Last time I did this was 20 years ago. Now, here we go again.

I truly didn’t remember what a massive task it is to start a new company. Even this post was supposed to be written last fall, but somehow half a year just flew by — it took that long to get the team together and the business truly up and running.

Over 20 years ago, I was one of the founders of Systems Garden Oy as a spin-off. It grew into a prominent 20-person software house and digitalization consultant in its field, and continues its journey in the capable hands of Jussi Rautjärvi. I’m especially happy that our solution was also a good thing for Systems Garden — helping clarify its focus.

Last summer, we spun off Gate Apps Oy from Systems Garden when the work permit system we offered as a SaaS solution — Gate — began to grow too big to be just a side project. We decided to become the leading player in our field (which we might already be in Finland!) and to grow into the best digitizer of work permit practices in the world.

Quite the six months — they flew by like nothing.

Even if you’ve done this before, as a startup entrepreneur, everything new feels like a small adventure:

• Contract structures, legal stuff, and financing details related to business transfers and spin-offs. Now I really understand what our customers meant back in the day when they talked about having to split ERP systems in half during a company acquisition.

• Admin, accounting, contract management, and everyday routines, even down to Excel sheets — everything needs to run daily. Even if the company is new, receipts still need to be found and the books need to match.

• Setting up our own IT systems from scratch, including ERP systems, without disrupting operations or invoicing. You start to really appreciate anything that just works and gets the job done.

• Migrating the SaaS infrastructure, including server transitions, cybersecurity, and compliance with GDPR and other regulations. With a couple of (planned) interruptions, we made it through. Though, there were a few late nights.

• Invisible infra like email, websites, phones, office space, internet, tools — the basics many take for granted, but all of them take work. Fortunately, we had great partners.

• Delivery and production processes with a new team, brand, and systems. In six months, we’ve served clients not only in Finland but also in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, and Norway. Nothing has gone undelivered — and we’ve gained many new customers.

• Customer service processes. At first, we thought a good ticketing system would solve it. Then we quickly learned it’s not about how tickets are listed, it’s about actually resolving them.

• Marketing and refining our message. Anyone who’s ever built a website knows what “content creation” really means. It’s a whole different beast from just being a step in the project plan. Thankfully, we got help here too.

• At the turn of the year, we established a Customer Success practice and recruited for it. Now, the backlog is clearing, and the process is working. Though, we also realized that when customer service works well — it often brings in more to do!

• The product itself needed some love — at the very least, references to the old owner had to go. But more importantly, we finally get to execute our own vision and focus on what we’re truly the best in the world at.

• And all kinds of other little things: new office, relocation, onboarding a new board, creating a growth strategy — and implementing it.

Oh — and all this wasn’t exactly free. We also raised our first funding round to get things up and running. Our startup is a bit rare in that we already have real customers and real revenue — but growth requires investments too.

Along this journey, I’ve learned to deeply appreciate well-established processes, functioning governance models, existing systems (both old and new!), data repositories (big and small), and especially the quiet knowledge and know-how embedded in organizational habits — and in the people who ultimately make up the company.

So remember to thank your admin, your bookkeeper, your IT support, your HR assistant, your office helper — anyone in your organization who makes your workday possible. A startup founder knows: nothing is guaranteed!

Half a year has gone by in a bit of a blur. But at least I feel alive — founding and running a company is (almost) the best thing a person can do. I really should do this more often than once every 20 years. 🙂

But the real point is: Gate Apps is alive and well! And finally, we have solid routines and a startup team in place.

Now we’re shifting into growth mode — and you’ll be hearing more from us soon.

In the next “Beyond the Gate” post, I’ll share how an IT and digital development guy ended up in such a niche industry — and let our team tell where we’ve come from and where we’re heading.

– Pirkka / CEO