Tobias van Schneider doesn’t let fear of failure get in the way

Originally published September 8, 2014 at www.beardbrand.com

Tobias van Schneider not only represents a new breed when it comes to stepping up what today’s tech professionals personal style looks like around the office, but for his multi-disciplinary approach in successfully launching his multi-faceted projects. From the award winning Authentic Weather phone app, to his ground-breaking portfolio building tool called, Semplice — Tobias continues to gain mass cred for being a multi-talented designer who launches simplistic, ease-of-use products specializing in elevating the look and feel of UX product design.

Often known for saying, “ I live life like its one big side project,” Tobias’ mantra has proved to pay off. Currently leading the charge as Spotify’s Art Director he shares with me that everything he’s learned along the way has always been been self-taught. Tobias is also a humble guy — he doesn’t view his title or achievements thus far as brag-worthy whatsoever. During our chat he speaks on how he fearlessly embarked down a career path with no expectations on where it would lead, and notes his secret to success was simply by approaching pursuits “stupidly” — explaining don’t take yourself too serious and overthink anything.

Born in Germany and raised in Austria, he dropped out of school at age fifteen. During this time, his curiosity for learning the anatomy of a computer landed him a computer shop apprenticeship in Austria. Through the course of his apprenticeship and many self-taught side projects for software engineering he never predicted he was just getting his feet wet for bigger and better things ahead. Applying at a few schools here and there that were tech-related, he was consistently refused, and shares, “they required math but I really sucked at math, and school in general. When I landed my apprenticeship as a software engineer repairing computers, I already knew about setting up and repairing them because of what I had learned myself by breaking them apart and rebuilding them for fun.”

Although Tobias didn’t attend a university, his continued curiosity pushed him farther during his time as a software engineer apprentice, stating, “I really wanted to build websites. I knew how to set up a server, database, etc. the only thing I had to teach myself was how to design it and make it look good and legible.” It was at that moment where it struck him how much he enjoyed being a designer. His three-year programming apprenticeship was expiring and they didn’t want to keep him… However, they noticed some design work he had done on the side and loved it-enough that he was asked to lead their design team.

Tobias thrives on consistently challenging himself to grow, and later decided to open his own studio business, recalling, “I eventually got bored working on my own as well, so I decided to move to New York. The digital era came out with the iPhone and phone apps being popularized, and everyone started focusing on designing apps instead of websites. Now at Spotify I work as a product designer, with a strong focus on user experience.”

Reflecting on his career and where he’s at today, Tobias shares it’s all about the risks he was willing to take. “I mostly took them because I didn’t care too much about the outcome — I didn’t have a plan, so I was like, I can’t really fail. I remember one time my bank account kept going down, so I made a list of pro and cons; I realized if I need to be a bartender or wait tables to afford my rent, I’m was like, ok that’s actually pretty cool! I’ll be the best bartender or waiter ever! When I think about the worst-case scenario it’s never really that bad. New experiences you can learn from are what really drives me and makes the risks worth it.”

Aside from being unafraid to take risks, that doesn’t mean Tobias isn’t extremely self-critical with what he does, and reveals, “I don’t really feel like I have any huge accomplishments where I’m like, what I did was really awesome, but, the one thing I’m always fighting to maintain is to be as be as free as possible. My personal goal is to always stay in motion, and constantly learn and try new things. My biggest fear is ending up sitting on the couch doing nothing. I don’t want to say words like if, wish, should, or could. I’m always trying to ensure I keep those out of my vocabulary.”

Given that he likes to stay busy, it’s no surprise he initially started growing a beard out to spare a few extra minutes in the day. “I always had a short a one and started growing it out because I didn’t want to shave anymore. I didn’t like shaving, but eventually it got so long it took longer to maintain it, and defeated the purpose, but at some point I started loving it.”

Although Tobias often has client meetings for work, he explains that out on the street is where his beard is usually a topic of conversation. “I’ve never had a problem with clients, but there is not one day where two or three people approach me on the streets here in NY about it. I’ve had to learn how to get used to that. People talking or screaming at me from across the street, saying something like ‘how long did it take?’ And I’m confused because I’m thinking about work projects and deadlines-not my beard,” he laughs.

From his early beginnings graduating from the “school of self,” Tobias is an inspiration to not to let fear of failure get in your way. Always thinking about his next project or venture, it’s safe to say we’re pretty excited to see what he has next in store to share with the world.

Written by DJ Aguirre and originally published September 8, 2014 at www.beardbrand.com.