Testimonials

Read the stories of three zerocopy alumni who boosted their careers.

Siemon Vermetten

I enjoyed the responsibility and impact we had on Zerocopy. We were really allowed to figure things out on our own but were also motivated and taught everything we needed to know.

I learned how important independence is when creating or managing a team. Allowing people to work independently by giving them trust and responsibilities they will push harder and feel more in charge of what they do.

I also learned how to solve problems creatively. Essentially we had to build everything up from scratch so we had to test and optimize everything we did with as little resources as possible.

One of the biggest take aways from working at Zerocopy is running lean. It made me realize how simple marketing can be if it’s executed carefully and optimized accordingly.

Siemon (Linkedin) started as business developer of Zerocopy in 2015 where he worked on expanding Zerocopy all over Belgium starting the Zerocopy City Manager program. With the success of doubling our student community in less then 10 months, he continued to perfect, optimise and fully establish the off- and online marketing strategy. After two years working for Zerocopy as a student Siemon started working full-time as User Development Manager building a scalable marketing machine. Currently Siemon works as Editor in Chief of International Vaping.

Yves Smits

During my time at Zerocopy I learned that communication is very important. Transparant communication allowed me to work better together with all the City Managers and other involved people in Zerocopy.

I also learned how key functions worked. In a startup you can start in a very important function, whereas in big companies you really start at the bottom. I enjoyed how our work had an immediate impact.

I learned a lot as City Manager, but even more when I stared as a Marketing Manager. Working closely with the management team was awesome! I didn’t just learn stuff about my job, but also other skills on a professional level.

Furthermore, the core team meetings were amazing. Looking at all the data behind the company, processing that information and coming up with solutions gave me a very valuable experience.

Yves (Linkedin) started working as City Manager of Leuven in September 2017. After a year Yves became the Marketing Manager for Zerocopy Belgium. During his time working for Zerocopy, Yves learned a lot about scalability and startup management which motivated him to enter the Start Academy competition with his idea the EduBox with which he made it to the finals! Today, Yves works at one of Zerocopy’s partners in Leuven.

Nazar Cherepanin

I enjoyed working for Zerocopy because of the independence and responsibility we got. By recieving trust and possibilities we got to develop ourselves and truly be involved in the running of Zerocopy.

As the City Manager of Leuven my main goals was to raise awareness of the existence of Zerocopy among students. That included setting up and coordinating marketing campaigns, finding new locations to install printing points, acquiring new advertising clients and maintaining contact with all the main partners in Leuven.

I learned that you should aim for passion in your professional career. When you love what you do, working doesn’t feel like working. Secondly I found out the importance of networking and how to maintain relations which has helped my a lot in my further professional career.

Nazar(Linkedin) started working as City Manager of Leuven in October 2015. Back then Zerocopy was just a Startup! Nazar helped on the expansion projects to grow Zerocopy. After graduating Nazar joined the renowned Management Trainee at Proximus. Today Nazar works as Business Manager at Tactical Advisory Group.