A decade ago, I thought building software was about code. Today, I know it’s about people. After ten years of building B2B SaaS solutions for the sport and fashion industries—weathering market shifts, technology changes, and countless pivots—I’ve learned that the hardest challenges aren’t technical. They’re human.
When we started Artisans, the landscape was different. Remote work was a curiosity, not a necessity. AI was science fiction, not a daily tool. The sport and fashion industries were just beginning their digital transformation. We’ve grown alongside our clients, learned from our mistakes, and built something we’re genuinely proud of. But the journey wasn’t what I expected.
Here are three leadership lessons that shaped our company—and me.
1. Building a Remote Team Is an Act of Faith (And Systems)
In 2017, when we officially registered Artisans, remote work wasn’t trendy. It was risky. Clients would ask, “How do you manage people you can’t see?” Investors questioned our commitment. Even we had doubts.
But we believed in something simple: talent doesn’t follow geography. The best developers, designers, and thinkers don’t all live in one city. So we built a remote-first company from day one, long before the pandemic made it mainstream.
The hard truth: Remote work doesn’t just happen. It requires intentional systems.
We learned this the painful way. Early on, we lost talented people—not because they weren’t skilled, but because they felt isolated. They’d work for months without real connection, then quietly leave. It took us years to understand: remote work demands more structure, not less.
Here’s what actually worked:
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Overcommunicate by default. In an office, context is free. You overhear conversations, see body language, feel the room. Remote? You get silence. We instituted daily standups, transparent documentation, and async updates. If it’s not written down, it doesn’t exist.
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Hire for autonomy, train for collaboration. We stopped hiring “self-starters” who wanted to work alone. Instead, we found people who loved autonomy and community. The difference is subtle but crucial. Lone wolves don’t build companies.
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Invest in presence, even virtually. Virtual breakfast chats. Annual meetups in Wrocław or Bukowina Tatrzańska. Video calls with cameras on. These aren’t perks—they’re infrastructure. Human connection isn’t optional.
Ten years later, we have team members spread across time zones, working from Kraków to Tenerife. They stay because they feel seen, not because they’re monitored. That was the breakthrough: trust scales better than surveillance.
Lesson learned: Remote teams don’t need less leadership. They need different leadership—clearer communication, stronger systems, and deeper trust.
2. Every Pivot Feels Like Failure (Until It Doesn’t)
If you’ve built a product for ten years and never pivoted, you either got incredibly lucky—or you’re lying.
We’ve pivoted more times than I care to count. Markets shifted. Client needs evolved. Technologies we bet on became obsolete. Each time felt like admitting defeat. But looking back, every pivot was actually growth.
The hardest pivot came around year five. We’d built a solid foundation in sport tech, working with clients who trusted us. Then fashion clients started asking for similar solutions—ordering systems, inventory management, B2B platforms. The temptation was to say no, to stay focused. But we saw an opportunity.
The hard truth: Saying yes to the wrong opportunity kills you. But saying no to the right opportunity kills you slower.
We expanded into fashion tech cautiously. We didn’t abandon sport—we leveraged what we’d learned. The B2B SaaS patterns were similar: complex inventory, seasonal cycles, wholesale relationships. But the culture was different. Fashion moved faster, valued aesthetics more, and demanded white-glove service.
The pivot strained our team. Some thrived. Others struggled. We made mistakes—overpromising deadlines, underestimating design complexity, hiring too fast. But we also discovered something powerful: our craftsmanship approach worked across industries. Quality mattered. Understanding the business mattered. Code was just the implementation.
Here’s what made our pivots work:
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Test before you leap. We took small projects in fashion before committing. We proved we could deliver before scaling. Too many companies pivot in theory—we pivoted in practice.
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Bring the team along. The worst pivots happen when leadership decides in isolation, then announces it. We involved our developers in client conversations. They saw why we were shifting. Buy-in isn’t built in meetings—it’s built in shared understanding.
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Know what doesn’t change. Our core values—craftsmanship, remote-first culture, B2B focus—stayed constant. Pivots work when you change tactics, not identity.
Today, we serve both industries confidently. But it took years to feel natural. And honestly? I expect more pivots ahead. The industries are changing faster than ever. AI is reshaping everything. The next ten years won’t look like the last ten.
Lesson learned: Pivots aren’t failures—they’re course corrections. The companies that die are the ones that refuse to turn the wheel.
3. Burnout Is a Design Flaw, Not a Badge of Honor
For years, I wore exhaustion like a medal. Long hours. Constant availability. Weekend deployments. I told myself this was the cost of building something meaningful. I was wrong.
Around year seven, I hit a wall. Not a dramatic crash—more like a slow fade. I stopped enjoying the work. Decisions felt heavy. I was present but not engaged. My team noticed before I did.
The hard truth: You can’t lead from empty.
The tech industry glorifies hustle. “Move fast and break things.” “Whatever it takes.” “Sleep when you’re dead.” We’ve normalized a pace that destroys people. And for what? Slightly faster feature releases? Marginally better quarterly numbers?
I started asking harder questions: Why are we always urgent? Why do we sprint endlessly without recovery? Why does growth require suffering?
We redesigned how we work:
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We set real boundaries. No Slack after hours unless it’s a genuine emergency (and emergencies are rare when systems are good). No expectation of instant replies. No glorifying weekend work. If someone is consistently working late, we treat it as a problem, not dedication.
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We planned for sustainability. Projects now include buffer time. We stopped overpromising to win clients. We learned that clients who demand the impossible make terrible partners anyway. Better to lose a deal than lose a team member.
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We normalized rest. Our team works from Tenerife, takes proper vacations, and has lives outside work. Not because we’re soft, but because we’re strategic. Rested people make better decisions. Happy people stay longer. And retention is cheaper than recruiting.
This wasn’t easy. Some clients pushed back. Some opportunities slipped away. But a strange thing happened: our work got better. Fewer bugs. More thoughtful design. Happier clients. Turns out, sustainable pace produces sustainable quality.
I also learned to model this myself. I take walks. I disconnect. I admit when I’m overwhelmed. Leadership isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about showing your team what healthy looks like.
Lesson learned: Burnout isn’t inevitable. It’s a choice disguised as necessity. Build a company that doesn’t require breaking people.
What I’d Tell My Younger Self
If I could go back to 2017—nervous, excited, convinced that code was everything—I’d say this:
The technology will change. React will get replaced. AWS will evolve. That framework you’re betting on? Obsolete in five years. Don’t fall in love with tools. Fall in love with people.
Hire slowly. Fire faster (but kindly). Invest in culture before scaling. Say no more than yes. Build systems that respect humans, not extract from them.
And when it gets hard—and it will—remember: you’re not building software. You’re building a company. Software is just how you serve people.
Looking Ahead
Ten years in, we’re still learning. AI is opening doors we couldn’t have imagined. The sport and fashion industries are more sophisticated, more demanding, and more exciting than ever. Remote work is finally mainstream, which means our early bet paid off.
But the fundamentals haven’t changed: great teams build great products. Healthy cultures outlast clever code. And leadership is less about having answers and more about asking better questions.
Here’s to the next ten years. Whatever they bring, I know one thing for certain: we’ll figure it out together.
Michał Dziadkowiec is the founder of Artisans, a software house specializing in B2B SaaS solutions for the sport and fashion industries. Over the past decade, he’s led a fully remote team building platforms like OrderBOOK and WorkBOOK for clients across Europe.