Stuck in the Elevator with… Mark Jacobson, USA Sales & Business Development Manager

Growing up, Mark moved all over the states spending most of his youth in Iowa. By age 18, he was training to be a paramedic in Minnesota. Mark has had a bright career in the IT industry working for tech giants such as IBM and Curvature before joining the Techbuyer team almost a year ago. Read our five-minute interview with Mark Jacobson, USA Sales & Business Development Manager.

Where did you grow up? My Dad was in Broadcasting (radio), so growing up we moved quite a bit. Each promotion he received required us to move to a new city. The city I spent most of my youth in was Des Moines, IA. The last position he held was as the Station Manager (top position) for one of the most popular radio stations here in Minneapolis, MN. He took this position just as I was entering high school and I’ve stayed in Minnesota ever since.

What's your first memory? During one of these relocations when I was 5 or 6. After my first day at a new school, my teacher put me on the bus headed for home. I ended up being the last kid on the bus and the bus driver told me he didn’t have any more stops to make and that I had to get off the bus. I couldn’t tell him my address or what street I lived on. I didn’t know he dropped me off down the block and around the corner from my house. Because we had just moved in, I wasn’t familiar with the neighbourhood and I thought I was lost. I was crying where he dropped me off until a woman came out of her house to see why I was upset. She called a few schools trying to help me and at the same time, my Mom was also calling the school looking for me. They were eventually able to make the connection and I walked home with my Mom. Not the best way to start a new school year, maybe that’s why I remember it.

On a more positive note… I also enjoyed going fishing with my Dad and Grandpa. We’d sit on the bank of the river or on the shoreline of a lake, talk and fish. We didn’t get to do that nearly enough.

What did you want to be when growing up? I wanted to play professional Baseball. It didn’t matter what team, I just wanted to play.

How long have you been at Techbuyer? I’ve been at Techbuyer for almost a year now.

What are your primary roles at Techbuyer? I help drive sales in the United States. I work with a great team here in Minnesota and work closely with the warehouse team in New Jersey. We deal with all sorts of businesses from IT companies to charities, all over the world. The team and I work hard to ensure every customer, no matter how big or small, gets exceptional service.

Favourite memory at Techbuyer? When Marcus from the UK office was in town to help train the sales team, he sent one of the guys out to look for a ‘Long Stand’ and a ‘Spirit Level Bubble’. He was gone for about an hour before he figured out we were pulling his leg.

Where did you work previously? I’ve previously worked at Curvature/SMS, Top Gun/QSGI, Mainline Information Systems, IBM, Amdahl and before that in the used equipment marketplace. I’ve been working in the IT industry for a long time when you write it all down.

What were your first impressions of Techbuyer?! Nice company. I remember being impressed with the fast response times and how rapidly we can complete an order. Now that I’ve been here a few months, I see we have a huge competitive advantage.

Tell us something we don't know about you... I ended up on my own when I was 18-19 years old. I was going to both school and working full time. I wanted to become a Paramedic to support myself whilst I continued my education. I worked in a hospital during this time and one of my responsibilities was to be a first responder for emergencies. My responsibilities allowed me to work on all the medical floors, in the emergency department, critical care (coronary and intensive) units and in the operating rooms. I also spent my fair share of time in the morgue. I absolutely loved it!

Techbuyer is a global leader in the buying, refurbishing and selling of enterprise IT hardware. Not only do we sell brand new IT parts, we also buy used parts such as servers, memory and storage and turn them into low-cost, quality refurbished IT equipment. To read more 5-minute interviews with Techbuyer employees, visit our Stuck in the Lift with… blog category.