2021 Year in Review

It can be challenging to look back on a year and describe the changes and progress made. In my 2020 year in review I described 2020 as “the most written-about year of our lives”. 2021, unfortunately, revealed 2020 to be less unique than we hoped.

In 2020, Arrows was an MVP with a few customers, and in 2021 it continued to evolve in ways I could have never predicted.

We raised over two million in seed funding to help build out the company. We hired a team of five across various roles to enable us to build out the company and product. I have my first “job” with a salary since 2013! We grew our customers, revenue, and product features across the board. In total I feel like I learned more about proper, like, business in the last year than I ever have.

But with all of this came challenges too. In many ways this was maybe the most challenging year of my professional life so far. Hiring employees means you’re not just responsible for yourself anymore. Hiring employees who are really talented means accepting all the ways your skills aren’t actually that good. Accepting funding comes with a sense of stewardship greater than working for yourself and clients. Diving into building a serious B2B product means entering a world of serious competition and expectations. Luckily, navigating all of this with a great business partner makes the whole thing easier, and I’m more grateful for getting to work with Daniel than ever.

Arrows was the sole focus of my work life in 2021, and it will be for the foreseeable future. In my 2018 year in review I talked about taking career lottery tickets and putting them into a savings account. Arrows has become that project I’m happy to invest in over the long term, and I’m happy to be at this point in my work-life.

I hope you made it through 2021 relatively unscathed, and here’s to 2022!