We started our operations as Humbol in February 2021 when Antti and Jyri joined the team as full-time members. During the spring, we developed the first version of our application, which would enable better and more meaningful one-on-one discussions with less effort. At the same time, we pitched our concept to tens of prospective customers to gain valuable feedback. We launched the first version of Humbol in May and sent our first invoice in June. Around that time, Andy joined the Humbol team as a full-time member and co-founder.
From a go-to-market perspective, we achieved our goals: We were able to quickly develop the first version of our application, which already as such generated significant value for our first customers. The current remote-work situation provided us with a great deal of valuable visibility during our launch, as the theme “proactive and equal leadership” was frequently discussed online and in the media.
In early autumn, based on an idea from a customer, we expanded the Humbol application to support systematic peer and customer feedback. Due to this new functionality, one-on-one and performance discussions can also include feedback from colleagues and customers. We see enormous potential in this functionality, especially for expert and professional service organizations that want to include competence development and feedback in their daily operations. It also helps us bring employee and customer experience much closer together.
Over the past year, we have also been able to integrate Humbol much closer to the Microsoft and Google environments. Along with this integration, we have become an integral part of the daily working environment where our customers spend most of their time and substantially increase their efficiency with Humbol. In addition, we have introduced implementation and advisory services as part of our operations to facilitate change and very quickly maximize the value that the Humbol application provides for our customers.
The name of our company, Humbol, consists of our key values: humble and bold. Now that the year is almost over, we can conclude that our first year was very “Humbol-like”. We have been bold in developing a new way of leading organizations and teams, but we have also been humble and listened to what our customers need and want. The feedback “Humbol is an application that serves you but does not need to be served” provided by a customer confirms that our value proposition “more time for better leadership” is justified.
When we enter the year 2022, we can influence thousands of people and their daily work in over 10 countries. This would not be possible without our customers, who want to make their leadership practices more systematic and meaningful. So, thank you for trusting our vision, being active in introducing new ideas and challenging us. We would also like to thank everyone who has followed us during the year, sparred us and brought us new points of view.
The past year and the ongoing uncertainty in the midst of the pandemic have affected many families and their daily lives. That’s why we have chosen to support the non-profit Save the Children. The organization fights for children’s rights to immediately and permanently improve children’s lives globally.
We would like to wish you all a peaceful holiday season, and we look forward to a fantastic 2022 together.
Antti, Jyri and Andy