Yesterday marked the ninth anniversary of the first day we began operating as Sharing Minds.

First of all, I would love to take a moment to thank all those who have believed in, pushed for and redirected this company over the years – Sharing Minds is what it is today, because of us all. No individual could have done what we’ve achieved as a team, so thank YOU.

The Sharing Minds story is one you’ve maybe heard before, so don’t be annoyed by its simplicity. Our company was borne from an urge to do one better.

I was young, and I loved (still do) all technology. Any manner of device or system that bleeped and blinked, I had to know about it, and argue the benefits (or lack thereof) with friends. Nine years ago I was a senior consultant with an international consultancy firm, and I adored it. The travel, the whoosh of a win, the resolve of the team in defeat. But as my wife will tell you, I wanted to try doing things the hard way and find out what it would take to do one better – and build a business that asked customers WHY they wanted the solution that they did.

So without a degree or a business loan, I set out to gather a team who could join my mission, to innovate and keep asking Why.

Allow me to get a little poetic here… There is a strength in the technology industry that I don’t think other industries will ever get to experience. (And if you’re an industry colleague of mine, I hope you’ll be smiling and nodding along). Our strength is a blend of a few unique things: we grew up with daggy push bikes, grass stains on our legs and blisters on our W,A,S,D fingers.

We knew what it felt like to wait for the next LAN until you could spend the weekend without daylight, in a snake-den of jumbled cables and survive on cold pizza.

Our industry was founded on the idea that there is MORE to what we know, than what we know. Scientists will continue to seek answers to questions that have existed for eons. Chefs will continue to deliver extraordinary treats, with the same ingredients plus a few tweaks.

But the technology industry will always exceed expectations. Why? Because the expectation from yesterday, is today’s stepping stone. We live and breathe innovation.

We believe in hard work, the power of caffeine, the benefit of a faster internet connection, the frustration of an interrupted thought. The sky simply isn’t the limit any more.

And the strength of the technology industry is in it’s people – we’re a disarrayed bunch of funny, awkward, intellectual, egotistic, Paladin champion wannabes, who know how to connect, and we know how to egg each other on. In the good way.

We’re optimistic, we’re hard working, we’ve got the smartest phones on the planet, and (most of us) were born before the Internet. Don’t. Mess. With. Us.

So nine years on, Sharing Minds is wiser. We’ve learned to be really good at listening to our customers. And we’re learning that in contributing to the whole industry, this incredible community of technologists, we all reap the rewards.