Quinck turns 5: 5 lessons you won't find in motivational posts
On 21 January Quinck turned 5. We celebrated with a murder mystery dinner, ahead of time, because superstition is overrated and the killer won without getting caught.
It wasn't just a dinner. It was our way of marking the first year "not as a startup": fewer bureaucratic labels, same spirit, same drive to build things that really work.
From our own product to other people's products: why we changed
In five years we've learned that ideas change and have to change. We started as a product startup, today we design and build complex products for others, and it was a more strategic choice than a romantic one.
1.5 million euros recovered: when bureaucracy becomes leverage
We've learned that bureaucracy is boring but can generate impact. Through calls for funding, subsidised finance and technical design we helped recover over 1.5 million euros, for ourselves and for our clients.
Office, responsibility and hard choices: really growing up
And then something simple, but uncomfortable: running a company is responsibility. It means choosing few projects, giving them the time they need, working in person when it matters and carrying the weight of decisions, not just the results.
Five years on, we're no longer a startup. We're a team that has learned that growing isn't doing more, but doing better, with judgement, method and the right people.
If you're building a software product and feel the "startup" phase is no longer enough, let's talk. Sometimes growing means changing model before it's too late.
