My key takeaways from 2023

I’m more the kind of guy who tends to look ahead, but I was challenged to look back at 2023 and it was a fun exercise. Here are some of my key takeaways from 2023:

1) The year of personal growth

As we doubled headcount in 12 months and got to 100 of our colleagues are now people managers,  it was clear we needed to support them grow into their role. While assessing the key skills we needed our managers to develop, it became obvious that I could have benefited a lot from attending the training as well. So much so that I probably ended up doing more training and coaching than anyone else in the company.

2) The coaching course

I completed a 6 month coaching course to work on becoming a better leader and communicator. The biggest impact came from simple rules like avoiding distractions, doing one thing at a time and organising my time in the best possible way. It also made me realise I was neglecting friends, body and mind because I wasn't well-organised enough. I ended up being more productive and that allowed me to find some time to exercise between work and family.

3) The habit of being prepared 

Always schedule a 15-minute buffer between meetings to study the agenda of the next one to better prepare. This has helped make each meeting more productive.

4) The OKRs

We successfully achieved the company-wide rollout of “OKR”, and it was great! Having people dedicated to the Objectives and Key Results we designed allowed us to properly set our objectives and targets, and cascade them to each teams. The feeling that we were all pushing in the same direction is unique and a lot of right things happened.

5) The greatest satisfaction

The launch of Satispay's Meal Vouchers, to make the market more ethical and give control back to the merchants. This has been amazing because it felt like launching another startup, but this time being a big team, more competent, and well funded!

It was also a very big challenge. We had to make this the #1 priority of the company, as it was about launching a completely new product. The organisation naturally operates to achieve the priorities of the its core business and without dedicated OKR, I reckon we wouldn’t have been able to launch Satispay Buoni Pasto within the year.

6) The books 

'The hard thing about hard things', by Ben Horowitz. Really is the Reader's digest of entrepreneurship for me. Also 'Blueprint for a SaaS sales organisation', an essential handbook on how to create a successful and scalable business development organisation.

7) Unwinding after work

Create  moments of 'silent movement'. For example: when I get home, I no longer listen to podcasts. I cycle in silence to get away from work and prepare myself for the moment when I get home and I embrace my wife and my two little kids. 

8) The useful podcast

Financial Times News Briefing. Every morning a 10-minute in-depth look at the facts of the global economy that you need to know to take informed decisions.

9) The painful moment

The decision of Satispay's longest-serving employee to leave the company. He arrived here nine years ago, and will leave early next year. He is a piece of the company's history and the quintessence of the spirit of “Lead by example”. It is natural that people after so many years look for other challenges, but it was though to accept it. I like to think that he will be even more successful in his new venture, while remaining part of this group in some shape or form.

10) The new home for Satispay

We finally found an office where we will be able to stay for many years. It is a completely new building located in the Isola neighbourhood in Milan, the same area where we have grown up in the past 5 years. After years of moving from one building to another it feels good to let our roots grow in our new Casa Satispay.

Some Numbers

2023 was the year of numbers: 10 years of Satispay, 4 million customers, 600 employees, 300.000 merchants, 3 billion Euros circulating on Satispay, +140% turnover.

2023 was also a year of awareness. The realisation that most of our growth is still ahead of us, but we are stronger than ever. That growth is often equal to facing tough challenges, but it’s great, because you can keep learning every single day, and become a better person.

And, all in all, happy about another intense and successful year. 

Thank you to everyone at Satispay for their continued support and commitment.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!