In the corridors of… Blip
Its name is known by many people living in the Porto region, all over the country and even beyond. Its reputation as a company with excellent employer branding exists for almost ten years. But… what exactly is Blip? What do they do and for whom? That’s where we’ll start.
Born in 2009 by the hands of two engineers who wanted to bring the Google concept of startup to their project, Blip has worked on the online sports betting market since its early days.
In 2012, Betfair, one of Blip’s international clients at the time and one of the biggest online sports betting website, showed interest in the project and acquired the exclusivity of their services, something that remains until today.
Despite the acquisition (2016) of Betfair by Paddy Power – another big sports betting company, both online and physical – the products of each of the brands remained unchanged.
However, in Portugal we will still have to wait to experience the solutions developed by Blip. Betfair was a pioneer in the “Exchange” betting market (player vs player in which the “house” is just an intermediate) and this represents its core business. Therefore, the lack of regulation in our country for this specific market causes the company to opt not to re-operate here in the near future.
Headquarters & Human Resources
Arriving at the n.94 of Avenida de Camilo, right in the heart of Porto, we look for the building of one of the most renowned technological companies in Portugal and we come across an imposing façade.
If the façade reminds us of the past, as soon as we pass through the glass doors we realize that the future is there: lots of space, natural light, tons of bicycles and a lovely carriage. As Blip’s Communication and Events Specialist, Diana Amado, tells us, the company’s Facilities Manager idealized the wall in the lobby so people could look at it and feel like they’re at a museum, since “what is made there is also art”. In fact, if we look at it, we realize that the “holes” carved in this wall adopt shapes of frames of all shapes and sizes. Sublime.
Blip has been sedimented in this building, which was formerly a Peugeot car dealer, for two years now. The change to the new site was prompted by the fast development of the company. Despite this exponential growth in human resources and the project itself, Diana Amado emphasizes that there has always been a concern to maintain the initial “startup” spirit as well, something that this building was able to provide.
The space that accommodates Blip’s 270 employees is broad and … transparent. From the meeting rooms (in the center) delimited by glass, to the “operations centers” (on the sides) in a full open space, we realize that the general concept is transparency between everything and everyone.
The auditorium welcomes meetings between all the employees of the company, yoga and body combat classes and much, much more. Internal communities with specific interests in common also meet there to talk about these subjects, inviting everyone to participate.
There is even a cool nap room with very soft lights, puffs and a super aquarium, rooms for gamers (arcade, PS4, snooker, table tennis…), a medical room and a kitchen full of flavours and mouth-watering smells.
In Blip everyone uses the SCRUM method to organize the work and all projects are planned for 15 days. They do not have to be in the office in specific times: at the end of each “sprint”, they have to show a well done work and that’s it. Of course, this may seem easy, however, it requires a maturity and excellent work organization on the part of employees. But this also eases their lives to deal with personal matters or in case of being unable to be in the office. It’s this “Work-Life Balance” that the best Portuguese company to work in 2017 has as a cornerstone.
If the recruiting process of the company is considered by everyone to be pretty hard, it’s because they demand experienced professionals and young talent too, those wanting to be hired have to meet a certain profile and specific soft skills. This is why Ângelo Valente, Senior Manager of Communications and External Affairs of Blip, considers that it’s not easy to find talent with the level of demand sought by Blip.
After being able to join the team, a careful plan of continuous internal evolution is outlined for each employee, which makes it one of the best companies in terms of talent capture and retention and allowed it to once again be considered the best Portuguese company in the People Development category.
Porto Tech Hub
As one of the founding companies of Porto Tech Hub, Blip believes they helped to create a very promising project for the region. The Association is seen as an excellent opportunity for the tech companies in the Porto region to come together to create a strong tech hub and even to help each other.
