Why I’m grateful for 2020
As my 22nd blog and final blog posting for this year, it seemed fitting to draw some conclusions on the year.
I’m not sure I can avoid stating the obvious: for most people it has been a truly dreadful year in the UK. Deaths from coronavirus total 67,000. Unemployment stands at 1.69million. The bill for coronavirus stands, so far, at £280bn. Christmas, for those people who like me, are in tier 4, has been cancelled at a few days’ notice. In my opinion, it will take at least a decade to see the economic and phycological effects of covid firmly behind us.
However, I am struck that there is much to be grateful for and that 2020 has been an almighty learning curve in resilience for us all.
Firstly, as basic as it may sound, I am hugely appreciative of working for a business that has survived 2020! Many titans of the high street have collapsed into administration this year, including the Arcadia group, Jaeger, M&Co, Peter Jones, Monsoon, Victorias Secret, Antler, Aldo, Kath Kidston, Laura Ashley, Oasis, Le Pain Quotidien, Go outdoors, and Oak Furniture Land. Dacxi is a fully digital proposition, and we are in the enviable position that people being at home has actually helped us. In fact, we are up a few hundred percent on the previous year. I do not lose sight of the fact that employing people is a huge responsibility so to be in a strong financial position is crucial.
I am hugely grateful for the amazing team at Dacxi. Despite being spread across 4 time zones my fellow colleagues have continued to uphold a fantastic corporate culture, unfailingly supportive, positive, and success-focused. In the UK, my team has provided fantastic service to our customers, despite being dotted around the country working from home. Our distribution partners have been instrumental in our success for the year, and unfailingly supportive. My daily calls, social media interactions, and WhatsApp chats have been full of cheering content (often not at all related to work!), despite the barrage of daily depressing news. It is a real privilege to work with people who are committed to building a phenomenal crypto business that will change the world for the better, and whose company I really enjoy. I would be challenged to think of anyone in our business that hasn’t helped me above and beyond the call of duty, particularly in bouncing off often half-formed ideas! We have a few hires confirmed for the New Year that I am really excited about who will bring their unique skills to the business to ensure we continue to evolve and thrive. I expect to triple our headcount in 2021, and now know that remote onboarding is nothing to fear!
Crypto as an industry continues to thrive, and It has brought a lot of joy to speak to our customers about the positive role that crypto plays in their wealth plans. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is up 211% for the year, Ethereum 365%, Litecoin 155%. Not bad when you consider the FTSE 100 over the same period is down 13%. I have also really enjoyed writing up the customer profiles for our website, under the “Life Without Limits” section, inspired by “this is your life” for those who are old enough to remember the Sunday Night TV show. I never cease to be amazed by the sheer variety of backgrounds in those who have found themselves involved in crypto, do check out our website, there are some amazing stories on there!
We had an amazing online Christmas party last week, featuring a professional singer leading Christmas carols, party bags, drinks on us, and the two festive stalwarts: Christmas jumpers & cracker hats. It was a great night, in no way spoilt by the fact we were in 60 separate houses spread across the UK and Ireland. I look forward to meeting in person for a proper celebration next year. Afterwards, I was reflecting with my UK colleagues on everything we have achieved this year, not bad in the middle of a global pandemic, having spent most of the year working from home in our gym kits!
For anyone that has been part of Dacxi’s story this year, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Our plans for 2021 are no less ambitious, and I look forward to delivering on a bold strategy. Despite being holed up at home with flu, and writing this blog from the sofa under a blanket, I look forward to next year, confident that both Dacxi and the crypto industry will continue to thrive in these trying times.
Adventures of a unicorn is a business blog documenting the daily life of tech startup in hypergrowth. Dacxi is a unique crypto business in the crowd lending space.
DISCLAIMER:
All views expressed in this blog are my own and do not represent the opinions of any entity with which I have been, am now or will be affiliated.
Originally published at http://adventures-of-a-unicorn.com on December 21, 2020.
