👋🏻 Hello, Fellow Tech Enthusiasts!
As January unfolds, let’s reflect on Ralabs’ journey and the broader IT landscape in 2023 with our year-end review.
📊 Focus & Insights
- Ralabs’ performance last year was robust, outperforming the market by 17% in average growth and surpassing our own goals by 6%.
Here are some key metrics:
- We secured 30 deals out of 72 opportunities;
- Exceeded our Revenue KPIs by 6% and EBITDA goals by 11%;
- Welcomed 32 new team members.
Looking ahead to the upcoming year, I anticipate the first half to mirror 2023’s trends, but I’m optimistic about a market uplift around mid-2024.
Indicators include:
- The S&P 500 ended the year with a gain of over 24%;
- The US GDP growth previous year was a positive 2.6%, defying the expected negative 0.1%;
- Strong job gains continued in 2023, though layoffs and investment shortages in IT remain concerns. Here’s an insightful insider view on the IT job market – Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?
👩🏼💼 HR Updates
2023 Recruiting Stats:
- 32 new joiners;
- 437 candidates passed initial interviews;
- 131 candidates successfully passed technical interviews;
- 54 new vacancies opened.
2023 HR Stats:
- 5 employees were promoted;
- 25 technical and non-tech events hosted;
- Average ESAT: 4.48/5.
Our HR focus remains steadfast on employee engagement, learning & development, and retention, with continued commitment to investing in these areas.
Remote Work:
- In 2023, we transitioned to a hybrid model and are continuing this approach in 2024. Studies show remote work doesn’t affect performance; read more here. The challenge lies in keeping remote employees engaged, which our team addresses through frequent interactions and events.
- In December, we had a great winter gathering in a mixed offline-online format. The first part of the event was dedicated to studying cinema history, followed by a cocktail workshop. We received positive feedback from both remote participants and those who came to the office. Initially, I was unsure if this could work, but the combination of food delivery and engaging, professionally managed video-conferencing made the event successful.
📈 Business Development
2023 Business Development Stats:
- 55 deals added to the pipeline, 18 won;
- 17 upsells from Delivery, 12 won;
- 6 new logo clients.
Strategic Planning Shift:
- We’ve decided to permanently shift our annual strategic planning to Q2. Historically, we conducted this in December or January. December proved challenging due to holidays, and January was overloaded for our Accounting/Finance team. Shifting to Q2 allows us more time to complete our strategic goals set for Q1 2024.
- Our existing strategic plans remain in place, and we’ll dedicate Q1 2024 to their completion. Our main focus has been on improving service quality, enhancing Executive Relations, strengthening our Sales & Marketing team, and achieving more consistent marketing.
Service Line Expansion:
- We’ve identified our key selling points as small-scale, short-term, and cost-effective solutions. Our most significant sales typically occur after 3-4 upsells with a client. Recognizing this, we introduced entry-level products/services to our lineup in 2023 and are planning to expand this rang this year:
Executive relations:
- In 2023, we focused on strengthening Executive Relations by personally visiting our clients in the US and Ireland. We held 204 executive meetings, including 3 key on-site visits.
💻 Coding Insights
Tech Stack Trends:
- Increased demand for Mobile development, React Native, Flutter, Swift;
- Python and React remain popular;
- Healthcare projects focusing on IoT, FHIR/HL7 standards, HIPAA/GDPR;
- Legacy upgrades and cloud/serverless projects;
- Clients proactively seeking AI integrations.
Our focus is on leveraging third-party solutions and outsourcing for faster market delivery. We’re also refining our estimating approach for each project.
Helpful Tools & Open Source Finds:
- Glide Data Grid: A React/TypeScript data grid for rendering large datasets.
- DevDocs: All tech documentation in one place.
- SQLite New Release: Now with JSONB support.
🤖 AI Developments
- Chat with your database instead of querying it – Vanna AI.
- LLM and Coding: 2023 review and 2024 outlook – Antirez News.
- Paris-based Startup Mistral AI, an OpenAI competitor, valued at $2 Billion – Unite AI Article.
📚 Books and Reading
This month, I thoroughly enjoyed the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” series.
The book can be found on Amazon.
💡 Thoughts
- A fascinating story of a product built and launched within 24 hours on New Year’s Eve – Ira Zayats’ Blog.
- GA open-source alternative: Plausible.
- Penrose for creating diagrams with plain text notation – Penrose.
🔍 Other Noteworthy Mentions
- Sync multiple calendars effectively with Reclaim.ai.
If you found this update helpful, please feel free to share it with others. My previous newsletters are available on our blog – Ralabs Blog.
As winter sets in, remember to catch some sun or take vitamins!
Lastly, as a company with deep Ukrainian roots, we continue to seek your support for Ukraine during these challenging times. Every contribution makes a difference.
Stay safe and connected,
Best,
Andrew