Meet our new Pre-sale & Product manager Erik Karlberg

Our new Tech Pre-sale & Product manager shares his first impressions and role at LEKAB. In an interview, he talks about his first time in the office and how he sees his role in developing our products and reaching out to new customers.

👋 How has your first time at LEKAB been, and tell us more about your role?

– It was straight into the thick of things after the holidays. I had barely worked a week before I was writing a solution description for a deal with a really large telecom operator and, at the same time, was involved in discussing how we would get the pricing right. The biggest reward so far is that I have been invited to participate in the development of the business, that my ideas and experience are appreciated and utilised, and that I have been able to contribute to the team's success.

– My role combines pre-sales/sales engineering with product management. In pre-sales, I understand what our customers need and see how our current products and offerings can fit into a potential deal. In product management, I research the market and package solutions to customers' problems so that they can be sold both once and several times.

💼 Tell us about your past work experiences. What did you do before you began working for us?

– Before LEKAB, I worked for a couple of years in E-commerce. Among other things, I worked at Swedish Centra and American Bolt, as well as as a consultant, and I have written a book on E-commerce for a digital nomad. My second career track has been production systems for mobile operators, which, among other things, took me to Dubai, where I lived for two years and worked on selling a Swedish Wi-Fi platform to operators in the Middle East and Africa.

– I've also had a few other detours alongside my main career. I have run companies that built apps, sold Apple products, hired out staff and offered co-working. I have also had a career in journalism and have written for both Dagens Nyheter and Katrineholms-Kuriren.

🎯 What motivates you the most at work?

– Participation and when I feel that I contribute to the company's journey forward. I feel most comfortable when I'm involved in creating something, whether it's a technical solution for a customer, a product or a process for scaling up the business.

– I need to aim for the stars, for a bigger vision where tomorrow is brighter than today.

🏕️ What do you like to do in your spare time?

– I would love to say that I hike and sleep in tents a lot, but it's a constant struggle against all the commitments to keep up with it. A little too much time is spent on various renovation projects on the house and the everyday puzzles as a parent of young children.

– What I prefer to do instead is to read books, explore the world with our daughter, and travel with the family, and then I find it difficult to keep myself from occasionally spending an evening on some hobby coding. Most often, it will be some new fun feature for the local newspaper in Södertälje, which I am the owner of.