Lessons learned from my years as the CEO of Customertimes

By Dmitry Sidnev - February 4, 2020

The last several months have been challenging for everyone. Never in the history of Customertimes have we encountered such a unique set of obstacles, and I know these difficulties have been shared by organizations around the globe. My hope is that organizations will successfully navigate through this crisis and will be even stronger than before.

I would like to share some key learnings from my years as CEO at Customertimes and encourage my colleagues as we steer through this situation together.

• Always stretch yourself.

Don’t shy away from taking your business on a difficult journey. When we first started CT, we made a conscious decision to pursue new, challenging technologies and solutions, some of which required a great deal of effort for our team to master.

From the beginning, we took pride in being able to stand shoulder to shoulder with top-tier consultancies. This not only helped our team grow professionally, but it helped set us apart and allowed us to attract top-tier talent – something that continues to this day.

• Trust matters.

Customertimes was built on a model of mutual respect and trust, something that’s apparent to our employees and customers from the outset. When trust is established, you’re able to cut out a lot of meaningless noise – in negotiations, projects, and day-to-day interactions – and build long-lasting, meaningful relationships. Maintaining a culture of trust is more challenging at scale, which is why we focus on this key principle daily, no matter how much CT grows.

• Give back.

We recognize the importance of giving back to our communities. We set aside time and money to help philanthropic and charitable organizations around the world, and we encourage our employees to join us in these efforts.

• Constantly advance your business model.

I know how difficult it is to think about your business from an outside, high-level perspective when you are always knee-deep in operations. Try to set up a regular cadence of strategy meetings (e.g. once a quarter) to think about your business model and how to advance it. Then, plan actions, implement them, and track the results.

• Respect your colleagues and customers.

I started my career as a tester. I then became a test automation expert, then a developer, then a project manager, and finally I became an entrepreneur. In wearing all of these hats, I learned how important it is to respect your team and to be respected yourself. It should be part of your DNA as an organization.

• Support your colleagues if they want to grow.

It’s always beneficial for your business to support employees when they want to grow. Most of our senior management team grew from junior level employees, and many of CT’s original, founding members are still part of the organization as well. It’s not uncommon for someone to stay with us for 10 years or more. If you can maintain a nurturing environment that rewards and invests in ambition, you’ll have a loyal, well-rounded team that knows your business inside and out.