A Day in a Life
The snowboarder heading research at Justt
Ben Herut fell in love with the payments industry "at first sight" and has found what he's been looking for in Justt, an early-stage startup whose sole purpose is to find a unique solution for chargebacks
ID
Name: Ben Herut
Age: 36
Residing: Ra'anana, Israel
Company: Justt
Position: Head of Research
Ben Herut. Photo: Courtesy
For a Starter
I had no clue what I wanted to do when I became a grownup, so I studied Electronics Engineering as a "safe" career choice for making a decent living. I worked for three years as a hardware engineer and then switched industries and became an account manager for a big communications company. It turned out to be the three most miserable months of my life. Fortunately, the VP Technology there spotted me and offered me an opportunity to help establish the BI department. So, I changed my role again and became a business analyst.
While living in Germany, I came across the payments industry and it was "love at first sight”. I was privileged enough to experience the "full cycle of payments", working for both an acquirer and an issuer bank – seeing both sides of the transaction.
After my son was born in Berlin, we decided to head back home and return to Israel.
In my career, so far, I was lucky to experience different cultures and work for amazing companies, and now it continues with Justt.
What's so special about what your company does? Think of when a person has a medical issue. They go see a doctor – an expert doctor who knows how to provide the best diagnostics and solutions for them personally. In our case we are the "expert doctor," tailoring solutions for the customer (merchant). By conducting enhanced research for each customer and creating a customized solution, we provide the highest success rates in the industry in assisting merchants to recover money lost to chargebacks.
Having worked for different companies, startups and big ones, I can confidently say that we are doing something different. Two values we cherish at Justt: "Give a damn" and "Don't be like that". Yes, they may sound a bit funky, but boy do they have a lot of meaning: the first refers to accountability - everyone is the owner of their tasks/project. The latter refers to empowering people rather than diminishing them.
What do you enjoy the most about your work? It’s hard to put my finger on one specific topic. The energy at Justt is such that enables people to bring forth the best of themselves, think together, share ideas and make an impact. I joined Justt because for years I have worked for companies in the industry that had dedicated teams to deal with chargebacks and card fraud, but it was never the main business. Justt is precisely that: an early-stage startup company whose sole purpose is to find a unique solution for chargebacks. We are in the process of creating smart, effortless and efficient chargeback mitigation for any online business.
Preference - working from Home / Office / Hybrid: By intuition I would say office. There's nothing like good old fashion F2F meetings. Sitting across from someone, you can make more meaningful connections and communications. De facto, we are working in a hybrid manner and trying to make the best of it. For me that includes avoiding the 45 to 60 min traffic jams I need to tackle each day to get to the office for the short 18 km distance from Ra'anana to Tel Aviv.
My Daily Routine
06:30
Wake up courtesy of my kid and my 44-kilo lazy dog. I need to make sure the kid is ready to go to kindergarten, and the dog has done his business outside.
07:30
Drop my son in the kindergarten, which is close. Open the Waze app and hope it says less than 50 minutes to get to the office.
08:15
In the office, I will make my morning espresso (many more to come). I like to open my morning on our offices' balcony and have a quiet moment to prepare myself for the day ahead. Then I start my day by reading mail and working on my open tasks.
11:30
I have probably participated in 2-3 meetings well into the day. Most of these meetings consist of people sharing their ideas and producing valuable insights!
12:00
Thankfully, my amazing teams remind me to order lunch that I will probably eat during the next meetings.
13:00
Lunch has arrived.
15:00
I take my kid out of kindergarten and spend the afternoon with him two days a week. Usually outdoors (unless it rains) and if not, in our apartment doing some art stuff.
18:00
It’s the quiet time at the office. Most of the people have already left, and I can concentrate on more strategic and planning projects.
19:00
Time to go home. I think we did a good job today.
Ben Herut snowboarding. Photo: Courtesy
After Hours
What do you like to do in your spare time? Working for a startup makes work-life balance challenging. What I enjoy daily is spending time with my kid - Leir, who is growing up so fast (currently ~2.5 years old). Usually, after we do something together and he goes to bed, I watch a bit of Netflix. On a less daily basis, I enjoy other more extreme activities. I started skiing when I was 8-9 years old, and I quickly moved to snowboarding – and that has stuck with me ever since. I tried to go each year to a different type of vacation. When thinking about it, I have basically tried most of the sports that include a board: snowboard, skateboard, surfing, etc.
Apart from that, I love the outdoors. Coming from a small city in the north of Israel, there is nothing much to do apart from hiking, camping and, of course, lots of "Pakal Caffee" and "Poike".
I have gotten several tattoos over the years and used the Covid time to get a sleeve done. It was something I had looked for a long time. If I had to choose a specific one to talk about, I would choose the "Palmach" tattoo. I had the Palmach symbol tattoo in honor of my grandma who has a crazy life story, which includes serving in the Palmach. She is 91-years-old now but is as lucid as ever. I have started a project to document her experience from birth (1930) as she really is a part of the history of our country.
Apple or Android? Tried both, and I prefer Apple. I think it all comes down to what type of user you are, and what you need to get out of your device. For me, Apple provides what I need daily and has excellent connectivity to my other devices (Apple and Mac).
What is your favorite Netflix show? I usually watch two types of genres: History and Mystery like Vikings and the Last Kingdom to the Ozark and Mind Hunters. Usually, Netflix knows what to offer me next once I'm done with a series.
