Well, it’s that time of year. You know, the annual, happy-go-lucky, turn-the-page-on-the-calendar, celebrate-the-new-year, use-too-many-hyphens blog post.
I’ve been reflecting on the beginnings of SafeLogic - how we got here, where we’ve been, and where we are headed next. Most of those reflections have been pleasant, but certainly not all. There’s no need to put lipstick on it. The nearly two years that I went without salary weren’t exactly “fun” and I’m glad that’s in the past. Or the times I felt like an inadequate leader because it felt like we weren’t living up to the ridiculously overblown expectations of Silicon Valley society. Or the times we invested in new ideas only to find failure (which is not a bad word, by the way).
- We added a dozen new customers and strengthened relationships with existing customers.
- Revenue doubled from last year. (That’s good, right?)
- The number of support tickets decreased over 50%, signaling that the growth of our self-serve knowledge base is paying off.
- Average Time to Resolution on those support tickets is a fraction of what it was last year, a testament to the increased effectiveness of our technical team.
- 100% of support contracts were renewed. Always a good sign of customer satisfaction!
- Strategic additions to the team fueled these successes, which of course will then make it possible for more expansion. A very positive cycle.
On a personal note, I left the corporate world nearly 12 years ago to work for myself and at this very instant, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. This is a journey that I could not undertake alone, and this team is the real deal. We have great products that customers want and need, and we help them solve real problems in innovative ways. Internally, we’ve grown and matured to the point that we are able to handle roadmap items and customer requests much more aggressively and proactively (and in some ways, automatically, which is extra cool).
So does all this reflection mean that we’re hitting pause because the CEO is happy? Oh hell no. We are just hitting our stride! Being content is nice, but never complacent. 2017 will be the year of more business innovation, of more new capabilities, of more milestones. Of, well, more.
This leads me to the mushy part:
Thank you, SafeLogic customers. Thank you for believing in us and we promise not to let you down as we continue to grow. Thank you, SafeLogic team. Your hard work and commitment is appreciated more than I can express. Thank you, SafeLogic partners, friends, and allies for your support, advice, and contributions.
Here’s to a stellar 2016 and to keeping the momentum going in 2017!