Looking Back and Levelling Up
Mav3rik at 3
The small, bootstrap operation that Sean (my Co-Founder) and I set up in early 2018 is now 3 years old! And although it feels like Mav3rik has been around a lot longer given how much we’ve achieved together as a team, it is still just 3 years old and by OECD definition — “young firms within the first three years of operation” — still very much considered a startup.
I must admit that it is getting more and more difficult to find time to pause and reflect on how far along we’ve come in our journey — as a company, as a team and as a family — but given the significance of this milestone, I wanted to take this opportunity to look back, be grateful and share how we plan to level up.
Looking Back
In this quick recap of Mav3rik’s Year 2, I won’t dwell on the challenges of 2020 since I’m sure everyone has similar stories to tell on the pandemic’s impact to the economy, in particular small businesses. Instead, here are the highlights:
- We adopted an “operating system” called EOS through our implementer, Murray Smith from from Grip6, and this has allowed us to shape the vision and values of Mav3rik and identify and address the issues along the way.
- We doubled down on our various offerings, including Architecture Review and Managed Service, and formed a strong team and a set of processes to provide certainty to our clients.
- We forged new partnerships with other technology platforms, notably Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Twilio, that complement our existing capabilities in Salesforce and Heroku.
- We took the plunge and brought in our first Sales function when we hired Matt as our Head of Business Development and further solidified other key functions such as People and Culture (Leila) and Finance (Debbie).
- We gave back through our time, energy and donations by joining the Oxfam (Virtual) Trailwalker challenge.
- And as always, we delivered countless innovative and transformative solutions for our clients, from traditional CRM applications in Salesforce to bespoke, game-changing responsive web and mobile applications such as the Education and Pandemic-related apps for Melbourne University and the Fire, Incident and Personnel Management app for Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services.
Gratitude
As we prepare to move forward in Year 3, I would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to everyone that has made Year 2 a year to remember.
To our team, thank you for always going above and beyond for our clients and for practicing the Mav3rik values in everything that you do. You have stuck with us through thick and thin, including dealing with the realities of lockdowns. Sean and I are really glad that we pulled through and retained the team in spite of the difficult conditions and yet, there were a few team members that have left to pursue other paths. We wish them well, still consider them as family, thank them for their contributions to making Mav3rik what it is today… and hopefully see them back someday:)
To our clients and partners, thank you for your unwavering trust and confidence in us and in our abilities. You have challenged us and kept us on our toes. You have made the Mav3rik journey so much more worthwhile and fulfilling and we are humbled and forever grateful that you have chosen to work with us.
Levelling Up
From the time 2021 rolled in all the way to completing our annual planning sessions last week, the key theme that has come up over and over in various conversations with the team is about taking Mav3rik to the next level.
How are we taking it to the next level?
We will continue our drive towards getting to the right people, right seats. This may include significantly growing our team, but it’s not just hiring for the sake of hiring, but doing so for the right reasons. #rightpeoplerightseats
We will strive to keep improving by refining our processes and by learning and picking up more capabilities. Learning is an inherent part of Mav3rik’s culture (in fact, it’s one of our busiest Slack channels!) and we will not stop challenging ourselves to get better in Year 3. #learningneverstops
We will commit more time and energy on Salesforce, AWS, Twilio and uncover even more technologies in our unrelenting pursuit of the use of technology to deliver amazing outcomes and experiences for our clients as well as their end customers. Our ongoing involvement in the various Salesforce partner advisory boards — Platform, Sales Cloud (NEW!) — will allow us not just to drive ongoing enablement within the team, but also to share feedback and insights from our clients back to the relevant Salesforce Product Management and Engineering teams. #customerobsessed
We will pledge to give back more. Oxfam was only the first of many and we are intent on doing more and giving more in Year 3. #givingback
Finally, we will do all these while living and breathing the Mav3rik core values each and every single day:
- Roll up your Sleeves.
- Be a Mav3rik.
- Own It.
- Success is a Collective.
… and while staying true to the Mav3rik core focus:
To unleash ideas with great people and great technology.
#mav3rik #year3 #letsdothis
#beamav3rik #beamazing
