Software Development Is Human, Above Everything.

This article was adapted from the content published in Portuguese in the Exame Informática magazine (exclusive for subscribers) (May 26, 2022).

At Mindera, software development is human above everything.

1 - Tell me, how Mindera was born and with what objective?

Mindera was born in 2014 to develop scalable and high-performance software – following the best software engineering practices when developing its own products or solutions for our partners. Our purpose has been: "We use technology to build products we are proud of, with people we love" - using technology to build products we are proud of, with people we love, in a different organisational context and in which we believe it makes the difference.

2 - Being a software house, what kind of software do you develop? Focused on a particular sector or tailored to the client?

At Mindera, we develop high-performance web and mobile applications for different clients in the most varied business areas. At the same time, we build our own products in the telemetry and gaming areas. Witnessing growth over these almost 8 years, we felt the need to establish verticals to add knowledge and value to our partners, becoming specialists in different business areas, from Gaming to Retail or Fintech.

3 - What makes you different from other software houses?

The people we work with and, above all, a "trust over control" attitude. When we trust the people we work with, instead of controlling what they do, we discover an immense potential in each of them and a priceless value for the dynamics of the team and the business itself. It is this attitude that has allowed us to be able to answer to the needs of our partners.

4 - Mindera has always been a company with clients outside Portugal. What percentage of your business comes from abroad?

Currently, and in terms of revenue, the percentage of our business referring to clients outside Portugal is above 95%. Still, the truth is that the Portuguese market has surprised us with business opportunities. So, let's see what the future holds for us in Portugal.

5 - Which are your main markets and why?

Mindera's main markets are the United Kingdom and the United States, countries where Mindera has a more significant network of contacts. Mindera has grown organically and only based on the work we have developed and referrals - we do not have a sales force. This is why our markets have remained mainly in the markets mentioned before. Other European countries bring value, including Portugal, but without a doubt, the focus remains on the UK and the US.

6 - Your company culture is very focused on people. What impact does this positioning have on attracting and retaining talent?

Our culture is based on the concept of self-organisation. That means a company without a traditional manager role and a traditional hierarchical structure. We are looking for autonomous people with a sense of responsibility. People who enjoy working as a team. At Mindera, titles don't matter. Actually, we're not very good with job titles, because the most important thing for us is each person's tasks and responsibilities towards the common goal!

We hire people who care about others, have a genuine sense of sharing and are not afraid of being themselves or making mistakes because only then can we evolve. Therefore, authenticity is critical to us; we want Mindera's culture to be real and, consequently, a reflection of the people who have been and are with us along this journey.

Organic involvement in processes, activities and decisions is encouraged, always thinking as a whole and not for the benefit of oneself or a restricted group.

We have consciously moved towards this type of culture. Based on previous professional experiences, we believe that an organisation that sees People as Humans promotes greater involvement and identification of everyone. In fact, we're all adults looking to promote trust rather than control at the end of the day. We want to achieve that through multiple interactions and constant incentives. We want people to grow, develop themselves, the colleagues they work with and, naturally, evolve in their daily work.

We believe this culture is attractive to many generations we work with. We know that this is one of the most substantial factors that make people want to work with us. The decentralised culture combined with technological challenges, the opportunity to work with the latest technologies on the market and working with people with a high level of knowledge are the great attractions at Mindera, all of this on a global level!

7 - In technological areas, talent is scarce. What dynamics do you use to overcome this problem?

This is a challenge we cannot escape. So we constantly think and rethink what we can do more or differently. We can highlight our firm commitment to Education since 2018, which has significantly impacted hiring young talent.

In the area of Education, we have two projects:

• Mindera School (10 months of classes + 2 months of onsite Mindera internship) where the target group are teenagers who have finished high school but who, for some reason, cannot continue their studies. In addition to the training given, these students are also paid a monthly scholarship.
• Mindera Code Academy (5 months of Mindswap professional retraining Bootcamp) the target group are adults with different professional experiences looking for a professional change in the technological area.

From the last editions, we absorbed around 90% of students from these two programs at Mindera. In addition to this internal work, we focus on external recruitment to find candidates who do not yet know Mindera or challenge developers on other projects. We do this in Portugal and, increasingly, in this global market anywhere in the world, remotely or with new physical locations. Our office in Blumenau (Brazil), which opened in October 2021, is an example of this.

8 - Besides the company culture and a relaxed atmosphere, why would you say it is good to work at Mindera?

In addition to this relaxed atmosphere, we have a vast opportunity for technological challenges. There are more than 40 customers from different business areas: Retail, Fintech, Gaming, and Energy, among others. The meaning of this is that the opportunity to work in different contexts, challenges and technologies is real and is what motivates us every day. In addition, the whole organisational aspect is centred on self-organisation and sets us apart from most organisations.

9 - How many employees do you currently have?

We are about 1000 people spread across several countries. We currently have physical offices in Portugal, the UK, US, Romania, India and Brazil. In addition to all other countries where we have remote people, like Egypt or Argentina. Portugal continues to be the location with the largest number of people.

10 - In 2022, do you plan to hire more? If yes, how many and for which areas?

Fortunately, Mindera has, for quite some time now, more work than it can commit to. This means that the work never stops from a recruiting point of view. 2021 ended with 104 more Minders in Portugal (529) and 222 more globally (797). More than any predictions, what drives us is to be able to help our partners, and therefore growth in 2022 will continue on a similar trajectory (or slightly above that recorded in 2021). So, yes, we continue to hire and are doing it globally.

11 - Are you looking for talent from universities?

Yes, we have many Minders who started their professional experience with us and today play a relevant role within Mindera or are recognised as experts in the new challenges they have accepted outside Mindera. So we will continue to work closely with Universities, either with the Internship programs we have or our Graduate program designed for newly graduated students. Between 2021 and 2022, 18 Interns and 30 Grads were with us, and we won't stop there!

12 - How has the company evolved in terms of results? What is the expected growth for 2022?

Mindera has been growing every year: in terms of the number of people, new locations, customers and revenue. For this year, 2022, we are confident we will be slightly above 40% growth in revenue.

13 - Did the pandemic affect your business in any way (positively or negatively)?

In terms of business, the pandemic has brought us more business opportunities. The reason seems to be related to the fact that companies have realised that digital channels are fundamental to their business; something we've all been able to witness in the last 2 years - we've all stepped up the use of digital in our lives.

But if we just ignore the commercial sphere, the pandemic has put us, like all companies, with different challenges related to people, culture, and the operationalisation of the business.

The pandemic has changed the way of working, and the virtualisation of the workspace is a reality. However, with these critical aspects related to culture, proximity, interpersonal relationships, etc., how have we evolved the culture to accommodate these changes?

The hybrid work model is a reality that no IT company can escape from. In this sense, we have been discussing changes to how we work. In particular, we have been reviewing how we organise our offices by transforming them into more than workplaces - places of interaction, sharing connections and physical activities. At the same time, we are exploring new tools for working remotely and connecting teams. Unfortunately, we still don't have a perfect solution to share with readers to solve these challenges. But like everything we do at Mindera, the best way to move forward is to ensure that people can discuss, try/test various options. This allows us to understand, as a group, what works best for each individual and for teams. It's a work in progress!

This article was written by Pedro, Ricardo, Joana, Daniel, Guilherme, and Elisabete.