Here are a few thoughts on one whole amazing year since the Falcon.io acquisition of Unmetric last October!

Personally, I’ve been doing some of the most significant work of my career over the last couple of months. I’m not allowed to disclose details but I’ve had to really stretch myself and learn so much from everyone around me. Engineers, designers, product managers — everyone here’s at another level. In particular, I’ve become so much better at design discovery, which has never been my strong suit. I’ve also had to unlearn a lot — mainly misconceptions about building products and design’s role therein — which I’m immensely grateful for.

The unbelievable part is that all of this has happened in the midst of a global pandemic with everyone working from home. I’ve realised how tools like Zoom, Miro and Figma have nearly eliminated geographic distances and perceived timezone differences to the point where it feels like we’re almost in the same physical office space shipping world-class pixels and code, sprint after sprint.

One of the things the Falcon.io team has proved to be really strong with is process. I’m in constant awe of how there’s processes, tools and documentation for every single thing an employee could possibly need help with … it’s crazy.

Culture is another thing to boast about. Every Falconeer is super helpful, and goes out of their way to assist other folks. Communication and collaboration are our bulwark. Our Slack channels are constant proof of this — any small achievement by any team is announced and celebrated like we’re all family.

I’m not going to lie — I had a few fears after the acquisition announcement. I was mainly scared about becoming just another faceless ​“cog in the machine” doing 9‑to‑6 in a 300+ person company. But after a year, I can confidently say that every Falconeer in every department is given enough autonomy and enough transparency to realise how even the small things eventually connect to Falcon.io’s larger vision for its product and customers. It’s this sort of feeling that gets me up every morning!

None of this would be possible without my amazing crew currently spread across Europe, so a hat-tip to you all — Justina, Lasse, Jakub, Rob, Veli and Zainab! I have such a rich and diverse team to interact with on a daily basis, and it feels funny to have never met most of you in person due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. But here’s hoping we can finally meet again in 2021. You folks are awesome.

Upward and onward!