As you guys know by now, I’m really hoping to make these “5 Minutes with…” Q&A sessions representative of all the geographies and business units that eBay Inc. covers. Obviously, I don’t get the face-to-face interaction with people based in different countries, but I can certainly capture the heart of the FAQ, regardless of where an individual may be located. So when folks over at PayPal contacted me and said that Uwe Heddendorp, vice president of European Operations for PayPal, was interested in being featured on Ink, I sent him the “5 Minutes With…” FAQ immediately.
Based out of Dublin, Uwe joined PayPal last year and brought a strong background in operations, customer service and customer loyalty. Uwe’s professional experience includes eight years with AOL Germany, where he served as CEO and held other key leadership positions in AOL’s customer service operation. Prior to joining PayPal in September, 2008, Uwe was Chief Operating Officer for Loyalty Partner.
I didn’t get a chance to ask him specific questions yet but I thought it might be nice to start soliciting questions from Ink readers. If there’s something you’d like to ask Uwe, simply ask it in the Comments section below and we’ll see what happens. Might be nice to start doing that for all of these “5 Minutes With” Features. I could even try and do a follow-up post with answers captured on video.
No video for you this time folks, I’m afraid, but here is your Friday edition of “5 Minutes with…” Uwe Heddendorp…
Cheers,
RBH
Full Name: Uwe Heddendorp
Official Title: Vice President PayPal European Operations
What You Really Do: Remove obstacles for our staff and customers
Your First Day at eBay Inc.: Sep 29, 2008
Education/Schooling: University degree in business administration and mechanical engineering
Interests: Mountain hiking, swimming, cycling, reading, eating out, and I like shopping!
Favorite Quote: “Fear is a bad motivator”
Most memorable eBay Inc. experience: Communicating via Skype for the first time with my son who lives in Munich
Most recent eBay purchase/sale: Pair of Boss Jeans
Favorite Albums: The Wall – Pink Floyd, Celtic Woman
Favorite Movies: Slumdog Millionaire, Once Upon a Time in America
What You Wanted to Be Growing Up: Professional Soccer Player
Person you most admire: My assistant – how can she put up with me?
(self-added)Favourite Holiday Destination: La France
Fill in the blanks:
I should have thanked my team yesterday for how great they are.
I wish that I could go on sabbatical next year instead of 2014
The first thing I do when I get to work is acknowledge how nice our building is. (See picture below)
