Welcome to another edition of Meet the Mergies, a content series that spotlights the wonderful humans who work at Merge.

Today’s edition features Abe Chen, a product manager who works out of our New York City office.

You can read on to learn why Abe joined Merge, what he works on day-to-day, why he likes working here, and more!

1. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I love being in nature, which in New York means going upstate way too often. You might also see me running or long boarding along the west side highway or powerlifting at the gym or at a meet!

2. Where were you working prior to Merge?

I started my career at Apple, where I helped build search capabilities across Siri, Spotlight, and the App Store. Post-pandemic, I moved to New York City and joined a startup to improve home ownership rates in the US. After that chapter, I was introduced to Gil, the co-founder and CTO at Merge, and the rest is history.

3. What attracted you to Merge?

I actually wasn’t excited about Merge from the start. The new concept of “unified APIs” and the need for integrations didn’t have me on the edge of my seat. 

After meeting with Gil and Shensi, however, my perception of the company changed. 

This was a team of pioneers educating the industry about integrations and enabling all kinds of B2B SaaS companies to build significantly better apps via integrated customer data.

In a world of copycat companies and incremental technology shifts, Merge stood out as something special.

4. What does your typical day at Merge look like?

A good part of my day is spent talking to customers and researching their needs. I’ll also work very closely with our engineers, designers, and support members to ideate and create new products. 

We’re a very lean company so we’re able to build, iterate, and ship fast!  

5. What do you like most about working at Merge?

The community! 

We are a fully-in-person company, which is exactly what I needed after staring at my bedroom wall for the previous few years. 

I’m able to brainstorm with colleagues in person, which allows us to come up with more innovative ideas quickly; I can pet company dogs between meetings; and I get to decompress with colleagues over lively dinners. 

We also like to celebrate and host events, like Pride happy hour, pickleball tournaments, and magic shows, which are all a ton of fun.

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