Gorog has already dealt with most of emails by the time he’s in the office, but he says he likes to get to the office before the rest of the team to have some quiet time to get on top of things.
“I try to do things in the morning that I won’t have time for during the day, like a staff review or to write something.”
He spends his day keeping across the sales team, the finance team and the admin team, while overseeing the developers, which means his daily activity is always varied.
And while breakfast doesn’t get a look in, Gorog always makes sure to get out for lunch at one of the many cool places spotted around the Richmond office.
Gorog also does a lot of work with the media, so he also likes to scour the news and keep an eye on everything happening in the industry. He admits he’s also been known to stay up all night to watch the Apple conference live.
“I’m a tech nerd,” he laughs. “I’ve always been obsessed with technology and gadgets.”
Gorog says he still gets a kick when he sits next to someone on the train only to realise they are using one of Outware’s apps.
“That’s so cool,” he says, lighting up.
He admits daily life at the Outware office does take its influence from the broader tech industry, citing the company’s focus on ‘agile development’, the ability to ‘pivot’ and the importance of morning ‘standups’. But Gorog says that beyond the buzzwords, the methods are highly effective.
“It’s all just about communicating better,” he says.
While he doesn’t get a lot of leisure time with four kids at home and positions on both the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne University Publishing boards, Gorog says he manages his work-life balance by switching off when he gets home.
“When I sit down at the end of the day, I like to spend time with kids and put the phone away. Sometimes I am annoyed because I’ve got something I really want to finish and that plays on my mind, but I am able to sit on the couch and watch TV and switch off.”
And while he does like to go for a run or read a book, you might find Gorog most satisfied with a glass of scotch on the couch, listening to Paul Simon.
Gorog says the company is still growing at a rapid rate, with 12 new team members starting just last month and more positions already opening up.
While there are some exciting projects in the works that Gorog couldn’t talk about, he says the future of Outware is pretty simple.
“Continue to work on bigger and more important stuff. In general, mobile is getting more important and more relevant. The platforms keeping changing the hardware, it’s a very exciting time.”
And the self-confessed tech geek is calling the new trends early.
“I think Apple Pay, in terms of the payment space, is going to be insanely powerful… I think the watch will be as significant as the phone. The wearable stuff is coming like a big steam train.”
No doubt Outware will have a well-thought-out plan to get on board.
Kirsten Robb is a former journalist at SmartCompany. Previously, she worked at News Corp as a property reporter for Leader Newspapers and the Herald Sun, and holds a Masters of Journalism at Melbourne University.
