Well look at us, in the past 3.5 years we built a sustainable business that’s delivering precious data and insights into all corners of the healthcare enterprise. It all feels rosy now but I remember the shaky start, as we dived into the deep end of the unknown. 

At first there was just two of us, figuring it out all out in real time. I remember the first client visit, I was nervous, could we pull of an analytics assessment? I spent countless hours going through the finished product. It turned out pretty good, I thought - hey - we can do this. 

We started hiring. I slowly came to realize the power of talent. If you hired for the right overarching characteristics, the specific certifications and resume details, didn't matter. Real talent evolved their skillset quickly to meet the demands of the market. 

We kept our reporting factory humming along and started playing with data integration. Long live claims and Caboodle. We figured out the best ways to do things and shared it across customers. We hired more awesome people, talented, hungry and kind.

That last one is important. Being honest, transparent and kind, trumps your SQL prowess every day. Y’all are kind people trying to do right by each other, never lose that. 

I remember writing my first big $500K+ proposal (we didn't win it) but we were able to take all our know-how and put it on paper in a compelling way. We were picking up steam. 

Today, it’s full steam ahead, a team of ~30 and growing. A virtual team that has maintained its innovative and help-each-other attitude. The culture we built, that's more important than the millions in revenue and profit (though those numbers should make you all proud too). I’d love to take the credit but it was all of you that did it not me. 

I can’t wait to see how you evolve, grow and CRUSH the Epic Analytics game. 

The last few weeks after I put in my notice, I’ve had flashes of - oh shit, this team is so awesome, I made a huge mistake. That’s just a testament to you all. I also had flashes of excitement as I open a new chapter for datapavel. Nothing like oscillating between sadness and excitement, but it’s normal. 

Good luck all, you’ll accomplish anything you put your mind to and I’ll be there to cheer you on.

Love,

Pavel