Nazareno and I started Mindcurv with a handful of people from our network back in 2011. Now we’re 500+ growing fast. We acquired three companies in 2021, and we are constantly evolving. So yes, by many measures, you could say we are pretty successful — excuse the humblebrag.
Despite the company’s growth, success has always been measured by three things:
- How well are we doing as a team
- How well do our team members feel working at Mindcurv
- How happy are our customers
So I’m grateful and thrilled when I see that our team members’ feedback stands out remarkably, and our customers give us off-the-scale ratings in net promoter score surveys (NPS). The positivity I hear from team members time and again is, for me, the most significant measure of our success. We have a good tenure within the team and approximately 50 % of the people here in the first 2 years are still with us. Our first customer is still with us, that says a great deal too.
So, looking back at what we wanted to accomplish with our company, the first thing that comes to mind is: to make it a memorable workplace. We just wanted to build a company where we would be happy to work ourselves, and that would be the best place our team members develop their careers.
We believed that if we do that, the rest of the success will come in as a consequence. And you know what, it did.
We are now celebrating our 10th year with a fantastic team based in Germany, Spain, The Netherlands and India. I thought this would be a good moment to share my learnings and experiences and extend my gratitude to everyone on the journey with me.
Join me, and feel free to start a conversation.
What’s a Memorable Workspace?
I am well aware that a “memorable workspace” is a generally vague term and can mean very different things. To me, calling a place memorable means a company culture that delivers:
- A harmonious team environment that is focused on solving complex and challenging problems for our clients with leading-edge technology solutions
- Being able to plan and execute ambitious career development goals
- A team member experience with the best possible tools and the most efficient processes
Making Impact
Work is important to me. If you know me, you know I don’t just love what I do; I can even get a bit obsessed here and there. I want to create an impact for the customers we work with. And I want to do it with the most intelligent people. Not the ones who just work hard, but more importantly, enjoy bettering themselves and helping others do the same while delivering projects. The interaction in the team while figuring out the best solution, the journey of every project, relying on each other because we know that the team is smarter than the individual; it’s all fuel to our passion.
Delivering a project in full, getting it past the finish line as a team, the camaraderie these moments bring is etched in our memories. And day-to-day, I find it just as memorable and enjoyable when we, as a team, crack a seemingly impossible problem for a customer. It is memorable when people work at the same rhythm while creating impact.
The wind In our Backs
Before Naz and I started Mindcurv, we worked at corporates and smaller companies and did our fair share of freelancing. Both had their pros and cons. We liked the large projects we ran at corporates but couldn’t stand things like ‘waiting for local IT to configure our laptop’. We enjoyed the agility of freelancing but wanted to be part of something bigger. Neither of these was ideal. Naz and I had our own pace and a similar approach to projects and people. We wanted to see if we could create a place to stimulate our strengths and that of people like us. We wanted a culture that empowered, that was the wind at the back of the tech people. No wonder that we always make sure we have top-notch hardware and software 😉
Like-minded People
When we founded Mindcurv, we wanted to create a great workplace. This meant, let’s start the ideal professional refuge for people like us to accomplish awesome things.
We had dreams — at the time, they were small still. For these to truly happen, we needed people with the same attitude and drive. They had to buy into the dream. The social and cultural side was crucial to us. We had to work well together. Skills were obviously essential. We needed people to spar with, and with different skills, for the team to learn from each other and become better together.
Our team members had to do a bit of everything in the early days, as in any startup. We looked for people who excelled at thinking strategy and could carve out the excruciating details of implementation. We looked for developers who truly wanted to be part of a project from the start to work on ideas, planning, and the future direction. In a way, this made us own our projects from start to finish. The approach created a breed of people who could do a lot and love it all.
I am grateful for this part. We hired many people of this rare kind and created a culture where people truly enjoyed being part of it all. And facilitating people’s involvement somehow grew into actively advancing each other’s personal growth instead of focusing on individual success. This really made us a solid team.
Our Own Set of Principles
We don’t use the term employee. We refer to our people as team members or members for short because we’re all part of the same team. This team runs by a set of principles, never rules (besides practical ones, like: “Please put your cup in the dishwasher”).
They just make sense to us.
The 5 A’s – We value Attitude, Aptitude, and Adaptability over Ability. If someone has the first two, the latter can be developed, quickly. We don’t value a$$es, no matter how skilled.
Simplicity – We are ‘less is more- thinkers’. We are always looking for the most simple and viable solution, taking out complexity. We want to find simple solutions for complex problems
Pragmatism – We prefer getting things done over creating wordy plans and slide decks. We talk little and do much.
Sustainability – We aim for long-term relationships and success for our customers, our company, and every one of our people.
Humility – Being humble does not mean thinking less of yourself; It’s thinking of yourself less, putting the team and ideas over ego.
Aspiration – Details matter. A lot. Our analysis and advice need to be spot on. Our code is accurate. And our managed services are flawless. With this in mind we look to optimize the quality we deliver.
Introspection – We want to continuously examine our thought processes, beliefs, and actions and be open to the feedback we receive. We ourselves only provide constructive feedback. Mistakes are a learning opportunity.
Keeping the Flow Going
When I see what a great place we’ve built in the past 10 years, I know we did quite a few things right: we actually created the best workplace for people like us.
We will keep building a memorable workspace, as is indicated by our Glassdoor reviews.
If this sounds like something you’d want to be part of, please always feel free to reach out and/or check our Job Openings.
Author
Amjad Liaquat
CEO and Co-founder
