Secret Leaders WeTransfer: Damian Bradfield tells us about the art of the stunningly straightforward file sharing
WeTransfer started in late 2009 and today it has over 45 million active monthly users. It’s one of the world’s most trusted online brands, helping people to discover and share in every country around the globe.
Damian Bradfield, an advertising and marketing specialist who cut his teeth at various agencies, teamed up with Nalden, a famous Dutch design and media blogger.
From creating the disarmingly straightforward file transfer service WeTransfer to curating an interactive art installation at Amsterdam’s art’otel, the duo has been behind a series of truly forward-thinking projects.
Nowadays WeTransfer helps share 1 billion files every week. In 2015 it took its first round of investment, a series A of $25 million, and Damian moved to LA the following year to spearhead the company’s US operations.
Managing a dual role - heading the American office and leading the brand’s marketing growth and content departments - Damian personifies WeTransfer’s commitment to supporting and showcasing the best creative talent.
To this end, he has set up content partnerships with the likes of FKA Twigs, Rankin and Nelly Ben Hayoun, among many others working on the newer platform of WePresent.
We chat about:
- The early days of WeTransfer: no money and huge ambition in Amsterdam
- How StumbleUpon helped them launch
- Bootstrapping and keeping their full-time jobs until 2015
- The two fortuitous things that happened in WeTransfer's early days
- What Damian believes the future of the internet is going to be
- And what he’s like as a boss
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