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Jan Sroka
Founder @ Daito Authenticator | Securely share #2FA with others. No phone needed. | Visit daito.io to learn more
Professional Background
Jan Sroka is a dynamic professional with an extensive background in IT security and compliance, coupled with a profound expertise in startup finance, accounting, organization, and process automation. He has held multiple leadership roles and has contributed significantly to the technology and business sectors throughout his career. With a solid foundation in business administration and computer science, Jan has a unique blend of skills that melds technical proficiency with strong managerial capabilities.
Over the years, Jan has exhibited an exemplary track record in entrepreneurship. He is the former Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Daito Authenticator, where he played a pivotal role in developing security solutions that improved user authentication processes. His keen insight into IT security practices has positioned his ventures as forward-thinking companies in an ever-evolving digital landscape.
Additionally, Jan's role as Founder and Managing Director at Elster Intelligence GmbH showcased his ability to steer innovative startups towards sustainable growth. Under his leadership, the company focused on delivering analytics solutions that helped businesses enhance their operational efficiency and decision-making processes. His success in these endeavors is a testament to his strategic mindset and business acumen.
In his position as Managing Director and CEO at Sroka Ventures GmbH, Jan explored various investment opportunities, channeling his expertise to mentor and support emerging companies with their financial and operational strategies. His entrepreneurial spirit has been a driving force in establishing a supportive ecosystem for new businesses to thrive.
Jan's experience also extends to finance, with his position as Head of Finance at Zeitgold, a startup that was successfully acquired by Deel. His work in financial leadership has enabled him to develop a robust understanding of financial management within the startup context, a crucial element for driving growth and long-term sustainability.
Throughout his career, Jan has also taken on consultative roles, including his tenure as a Freelance Consultant at Jan Sroka Consulting, where he provided expert guidance in areas of finance, IT, and organizational development.
Education and Achievements
Jan Sroka's educational foundation laid the groundwork for his illustrious career. He pursued his studies in Business Administration at The Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg, where he developed a strong understanding of business principles, management strategies, and operational frameworks. This comprehensive academic training enables him to apply theoretical concepts to real-world scenarios effectively, equipping him with the knowledge to navigate complex business challenges.
Additionally, Jan studied Diplom-Informatiker (FH) in Computer Science for Business Applications at Hochschule Furtwangen. This specialized education honed his technical skills and equipped him with the tools necessary to excel in a technology-driven environment. This dual educational background in business and information technology positions Jan as an invaluable asset in the industries he operates within, particularly at the intersection of technology and business.
Achievements
Jan's career is marked by numerous achievements that demonstrate his leadership capabilities and business insights. Notably, his strategic foresight in founding and leading multiple startups has helped many organizations achieve substantial growth. Alongside his entrepreneurial initiatives, Jan's role in organizing and managing teams has been pivotal in refining processes and improving operational performance.
Moreover, his expertise in IT security and compliance has placed him at the forefront of safeguarding businesses against cybersecurity threats, helping them to maintain trust and integrity with their stakeholders. His understanding of data analytics has provided clients and organizations with the insights necessary to make informed decisions.
Throughout his career, Jan has also contributed to professional organizations, serving as Secretary General at JADE, where he helped build networks and promote collaboration among entrepreneurial minds, fostering a culture of innovation and shared success.
In sum, Jan Sroka's career trajectory exemplifies a blend of strategic leadership, technological prowess, and a commitment to developing solutions that unlock business potential. His journey reflects an individual who not only possesses diverse skills across various domains but also a passion for empowering others through collaborative efforts and strategic insights.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.