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So Long, Dataroots!

So last Friday was it - my final day at Dataroots. Hard to believe it's been eight years since Jonas and I started this crazy journey together. From just the two of us with big dreams to 140 amazing people and an acquisition later... wow.

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It feels like just yesterday we were in that tiny office in Brussels - hiring our first staff (shout out to Pablo!), being super stressed about our first prospect meetings, practicing our pitch over and over. We were very green but also very determined. Looking back at those days of bootstrapping and limited sleeping, it's mind-blowing to think we built something that would eventually employ 140 people and be acquired by a global player.

Figured I should jot down some thoughts while it's all still fresh (plus everyone expects some wannabe profound wisdom when a founder exits, right?).

Stuff I've figured out along the way

People are your only true asset

Look, it all comes down to having the right team. Period. Every big win we ever had? That was because we had the right business folks, tech experts, and people-people who genuinely cared about solving tricky problems. Building that team was probably our only secret sauce.

Most days, this just meant being super picky about who joined us (and, unfortunately, also who stayed). Both skills and culture fit mattered - a lot.

Happy team + happy customers = money in the bank

I'm convinced that when you nail these two things - building an awesome team and delighting customers - the financial results naturally follow. Great people create better products, solve problems faster, and build stronger customer relationships. Happy customers stick around, spend more, and bring their friends. It's a positive cycle that drives sustainable growth.

I've always seen financial health as a minimum requirement, not the end goal itself. It's like oxygen - essential for survival, but not your purpose. Strong financial foundations enable scaling, but aren't the primary objective.

This balance was challenged when the government-mandated salary indexation of early 2023 hit us. That external pressure forced us to prioritize financial discipline while maintaining our people-first culture. It transformed finances from a minimum requirement into a key performance indicator demanding constant attention.

It's dangerously easy to default to focusing primarily on financial KPIs, especially as management teams grow. The numbers are concrete and easily measured. But a holistic approach to targets that includes team satisfaction, customer experience, and innovation is crucial.

As your company evolves, people-focused and profit-focused goals aren't mutually exclusive - great talent remains essential for business results. The challenge is maintaining equilibrium as these competing priorities battle for attention in an increasingly complex organization.

There's always something on fire - and that's actually fine

In growth mode, there's always some crisis demanding immediate attention. But you know what? Those fires forced us to keep improving and never get complacent. All that firefighting actually drove us to technical excellence in ways that comfort never could.

This "let's just solve whatever problem is in front of us" mindset helped us stay relevant in the wild west that is the data & AI landscape.

Most people hate change (I'm weird and like it)

While I personally thrive in dynamic environments, I've realized most people crave stability and want to feel in control. Constant change exhausts teams, especially when they're already tackling complex client problems.

Finding that sweet spot between necessary evolution and stability is tricky as hell.

Some might disagree, but I lean toward organized chaos. It just allows for easier pivots and growth than rigid structures do. Maybe I just enjoy a bit of constructive mayhem?

Being acquired taught me a ton

Getting acquired by Talan Group gave me a front-row seat to how strategic growth through M&A works at scale. Watching them successfully bring multiple companies together across the globe was fascinating and honestly, quite educational.

I learned, and had to learn, so much about cultural integration, keeping communication open, and how to maintain what makes each company special while building something bigger together. I now try to sketch this down into my mental playbook of dos and don'ts - everything from preserving team identity to turning different operational approaches into strengths rather than points of friction.

Take time to celebrate wins (we definitely didn't do this enough)

One thing I wish we'd done differently? Actually stopping to celebrate our successes. We were always so deep into whatever had to be tackled next that we rarely paused to acknowledge how far we'd come.

The problem with always focusing on the next challenge is that you start treating success as the baseline - "Great, it worked, now onto the next fire." But that approach doesn't support a healthy mental balance. Not for the founders, not for the team.

Looking back, I think taking more time to recognize achievements would have given everyone more energy and perspective. When you're building, it's so easy to fixate on problems that need solving while treating everything that's working well as "okay to ignore." Bad habit, and one I hope to break in whatever comes next.

What's next for me?

Taking some time to explore and breathe:

But honestly? I'm mostly reconnecting with family and friends - the people who supported me through the Dataroots years but didn't always get the attention they deserved while I was in the weeds.

These eight years taught me more than I could have imagined. From our tiny founding team to becoming part of Talan Group, every step shaped how I think about building and leading in tech. I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who was part of this journey - the entire Dataroots crew, my co-founder, the new leadership team that's carrying things forward, and the folks at Talan who believed in what we built.