Closing down Awkward
Failure is part of the process to make something new, is what I said during a design meetup last year. I was referring to one of our projects back then, never realizing it could also be true for a company. My company.
About 10 years ago I got together with 3 other people. We cared about creating really good software. It’s about the details, a focused team and simply put: care about quality of work. Over the years my partners left to pursue other dreams, but I stayed. I was on a mission to keep this dream alive. I wanted to help other companies achieve quality in their software.
I think this was even more recognized once we started receiving propositions to change our course and sell the company. And with every conversation we had, it gave us food for thought: “what would our next step be?” and: “is this what we want to do as a business?”. Luckily our mission and the feeling for staying independent was strong. I believe selling your company should be for the right reasons. You want to move forward and make it better.
Last year things changed: we had a realization that it’s becoming more difficult for agencies to operate. Especially when you’re small and when you’re specialized to cater a certain niche. I deeply respect all small agencies out there, you’re great and I admired you over the years. However, Awkward required a change.
So after many conversations with different parties over the last 6 months, I knew things had to change even more than I thought. The dream of staying small, operate as we did was just not possible anymore. So it wouldn’t have been about moving forward or making it better. No, it would just have been a big change; which would neither be good or bad.
So here we are. In this time of crisis. And I have made a difficult decision, which not just impacts me, but the whole team and the result of the company: I decided not to sell, but instead leave it and dissolve the company. A change that does not affect what we did or how we did things. A difficult decision that is destructive on one hand and creates new opportunities on the other.
I am grateful for the opportunity and want to cherish the memories I have with this amazing team, the great partners and clients and remember what we stood for: being a small, independent and amazingly talented team, that really got shit done.
To everyone that followed us and supported us: thank you and stay Awkward.
Lastly, I hope that everyone is able to stay safe and healthy in these uncertain times.
