In 2019, Marius Banici and Paul Doman laid the foundation of Victory Square Partners. A mere three years later, we’re counting the accomplishments that helped us go from our first employee (here’s to you, Glad) to our 70th (and counting).
This article covers the milestones that made 2021 one of the best Victory years thus far. It aims to offer a glimpse into what it’s like to work with us by counting the small victories that shaped our culture and by sharing our vision for 2022.
Forget the numbers though. While these will give you a measure of our growth, we want to celebrate the people that enabled us to make everything count. We invite you to see how our Victory Journey unfolded in 2021. Maybe you’ll discover you’d like to be part of it in 2022.
2021 Was About Good Relationships And Software
Championing And Celebrating Clients
Paul Doman, our CEO, always likes to say that clients are our heroes. And it’s true, because our clients’ vision is what empowers our engineers to come up with novel software solutions. Our working process is one of dialogue and exploration and we’re grateful to have become eye to eye level partners to so many incredible businesses.
In this past year, we’ve welcomed more clients, but we still treat every client as if they were our only client. And we celebrate each accordingly. We celebrate their growth, their new ideas, their expansion, and mostly we celebrate the relationship we have with them.
Double Victory!
In 2021, we became richer with 33 new part.nerds. We doubled in numbers and that came with a sense of accomplishment. But it also made us realise that if we are to keep the Victory vibe alive, we must, once again, turn to our people.
Thus, we started to think about what our culture is truly about. We didn’t look to create something from scratch. Instead, we built on what was already true for our people. By now, it’s no secret that our “something” is the knack for building relationships and teams that click. This, we believe, it’s crucial for software development, because it offers a solid foundation for trust, which leads to freedom, which transforms into exploration and, ultimately, innovation.
New Outdoorsy, Vibrant Office
May 2021 came with a new office, fully prepared for the uncertain times we’re living. Our headquarters moved to a quiet street in Timisoara, in a two-building house with a garden.
While our remote work policy enables teams to work from anywhere, we wanted to also have a home base where we can regroup and recharge. So, welcome to the green (aka the garden of our office where we gather and exchange ideas)!
Owned Community Events: Software Development & More
Our “good relationships are everything” belief encouraged us to share our knowledge (and the good times) with the entire tech community.
Thus, we created our first All Stack Gathering, where Vlad Damian led an engaging discussion about “How well do you know your tech stack?”. And, because for us work and fun go hand in hand, we fused the tech talk with social networking, chill drinks and artisanal ice cream (because summer).
We followed up with a community event based on improvisation. Yes, we jammed in our garden. Since several of our engineers are passionate about playing an instrument, we wanted to help them tune in with professional musicians and improve their skills. Our belief is that if we can pitch in to help our partners grow their skills — tech or non-tech — we will!
Knowledge-sharing Tech Breaks
Call us part.nerds, but last year we decided our Wednesday breaks would be… Tech Breaks.
Tech Breaks are practically tech circles in which we share knowledge on new stacks, ways of working, engineering solutions, and whatnot. We gather, share, and then turn the tables around to also learn. We believe we’re never too senior to learn, so we keep our mind and ears wide open to what each and every one of our colleagues has to say.
And we’re curious to learn what other people on the web and mobile development scene have to say. Outside perspectives are always welcome in our square, so if you have some tech insights, give us a sign and we’d be happy to have you as a guest teacher.
Internships And Summer Practice
In the software business, we pride ourselves on building the future. Taking this as literally as possible, in 2021 we turned our attention to Internships and Summer Practice programs facilitated by West University of Timisoara and The Politechnica University Timisoara.
We’ve pledged to share knowledge and support to build the next-gen of software developers who have tech and soft skills in equal measure. The great news is that we’re well on our way. Some of our past interns have already become part.nerds and are continuing their exponential growth. We’re learning a lot.
Company Traditions
In 2021, we’ve tried to get together as much as the context allowed. We’ve celebrated our American roots with a Thanksgiving get-together, welcomed the Christmas spirit by inviting our partners’ kids to meet Santa, and enjoyed a Holiday dinner to wrap up a tremendously eventful year.
To the general ear, these events might not mean much. To us, they represent the essence of why we gathered under the proverbial Victory Square Partners roof: we enjoy each other’s company and we truly care.
So here’s to many more traditions shared with our part.nerds.
What about 2022?
Partners In Focus
For us, it’s simple. If our people are happy, our clients will be happy, and we’ll be happy. That’s why there’s no year at Victory without an evergreen resolution: keep partners in focus. Show them we care and the rest will naturally follow.
Sure, we have business goals behind this. We have plans for innovation and objectives to achieve. But there’s no bigger accomplishment than creating a workplace that gives engineers what they need in this time and age.
A Bigger Victory!
Now, for the specifics: we want to find more like-minded people to join our Victory square. By the end of 2022 we aim to double in size by bringing to our teams:
- tech leads with rock-solid knowledge who also recognize that they have plenty to learn, still;
- senior web and mobile developers who think in terms of solutions, not strictly development;
- start-of-the-road or juniors who are ready to absorb tech skills, but also want to be seen and heard;
- QA engineers that have sharp eyes and minds, and a nose for detecting fun times;
- DevOps who know their way around any project, and who are looking for a place to challenge them;
Essentially, we’re looking for well-intentioned people, fun people, open-minded people, say-it-as-it-is people, empathic people, humble people, nice-to-be-around people who have decided software is their thing.
What we promise, in exchange, is to keep things real and continue caring. Caring about the software we build and the people who build it.
With that in mind, we sense that 2022 will be a Victory year.
So keep close.
