Meet the Team: Nathan

What do you do at zeroheight?

I’m the Head of Data at zeroheight, and I manage our internal data team based in our London office. Our main job as a team is to ensure that all the other departments in the business have easy access to good quality data, so that everyone can be sure they’re making well-informed, data-driven decisions. We also work closely with the Product team, helping out with user research and ensuring that we understand our general user behavior to continue to keep delivering the best possible product. When I’m not doing data things, I’m usually posting some nonsense on Slack, either in our #wordle or #zh-fpl (fantasy football!) channels or in the form of 2000-word Euro 2020 sweepstake updates.

Favorite thing at zeroheight

My favorite thing I’d have to say is the trust and the freedom that I’ve been allowed to grow with the company. I was hired as a Data Analyst initially, and the whole team at zeroheight has been so supportive in essentially letting me build a function up from near-scratch. I’ve been building out our processes, our stack of tools, and allowing me to hire my team – without much experience of doing any of those things previously! I can only thank everyone for trusting me and taking a chance on me – and I think it’s a reflection on the fantastic team we have here that it’s gone well!

Favorite emoji

I grew up obsessively using the word “cool!” in every possible context, so I’ve settled on  as my default positive response these days. I’m also partial to  when something is really cool.

What album, book, and luxury item would you take if you were marooned on a desert island?

Oooooh, this is a tough one – I’d have to say:

Album: In Rainbows – Radiohead

This is the worst one of the three to answer, I think, I’m very passionate about music and could think about this for weeks, so I’m just going to go with the first album that popped into my head that I’ve been able to always come back to and have loved every time. I essentially chose to study at a particular university because Jonny Greenwood (kind of) studied there, so you could say I have a bit of a thing for Radiohead also…

Book: Thirty-one Nil – James Montague

I’m a massive fan of football (I refuse to call it soccer – sorry American colleagues), and this book truly opened my eyes to its broader cultural impact. It essentially follows the author’s travels alongside the national football teams of smaller or more troubled nations during the qualification campaigns for the FIFA World Cup. It is a fantastic insight into the impact of sport across cultures. The title comes from the (previous) record for an all-time largest win, Australia 31 – 0 American Samoa .

Luxury item: Guitar

I feel like I’d have a lot of time on my hands, and maybe I’d spend that time progressing beyond being a competent guitar player. Though it might be difficult without access to the internet to look up tabs or without music to play along to… I guess the sunburn might also impact my ability to play well…. Is it too late to change my answer?!

What are you terrible at?

Anything to do with art and design. I’ve never been able to draw, I can’t color within the lines, and I got so frustrated trying to make a paper-mâché box in art class when I was 13 that I stormed out of the class and hid in the toilets. I suppose, ironically, I’ve ended up surrounded by people who are amazing designers – just be glad that nobody’s letting me near your design system!