All the good things come to an end

Where we started

About a year and a half ago, we decided to take on the crazy challenge of starting Sidetool. We came into it with a set of fundamental values: We shouldn't have to raise money, we should take care of our own, and we should do our best to add immense value to our customers, even if it might hurt our revenue in the short term.

Building a company on these values has been far from easy. It's crazy because starting a business always sounds easier on paper than it is. This is fucking hard work. Every customer counts, every teammate matters, and every hour we spend is an hour we never get back. We need to be very strategic about how we spend those hours.

That focus on how we invest our time and energy explains why I'm so grateful, surprised, and excited that Sidetool has already been a year in the making. I need to thank so many people for what we've built.

Manu, you were the first to take a chance on this company. I'm not entirely sure why, but I'm immensely grateful you did. I pinged you on WhatsApp, and your response was, "When do we start?" The day you joined was the day we incorporated, opened a bank account, bought the domain, designed the logo, and set up Stripe. Literally, the day you joined was our first day in business. Neither of us knew it would turn into what it is now. It feels like ages ago when it was just us building automations and always being late on deadlines (we're still late 🤦‍♂️). Thank you, Manu.

Moving forward, Valen, you were on board from the moment I called, basically saying I had taken too long to reach out. I remember telling you to take a day and think about it—I wouldn't accept an immediate yes. Thank you for taking that leap of faith with Sidetool, for growing alongside us, and for helping shape the company into what it is today.

Fran Guerrero, we'd be nowhere near where we are now without you. You allowed us to scale and let me step away from customer calls to focus on selling. You handled every fire and every angry customer and worked insane hours to keep us afloat. Thank you.

Juan Cruz, you filled the huge gap left by Fran without hesitation, even with limited experience. You took it like a champ. Similarly, Agus, just like Juan, you came in during a tough transition. You took the fort, embraced the chaos, and elevated the company. Without you, we would've struggled and probably stalled. You have one of the hardest jobs here, and you pulled it off. Thank you, Agus and Juan.

Santi, thinking back to how we interviewed you and those first months here might seem crazy or even delusional. I'm unsure what drew you to our culture, but I love that you jumped in. You have a special place at Sidetool. You're the riskiest conservative I've ever met—cautious in the most daring situations but always moving forward.

Mati, these last few weeks have been tough. We're with you. Thank you for giving your time to the company during this period. Your commitment doesn't go unnoticed. I knew within the first five minutes of our call that we'd work together, and I'm glad we are.

Fran, you're one of my favorite stories in this company. You've earned your place by being relentless in your learning and your pursuit of every hack, every trick. You notice the hidden details because you're always asking how things work and why. You stepped up at Mauer, proving we can sell beyond just me. Thank you for that.

JM, I've saved you for last. We're not the type to praise each other openly, but I'm making an exception today. Everyone knows it: you are the reason this company exists. You're the inner brain that keeps it all functioning. Without a partnership like ours, this company would not exist. Our partnership is rare. Everything I do moving forward, you'll be part of it—not because you're a friend, but because you make me better. You have the perspective, experience, and mindset that I don't. You just need someone like me to remind you how damn good you are. You don't hand out compliments, but you truly care about people. You're exactly the kind of leader I want by my side.

The fact that I am not mentioning you here doesn't mean that you don't matter. Every single person in this company matters, and every single teammate has made a big impact on what we are building. For that, I am extremely grateful. Thank you, team.

Taking everything in

At some point at the party, I sat to the side to admire everything that we had built. I don't remember the last time I did that. I rarely take the time to take things in and appreciate them. I am extremely grateful to everyone who took the time to travel to the party. I am extremely grateful for the energy everyone put into the party. I am extremely grateful to everyone taking a bet on Sidetool and giving their all. Your careers matter a ton to me, and I am focused on making sure this bet pays off for every one of you.

After nine years of starting companies, failing multiple times, and making an insane number of mistakes, I have come to appreciate how hard this game is. Before, I did not respect it; I thought it was easy. I could get it done within a couple of years of hard work. The reality is that hard work is just a percentage of the formula. Persistence is another, and intelligence is the other.

The fact that you keep trying builds your scars and the knowledge base that allows you to go into scenarios where you have already been there, which allows you to make better decisions because you already took the wrong one. Building mental models along the way to learn how to make better decisions.

However, building a team of amazing people is the most important skill you learn through this process. By amazing, I mean people you can trust daily to do right by you because you will do right by them. Finding amazing people is hard, but that does not mean you should stop trying to find them. Because once you find it, it becomes the most important aspect of what you are building.

This is to everyone who has gone the extra mile to get the project done, the extra effort to think through the customer answer, the extra hour to figure out the complex workflow, the extra iteration of the design, and the extra question of why things work the way they do. Thank you for the sacrifices, the effort, the attitude, and the patience.

These things don't go unnoticed. I really care about those things. I really pay attention to them. They fuel me every day. They fuel me to get that extra customer, that extra hour, that extra dollar, that extra iteration. They fuel me to do right by everyone. To build a kickass company for everyone to accomplish their dreams along with the dreams of Sidetool.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

2025 is our year

We're going to double down on everything we've learned. This is the year we focus on margins. This is the year we shift from service to SaaS. Looking ahead, it's going to be a wild ride. This surge will create massive opportunities for everyone here. It's up to each of you to grab them, just like JC, Santi, and Fran did.

If you jump into Sidetool's toughest challenges, you'll find huge rewards on the other side. Be relentless. Be curious. Put your soul into everything you do. There's no point in just going through the motions. Considering how much time we spend at work—often more than with family or partners—why not bring the same energy we put into everything else?

We're at a special company in a special moment of humanity. Thanks to AI, we're in a blue ocean of opportunities. It's up to us to jump in, find these opportunities, and build something meaningful—something that solves real problems, makes customers happy, and creates a kickass place to work.

Let's fucking do this! 🚀 

Gracias totales!