Together in hardcore
October 2016 was a pivotal month for all of us at Sqkii. It was the month where we were left with only a few thousand dollars in our bank, an incomplete product, and one of our key developers had left us.
By then, our team had already spent close to four years trying to make this startup work. We had pivoted on multiple occasions, taken multiple pay cuts, worked tirelessly to find a breakthrough. Under those circumstances, no one would have blamed us from walking away. Most people in our position would have called it quits.
Unbelievable as it may seem, the thought of quitting never once crossed our minds. We took the situation as it was and acted on there.
The first thing we did was to buy additional time. Our team made an unanimous decision to greatly reduce our salary so that we have enough cash runway. In the month that followed, all of our pay was cut to zero.
There were no complaints. In fact, the struggle spurred us on, and made us even more determined to make things work. With the extra 3-4 months at our disposal, the entire team gelled together, hustled day and night, and we entered into one of the most innovative period in the company's history.
It was not by accident that #HuntTheMouse was conceived less than a week after the pay cuts were implemented. For survival, we had to be innovative. As they said, necessity is the mother of invention.
October 2016 was not the only period where sacrifices had to be made for the greater good. Throughout our startup journey, our teammates have stood firmly by us and we never had to choose the easy way out.
Together in hardcore is about having the collective strength to make tough choices together. Anyone can run away, it's super easy. Facing problems and working through them, that's what makes us stronger.