Sentia our journey the last 20 years and looking forward to the next 20

I was standing around at our recent 20-year anniversary event, surrounded by coworkers past and present, clients past and present, and friends and family, and found myself pinching myself. It had been 20 years. We had gone through many ups and downs like the GFC in 07-08 and COVID, while also being part of some wonderful events like building and launching Airtasker, Shippit, RangeMe, Soho App, Cohabit, and so many others. I look back at this time and consider myself very lucky to have had such a great team, past and present, and found myself wondering — how are we still here? Why us? Why had we survived 20 years in an industry where the average company lasts less than 7? Why had we been part of so many great projects and continued to do so?

I came to a simple conclusion: it's in our DNA. Sentia was built on a few key principles that have not wavered over the years. Be honest in how you conduct your work. Be fair in your dealings with clients. Work hard. And most importantly, follow our company motto: "be like a great white shark." I know — a rather interesting motto for a company started in Sydney, Australia — but it's not what you think. A great white shark needs to keep moving, otherwise it will die. Well, we follow this motto, albeit in a less dramatic version, and apply it to our practice of constant improvement and learning. Our goal every day is to look at the work we completed yesterday and say we can do better. We can always improve and we can always learn something new.

Never being afraid to learn and always saying we can do better — this is what has kept us at the cutting edge of what we do, as one of the most well-known development consultancies in Australia, now venturing into Europe and America. So for anyone looking to start a business, or wondering what they can do to improve their current one, I say:

"Be like a great white shark."