# Don’t call it a start-up

November 22, 2018

Today marks my 7-year anniversary at Tito.

I’m not actually counting the days: this was pointed out by a colleague who got one of those LinkedIn notifications.

Apparently 7 years ago I was also on LinkedIn.

Moving swiftly on, it happens to be Thanksgiving today. Not something we Europeans celebrate, but a bit of a coincidence, given the particular bout of warm fuzzies I’m feeling.

I also happen to be up the road in Belfast today attending a conference. Belfast is where I attended Build, my second ever design conference waaaay back in 2009. So many good times.

Nostalgia all the way today.

Anyway, back to Tito, we still get called a “start-up”. That really isn’t the case anymore. But I do feel there’s an automatic association between “small” and “young” companies.

No. We’ve been around for a while. We are small because we choose to be.

Fuck unicorns. Fuck exponential growth.

I want a company that can survive small. A company that is calm. That isn’t constantly chasing growth or an acquisition. I want Tito to be a model for other companies to look to and realise it doesn’t have to be the Silicon Valley way.

Here’s to the next seven years.