I am the first ever xHub employee, I've been hired before even it was created (Can you believe that :P). I remember the early discussions about it, the very first office in the middle of nowhere in Casablanca, the switch to a small office and then the move to Technopark! We had, like any (Moroccan) startup, ups and (lot of) downs! But we survived after all, and here we are.
While reading these lines, please keep in mind that I'm only a developer, a technical guy that believes in the power & limits of code. This is to say that this post is not a marketing material nor a sale pitch, I'm far away from that. my intention throughout these lines is to share WHY the founders started xHub, hoping that if we get lost someday, we come back here to remember our purpose, our cause and our belief!
Start with why!
The idea of this post comes after reading Simon Sinek's pattern called the Golden Circle, on his famous book: Start with why!
The concept of the Golden Circle, as Simon explained, was inspired by the golden ratio, a simple mathematical relationship that fascinated mathematicians, biologists, artists ...
Sinek's argues that to turn an idea into a real impact and a social movement, you should start from the inside out. Its the Why that determines What you’re building and how! In other words, He sentences that when launching your startup, you should always start with WHY instead of WHAT.
Sinek explains how Apple has been able to achieve such exceptional success, while others with the same resources have failed:
When we, as people or organisations, think, act or communicate we do so from the outside in, from WHAT to WHY. We always say what we do, we sometimes say HOW we do it, but we rarely say WHY we do WHAT we do!
There are many others trying to solve the same problem that you are. Sometimes to get ahead regardless of your size and industry your startup must think from the inside out. According to Sinek, "All organizations start with WHY, but only the great ones keep their WHY clear year after year." People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it. Starting with WHY attracts customers who share your beliefs, sometimes for a lifetime.
xHub: What, How & Why!
I believe that now you're asking yourself: why the hell I'm reading this, I could do better things with my time! Agreed :D.
This write up is intended to everyone who need to know (or remember) xHub's Why: me, my colleagues and everyone who asks what xHub does (You can't believe how many times I answered this question)! If you aren't one of these, just stop here and go swim.
Last chance!
Oh, glad you make it till here :) Now let's define xHub starting from the outside of the circle and moving inward:
What: xTalents, xProducts & xIO
xHub is a consultancy company that can be defined in 3 simple bullets:
- xTalents: i.e developers with attitude (Because you can always teach skills). This has been and will always be our capital. I'm not saying that we've the best developers out there, because we (definitely) don't! We can't compete in term of advantages (starting with salaries) with other (big) companies, after all we still a (growing) startup. But We have some talented developers that believe in us, trust us and decided to be part of xHub's journey.
- xProduxts: Those are projects that we create internally or we share publicly. Some failed, some still in rethinking phase, some are gold and in production! The idea behind xProjects is to keep exploring technology trends in our very own apps, testing and pushing it to the limit. This give us a sense of how to serve best our clients with the latest technologies
- xIO: xHub was created with a community spirit in mind! This track includes meetups, conferences, supporting other events and everything in between. we try to keep it sparkling even if, believe me, is not an easy one!
How: The culture
We've 6 core values, that I personally participate in defining during the company first days, that illustrates our culture. We strongly believe that values are not simply posters on a wall and in order for a culture to be strong, the values must be clear and the values must be lived. These values are:
- Leadership... We foster trust and collaboration to develop leaders focused on sustainable, superior performance. We set positive examples and invest in others so that they can follow the guidelines of leadership.
- Integrity ... We conduct our business in accordance with the highest standards of professional behavior and ethics. We are transparent, honest and ethical in all our interactions with employees, clients, consumers, vendors and the public.
- Respect...We embrace each individual’s unique talents and honor diverse life and work styles. We operate in a spirit of cooperation and value human dignity.
- Innovation ... We acknowledge the weaknesses within our industry and create ethical, forward thinking solutions to overcome them. We identify, develop and deploy leading edge technology, employee development programs and process improvement tools.
- Creativity... We embraces laughter, humor, and having fun while working toward a common goal. It pools a diverse set of perspectives and experience by assembling cross-functional teams to collaborate on projects. We often holds brainstorming sessions around new themes and goals. Employees don’t take themselves too seriously, and use their imaginations to drive innovation.
- Continuous Improvement ... We measure, monitor, analyze and improve productivity, processes, tasks and ourselves to satisfy clients and stakeholders. We work with enthusiasm and intellect, and are driven to surpass what has already been achieved. We are not afraid to stand alone, especially when it is the right thing to do.
WHY: We're all in the same boat!
Our relation with our clients is not a one time shot and done. We're always trying to build this sustainable win-win relationship. Each time we start working on a client project, is like we've boarded in a boat, and in order to arrive safely (all of us most importantly), we should all join forces, do more than our best and unleach our creativity to face obstacles. Sometimes obstacles can be overcome and sometimes we have to work around them or find alternatives... the ultimate goal still to land safely with the boat. That's what defines us, what we believe and simply what we're doing. xTalents will be (hopefully) the rowers you need in your innovation journey!
Final words
Sinek's stated in his book that in order to build trust with your customers, you need authenticity. This means that your HOW (actions) and WHAT (results) have to be consistent with your WHY (beliefs). They all need to work together in harmony. Throughout this long post, I tried to answer this 3 simple questions for xHub, highlighting our What (xTalents, xProducts & xIO), How (The culture) and Why!
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