Today we’d like to introduce you to Chad Pytel.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Chad. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
thoughtbot started 15 years ago in Boston. We help organizations of all sizes bring new products to life or improve existing products.
When we first started, we said “yes” to everything trying to make ends meet. As a result, we were everything to everyone, which is a recipe for mediocrity. We were burnt out and not working the way we wanted on things we wanted to work on.
That was when sat down and identified what important to us, and what we believed about how products should be built. We communicated these things and became willing to say “no” to people who didn’t care to work the way we believed in.
This was an important turning point for thoughtbot because we then stood for something and people could choose us. We began to attract like-minded team members and customers who believed in our practices and values.
Eventually, we wanted to take our better way of working with more team members and people and started to expand outside of Boston. Today we are 90 people across 6 studios (Boston, London, NYC, Raleigh, Austin, and SF).
Has it been a smooth road?
In addition to the early struggles of learning to say “no” and to have something, we believed in, once we started to expand we hit other struggles.
Because we had a worldwide reputation, when we expanded to a new city we would have really good results initially. This led us to believe that it was going to be a lot easier to expand than we anticipated and we grew too quickly. A year or two later when that initial low-hanging fruit was gone, we found that we hadn’t necessarily built a sustainable business in each of our new cities. Once we realized this, we had to make hard choices to stay sustainable.
Today, are have a much better understanding of what is necessary to create sustainable local studies that thrive in their local community.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with thoughtbot – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We help organizations of all sizes create new digital products, or improve existing ones. We have worked with large companies like Groupon, Intel, Merck, Etsy, and Kickstarter, as well as many more startups you haven’t heard of yet.
We are most proud of, and what makes us unique is that we are not just outsourced designers and developers who will do whatever we’re told. We are smart, experienced designers and developers who care deeply about building the right product, that people will love to use, and that will be successful in the market.
We have a unique process that is tailored to achieving that with our customers. And our customers tell us that we not only do all of that but that we’re fun and fulfilling to work with.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the size of Boston and how you can get everywhere so easily by either walking or the T. As a result, especially in the tech community, we have a city of great people who are very connected with each other.
I don’t like how people are always worried about what other cities or markets are doing. I feel like when you’re constantly looking over your shoulder, you’re not looking forward.
Contact Info:
- Address: 41 Winter St. Floor 7 Boston, MA 02108
- Website: https://thoughtbot.com
- Phone: +1 (877) 9-ROBOTS
- Email: hello@thoughtbot.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/thoughtbot
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/thoughtbot
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/thoughtbot
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
