DareData was founded in 2019 by Sam and Nuno with the mission of building a network of exceptional professionals in the fields of Data Science and Data Engineering, all well-paid and personally fulfilled.
Today, the company is comprised of four working partners (Nuno, Sam, Ivo and I) and one working shareholder (Carolina), all dedicated to achieving the company's mission. DareData stands apart as a company that values its people and prioritises their well-being and compensation. The happiness of our network members is the variable with most weight on all our decisions.
DareData was born as a remote company. At the time that I'm writing this blog post, DareData has Network Members that live in Portugal, Brasil, Colombia, Greece, Czech Republic and Australia!
Until this moment, DareData hasn't received any external investment and, at the same time, we have been growing 100% every year. The choice to bootstrap the business was done for two main reasons:
- maintaining control and ownership in the hands of the working partners running the company. In this way, we can keep prioritising the network members happiness as the main driver for our decisions.
- it encouraged the team to be resourceful, creative, and mindful of their spending, leading to sustainable business practices.
This post highlights the core principles that have driven our continued growth and success. By sharing these key principles, we aim to provide insight into our approach and methods for achieving sustainable growth.
Versatile Structure and Lean Processes
The versatility of our partners is a key factor in our success. By being able to move between different areas of responsibility and tackle whatever needs to be done, they keep the company running smoothly.
This is only possible because of our commitment to lean processes and thorough documentation. We have handbooks for every aspect of the business (inspired by the Gitlab Handbook). This ensures that everyone knows what they need to do and how to do it without talking to anyone, particular important on a remote async environment. This allows us to be efficient, flexible, and responsive, which is essential for success in a rapidly changing business environment. We only have a certainty in our days: every day something will change, and every day there will be new problems to solve.
The combination of versatile partners and lean, well-documented processes is a winning formula that has helped us achieve sustainable growth.
Process Automation
To streamline business operations and automate processes, we have been using Odoo, an open-source ERP software. Odoo offers a range of integrated business applications, including CRM, e-commerce, accounting, inventory management, project management, and more, to help businesses manage their operations efficiently.
Its modular structure allows businesses to choose only the necessary applications and add new features as their needs change. Odoo's user-friendly interface and customisable features make it suitable for both small and large enterprises.
Using Odoo, our team can streamline various tasks including tracking the recruitment pipeline, organising work with kanban boards, logging and allocating hours to projects, generating invoices based on hours worked, registering expenses and associate them with cost centre, generate P&L, P&L Forecast, Cashflow, and Cashflow Forecast reports, among others.
Some functionalities may not be supported out-of-the-box by Odoo, but custom features can be added by writing an Odoo app, which is a simple task for someone with basic knowledge of Python and SQL relationships.
For example, a List and Form view can be created to list and create new records for blog posts.
from odoo import models, fields, api
class BlogPost(models.Model):
_name = 'blog.post'
title = fields.Char(string='Title', required=True)
author = fields.Char(string='Author', required=True)
link = fields.Char(string='Link', required=True)
summary = fields.Text(string='Summary')
<!-- Form View -->
<record id="blog_post_form_view" model="ir.ui.view">
<field name="name">blog.post.form</field>
<field name="model">blog.post</field>
<field name="arch" type="xml">
<form string="Blog Post">
<sheet>
<group>
<field name="title"/>
<field name="author"/>
<field name="link"/>
<field name="summary"/>
</group>
</sheet>
</form>
</field>
</record>
<!-- Tree View -->
<record id="blog_post_tree_view" model="ir.ui.view">
<field name="name">blog.post.tree</field>
<field name="model">blog.post</field>
<field name="arch" type="xml">
<tree string="Blog Posts">
<field name="title"/>
<field name="author"/>
<field name="link"/>
<field name="summary"/>
</tree>
</field>
</record>
This code automatically generates a table in the database where the information is stored, as well as the 2 views that allow us to interact with the platform.
OKRs Monitoring and Data-Driven Decisions
Our operational data, which is digitised and standardised in Odoo, forms the foundation of a robust data warehouse that provides us valuable insights. To simplify the process of visualizing this data, we use Metabase, an open-source tool that enables us to get a clear picture of our metrics. With this information at our disposal, we are equipped to make informed decisions that drive the growth and success of our company.
DareData's commitment to its core principles has enabled it to achieve sustainable growth and success.
By valuing its people, prioritising their well-being and compensation, and maintaining control and ownership, DareData has created a thriving business that continues to grow and operates remotely across different countries.
Its versatile structure, lean and automated processes, allow the team to be efficient, flexible, and responsive in a rapidly changing business environment. Overall, DareData's approach and methods for achieving sustainable growth serve as a model for other businesses looking to succeed in the modern global marketplace.
To learn more about our data-driven approach and the tools we use, feel free to reach out to me at rui@daredata.engineering.