒ 00:04:51.420 Uttam Kumaran: in their own right, and if you feel like, hey, I’m doing well, but I want to start
46 00:04:51.620 ⇒ 00:04:57.600 Uttam Kumaran: being able to manage other operations people, and I want to start to lead a team and things, like, I would love to think about that.
47 00:04:57.790 ⇒ 00:05:06.230 Uttam Kumaran: You know, additionally, I would love to consider, you know, today, like, you know, a raise for you.
48 00:05:06.260 ⇒ 00:05:23.250 Uttam Kumaran: I know you’ve been doing a great job, and I’d love to sort of express that by, you know, giving you, some more on your rate, and if you’d be open to that, like, that would be awesome. I want to make sure that you feel motivated and supported, you know, kind of, like, continuing to
49 00:05:23.290 ⇒ 00:05:29.840 Uttam Kumaran: to work with us, and I want to continue to give you more responsibility, and also give you more resources, so…
50 00:05:30.000 ⇒ 00:05:32.580 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, that’s just kind of from our side.
51 00:05:34.550 ⇒ 00:05:48.640 Rico Rejoso: That is, you know, very appreciated, yeah. I would love that. But also, I feel like I haven’t stepped up much on… I mean, on Brain Forge. I wanted to see Brainforge grow as well.
52 00:05:48.640 ⇒ 00:05:55.549 Rico Rejoso: And, you know, get to that level and everything. I want to help that one, but if you feel like, yeah, I’ve been doing a great job, but…
53 00:05:55.890 ⇒ 00:05:59.709 Rico Rejoso: I think I… on my end, I also need to step up more, and, you know.
54 00:05:59.710 ⇒ 00:06:15.029 Uttam Kumaran: No, you’ve been doing… you’ve been doing a great job, and I think, I want to express that you’ve been great. I also am… I’m like you, I hold myself and the team to, like, very high expectations, so I… I will say continue to do that.
55 00:06:15.100 ⇒ 00:06:25.599 Uttam Kumaran: But I think, kind of, like, what I want to work towards for you is just, like, how do we start setting roadmaps together for operations and doing higher-level planning?
56 00:06:25.710 ⇒ 00:06:34.219 Uttam Kumaran: So one thing for this next phase is, one, I think we should try to see how we can get another person to come in and support you on operations.
57 00:06:34.600 ⇒ 00:06:36.450 Rico Rejoso: I think, certainly, I want to give…
58 00:06:36.580 ⇒ 00:06:41.570 Uttam Kumaran: Make sure that they’re… they’re able to work underneath you, and… and so whether that…
59 00:06:41.720 ⇒ 00:06:52.679 Uttam Kumaran: person we can source from any of the people we’re finding from online jobs, or you have some folks in your network, or I can look, but I think that’s a great next… next point.
60 00:06:52.850 ⇒ 00:06:57.339 Uttam Kumaran: It’s for you to start to lead, like, operations execution, and…
61 00:06:57.340 ⇒ 00:06:57.700 Rico Rejoso: Okay.
62 00:06:57.700 ⇒ 00:07:12.639 Uttam Kumaran: you know, it may not change short-term, but I kind of want to push you into that direction. And of course, like, I want to support any sort of learning and development, so if there’s anything you’re doing that you want me to support with budget or time or resources, let me know.
63 00:07:14.420 ⇒ 00:07:26.210 Rico Rejoso: Definitely, I’ll look into it first. On the side of, like, getting someone, yeah, I think we can start off with someone doing part-time, if you prefer, but when do you want it to do that exactly?
64 00:07:28.600 ⇒ 00:07:32.979 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I mean, this could be… we could start interviewing anytime, like, we have…
65 00:07:33.120 ⇒ 00:07:37.280 Uttam Kumaran: We have open things for operations, you know, right now, so…
66 00:07:38.160 ⇒ 00:07:38.880 Rico Rejoso: Okay.
67 00:07:39.240 ⇒ 00:07:51.730 Rico Rejoso: If possible, as well, if we can start it up by next year, since we’re already closing the year. I mean, it’s your decision still, but yeah, as I look into it, also, you know…
68 00:07:51.890 ⇒ 00:07:58.819 Rico Rejoso: want to make sure that we’re set up with all the clients first, and I can still assist and help out on that one. Maybe next year…
69 00:07:58.820 ⇒ 00:07:59.590 Uttam Kumaran: No, I…
70 00:07:59.590 ⇒ 00:08:00.320 Rico Rejoso: aluminum.
71 00:08:00.320 ⇒ 00:08:06.660 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, and I actually think this is, like, I need you to do that, I need you to start handing off some of the easier things, you know?
72 00:08:08.640 ⇒ 00:08:22.080 Rico Rejoso: Because I’ve been also, like, taking note of, some stuff that we… that have… that we’ve been doing on a recurring basis, so that if whenever we get someone on, some help on the operations side, I can definitely hand those off to them.
73 00:08:22.080 ⇒ 00:08:22.730 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
74 00:08:22.730 ⇒ 00:08:23.990 Rico Rejoso: Have him take,
75 00:08:24.130 ⇒ 00:08:28.650 Rico Rejoso: take it on from me, so I can also help on other end, on PM side, sales and marketing.
76 00:08:30.810 ⇒ 00:08:40.909 Rico Rejoso: Okay. So that’s one thing, but I haven’t really finalized or devised a plan, which I was planning to do with, Lauren the other time. I’ll send her a DM about it, like…
77 00:08:41.049 ⇒ 00:08:45.240 Rico Rejoso: what should we do and everything, so I’m getting that, you know, idea as well, so I want to make sure that.
78 00:08:45.240 ⇒ 00:08:45.560 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
79 00:08:45.560 ⇒ 00:08:51.050 Rico Rejoso: Get all the, from different perspectives and different experiences from other individuals.
80 00:08:51.980 ⇒ 00:08:52.600 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
81 00:08:54.810 ⇒ 00:09:03.589 Rico Rejoso: But, yeah, I’ll look into it, too. Well, Jane, maybe, I think we can get someone on a lower rate, especially if it’s…
82 00:09:03.810 ⇒ 00:09:08.190 Rico Rejoso: upcoming here in the Philippines as well, and working part-time, because I think I’ve…
83 00:09:08.720 ⇒ 00:09:10.990 Rico Rejoso: Had a conversation with some individuals as well.
84 00:09:11.950 ⇒ 00:09:12.630 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
85 00:09:13.840 ⇒ 00:09:14.190 Rico Rejoso: I’ll let you.
86 00:09:14.190 ⇒ 00:09:14.640 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah.
87 00:09:14.640 ⇒ 00:09:22.939 Rico Rejoso: And we can schedule an interview. I can do the, initial one if you wanted to, before I, you know, add you to the final or anything else.
88 00:09:23.300 ⇒ 00:09:24.020 Rico Rejoso: If that’s fine.
89 00:09:24.020 ⇒ 00:09:24.610 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah.
90 00:09:25.000 ⇒ 00:09:29.890 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I mean, also, let’s… let’s start by making sure, like, the job description, and then, yeah, let’s go ahead and…
91 00:09:29.990 ⇒ 00:09:31.659 Uttam Kumaran: And do that. I’m down.
92 00:09:32.280 ⇒ 00:09:36.380 Rico Rejoso: Sure, yeah, device for that one for the operations as well.
93 00:09:37.030 ⇒ 00:09:38.220 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, okay.
94 00:09:39.710 ⇒ 00:09:40.989 Rico Rejoso: Thank you so much.
95 00:09:41.460 ⇒ 00:09:48.589 Uttam Kumaran: Perfect, okay, thank you, Rico. I’ll let you know, sort of… I’ll probably have you help me work on the contract, so I’ll let you know those details today.
96 00:09:49.130 ⇒ 00:09:52.080 Rico Rejoso: Definitely, anytime you’re free. Thank you so much.
97 00:09:52.340 ⇒ 00:09:54.190 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, thank you, Rico. Talk to you soon.
98 00:09:54.190 ⇒ 00:09:55.259 Rico Rejoso: Alright, have a good one.