Larry Diamond Founder & CEO @ Zip Co

It was an absolute pleasure working with Darren over the last few years.

His dedication to Zip, hard work, constant energy and endless ideation made for a great match at Zip. He worked on a range of projects for us, from strategic and transformational, to tactical and timely - and always done meticulously.

Wishing you all the best for the next phase of your journey!

Tommy Mermelshtayn Chief Strategy Officer @ Zip Co

Darren has always gone above and beyond.

Detailed and thorough with everything he touches its been a pleasure working with and managing Darren.

Both as a sales solution engineer and more recently in Pocketbook on the product side I have seen Darren grow and demonstrate his agility to adapt and deliver value.

Lori Homan Head of Channel & Strategic Alliances @ Fat Zebra

Darren and I have worked across two companies together and it was an absolute pleasure teaming with Darren in both businesses. I always looked forward to working with Darren as he has strong communication that made it easy to articulate to the customer the status of any project at any time.

Other strong values Darren shared was a very customer focused view and the ability to think outside of the box to come to a solution to any hurdle we crossed.

Outside of an outstanding work ethic Darren brought a positive energy into the team and business and would be a great asset to any company. Keep smashing those goals buddy!

Brent McKendrick Payments Team @ Uber

I had the pleasure of working with Darren at Zip Co Ltd. for approx. 2.5 years, firstly in his position as Head of the Sales Engineering team and later as the Head of Growth Projects.

During this time I worked with Darren on multiple projects including RFP & tender processes, third-party system integrations and on out-of-the-box product/tech innovation projects (sometimes even just for fun :)).

Darren brings an enthusiasm with him to work everyday, influencing those around him to lift their game. He is well-versed in both the technical and non-technical aspects of eCommerce/payments integration and project management, often running projects that involved a high degree of coordination between multiple parties. He is a logical and pragmatic thinker, with meticulous attention to detail in all that he does.

I recommend Darren and look forward to one day working with him again.

Con Vafeas Director of Product & Innovation @ Mastercard

Darren Smith is probably one of the most effective professionals to work with.

He is a detail oriented, target oriented, ambitious and powerful co-worker, his knowledge is vast and thorough. Loyal, insightful and independent. Result driven, experienced and an efficient team player.

Darren Smith worked far beyond the call of duty. I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with him at PayPal.

Claudia Kaiser Solution Architect @ Facebook

I worked with Darren for over a year at PayPal.

He is one of the most passionate people I've ever worked with. He has great technical skills and is also great with customers. He is confidently able to speak and engage audiences with varying degrees of technical proficiency. He is both extremely creative and curious in his approach to solving problems.

I really enjoyed working with Darren and wouldn't hesitate to recommend him.

Cesar Hidalgo Manager, Sales Engineering & Integrations @ Zip Co

I've had the pleasure of working with Darren for over 2 years in the Sales Engineering team and other areas at Zip.

He possesses the rare combination of technical prowess and professionalism not found in many tech-like roles. Darren’s knowledge of the Payment industry is unparalleled, and his ability to manage a large number of projects at once is unrivaled.

Additionally, Darren has the innate ability to explain complex concepts in ways that are easy to understand and apply. Darren is a very creative person full of fun interesting ideas that could lead to successful products and projects as was the case in the first hackaton at Zip.

David Alsh Senior Software Engineer @ Rockt

I worked alongside Darren in the recently held internal Zip Hackathon competition.

As a developer, I was looking for a team/idea to contribute my skills towards. Darren conceived the idea of a marketplace which allowed Zip customers to spend their account balances on gift cards via the Zip Stores page.

From the onset, Darren presented a comprehensively planned concept. He had prepared a marketing pitch which included commercial projections and their material benefit for the organisation. Not only did I think it was a great idea with a lot of potential, but I was also extremely impressed by Darren’s preparedness.

Before long, we were pushing ahead with technological planning. Darren wasn’t shy to offer his opinion on the features he thought would perform well, and as a team, collaborated effectively to build a product that went on to win third place in the Hackathon - further going on to to be published as a customer facing product which is consistently placed amongst our top merchants.

During the project development, I personally witnessed Darren bring an inspiring level of passion to the team. Maintaining an encouraging attitude throughout, while working diligently on improving the final marketing pitch with additional slides, animations and rehearsed lines.

Outside of the Hackathon, I have observed Darren bring that same positive and enthusiastic attitude to his daily work - continuing to inspire and encourage team members around him. I highly recommend Darren, a positive visionary that will continue to define the digital landscape with his brilliant ideas and natural leadership qualities.

Dave Diamond Founder & Director @ Colourblocker

It was an absolute pleasure to work alongside Darren in the integrations team at ZIP. And I'm forever grateful for his ability and attitude to share his knowledge of complex "tech terms" in an easily digestible format.

Darren worked hard at his day-to-day duties of helping merchants integrate with Zip, and had many wins to show for it. Always there to go above & beyond his actual role -successfully developing leading and essential processes required for the functions of the enterprise integrations team.

Whilst primarily performing integrations for clients in-house, he was always whipping up exceptional enterprise tech props and presentations - and there to to assist our BDMs out in the field - pitching the technical aspects of Zip.

It was an absolute privilege to be part of his team, always inspiring us all - and never failing to put client needs first. He's a rare find of the kind. And it's glaringly clear how appreciated is - wherever he is.

Steve Coochin Developer Advocate @ IBM

Darren is a very rational and clear thinking developer always looking for the "what if" and "what can" to push tech to that next level in the best interest of customer delivery.

Innovative by nature he can take the most troublesome project and not only deliver on time but something amazing.

By far one of the people i have had the pleasure of working alongside during my time at PayPal and i hope i get to do so again in the future.

Ben Engel Product Owner @ Cellarmasters & NZ Wine Society

I worked with Darren in my position as business analyst at Graysonline.

Darren was both a colleague and my direct manager in my time at Grays. Darren was an extremely intelligent, hard working and positive colleague who drove the success of the digital development stream at Grays during my time there. He was extremely knowledgeable about many areas related to digital ecommerce, agile web development and had a great interest in all areas of technology in general.

Even though Darren only had a few years experience in IT due to his intelligence and hard work he quickly moved up in seniority within the organisation and ended up managing the digital team completely.

Darren was also a positive, cheerful colleague who on a personal level was a pleasure to work with both as a colleague and a manager. Since leaving Grays I have sought opportunities where I can work with Darren again and would recommend him as a valuable asset to any kind of digital business.

Tony Coorey CTO @ FlamingoAI

Darren is a true professional and has great perception in his role as Snr Business Analyst.

He understands the functions of the business and applies this knowledge to the task at hand. He does not cut corners but is skilled enough to drive to the correct solution for the business.

I have no hesitation in recommending Darren.

Steve Laws Executive Director @ Tiger Asset Group

In the short time Darren has been with Grays I have been impressed with his obvious maturity and abillity to communciate with people internally and externally.

Specifically, Darren worked directly with myself in the Industrial area and has managed amongst other things some very high profile insolvency asset disposals, of particular note is Darren's ability to come up with solutions that are innovative whillst maintaining a high attention to detail.

Darren is currently working as an Analyst in our IT area.. I would have no hestitation in recommending Darren.

I recently has occasion to work quite closely with Darren Smith who was organising an auction of surplus materials on behalf of Parramatta City Council.

Darren is a very presentable and enthusiastic person who would be an asset for whomever he works. He organised the cataloguing, advertising and sale of a large number of goods and chattels on behalf of Council with efficiency and professionalism.

He communicated clearly with a wide range of people including Council officers, tenants and members of the public and he made himself available for consultation throughout the entire process. I feel that his work was the key to the auction's success.

I have no hesitation in recommending Darren to you as a conscientious, dedicated and enthusiastic person with strong communications and organisational skills, who represents his employer with a high level of professionalism.

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