As a way of celebrating the amazing team and community that have seen us through, I wanted to share some moments of these last 5 years together. As an enterprise learning company, we’ve had successes, challenges, and giant learning along the way.
Watch the Top 5 moments that helped build the company we are today:
Read the whole story:
Stepping onto the ServiceNow stage, we saw a jungle filled with behemoths with billions of dollars in revenue, long-time partners led by ServiceNow insiders, and more small companies joining the ecosystem every day. How do you make a big splash that ripples for years?
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But we didn’t just participate; we went all-in. ServiceNow showcased our app on the Knowledge show floor – giving us exposure to thousands of attendees. More importantly, we found our people in the ServiceNow community. Jon of eSolutionsOne and TJ with ClearSkye. ServiceNow friends like Martin Barclay, Brad Tilton, Sydney Lai, Jacqueline Cullen, and many more.
We were going to need all the support we could get as it was clear it was going to be quite a ride.
Every company has a client that has a major impact on their company.
Our first customer was a big fish - and we devoted ourselves to ensuring they were successful. We spent late nights and weekends translating courses, our spouses even helped us make deadlines.
It was so worth it because, in this early customer, we were lucky enough to find rare comradery and kindness. They diligently provided critical feedback on our product, our company, and even our general operations. This feedback and the ensuing friendships were invaluable.
Among many other enhancements, this client took us onto the global stage. We were able to quickly spin up product localization in more than a dozen languages, and before we knew it, we were delivering training around the globe, to Korea, India, Brazil, Germany, France, Italy, and more.
Additionally, this experience set the stage for PlatCore to be more than just a product-led company, but also to be a customer-led company. Over the first two years, we listened deeply and released 13 customer-focused versions. These features have driven huge value for our customers – and this relentless customer focus has driven an even greater value for the business.
So, from our first big customer, we learned:
Which led to a third key moment for PlatCore and possibly the most technically daunting....
Feedback from this first pivotal customer led to the next big step for PlatCore – a full product redesign.
PlatCore wanted to be more than just a Native ServiceNow LMS – we also wanted to provide a top learning experience for our customers. So we assembled a world-class team that had the technical and design expertise to take an LMS that was powered by ServiceNow – AND make it easy for everyone to use.
We gathered as much customer feedback as possible, benchmarked our solution against industry leaders, and went to work. This new architecture enables the value and framework are customers are experiencing today.
We humbly believe that result is uniquely modern, mobile, intuitive, and simple – an LMS that secretly has the ridiculous power of ServiceNow and also stands out as a top-tier learning solution. No learning solution matches the flexibility, automation, and future focus we built right into the ServiceNow platform.
However, our timing was impeccable. We released our redesigned platform right after the pandemic hit...
Being a CEO of a rapidly growing company to a CEO of a company facing a very different set of circumstances, such as an economic shutdown, was jarring. But, if the previous four years had taught me anything, it was not to be afraid of hard things.
We summoned the strength and resilience to step up to each new challenge. Having said that, from isolation to budget freezes to endless video calls, I think we will look back and agree that navigating the last 18 months was a hard thing.
The ability to look for opportunities in the chaos separated us from other businesses. Change brings opportunity. Now – overnight - we are seeing the biggest cultural shift in generations. Knowledge workers like working from home – and many will never go back to the office full time.
Working at home culture, digital communications, and fewer in-person meetings have become the norm. Companies will likely struggle to shift back to offices, and some version of work-life integration may be here to stay.
With this permanent shift, companies will rely on e-learning, virtual instructor events hosted conferences and more. The market has come to PlatCore, and we are excited to be the right product and the right company for the right moment.
All this isn’t possible without something else.
Nothing in a company happens without people. Our team demonstrates our culture, who we are, how we help, and our values constantly. I can’t express the gratitude and the impact they’ve made on PlatCore, our customers, and myself. They are truly the soul of the company.
We also embody the more balanced, healthy work culture that is emerging today. Want to work from Italy for a bit? Hawaii? Want to live somewhere else that’s cheaper and helps you provide for your family easier?
No problem.
PlatCore has experienced quite a ride from our start in 2016. It has become a capstone of experiences for me, and I hope other long-time team members in this endeavor. About half of small businesses survive five years.
I’m excited we’ve not only survived but continue to thrive with great team members, customers, partners, and everyone who has been part of our journey.
I’d like to close by saying our plans are big. We believe we can help millions of people do their best work. That doesn’t happen by accident. We do the work, don’t take shortcuts, and always keep the people we help at the forefront of everything we do.
I get to witness the growth of PlatCore, our team, and our customers, as we take the next steps in our journey together. I’m proud of the work and the results we’ve produced together.
The future is always uncertain, and the next chapter is yet to be written. However, we get to write our own future. We’ve got big plans and big dreams.
I can’t wait to show you what’s next.