In 2021 We Broke All Barriers, and It’s Just the Beginning

“Impossible is just an opinion.” – Paulo Coelho

Were we afraid? Yes, many times. Was it easy? No, it was not easy at all. Still, what we achieved in 2021 left us with many lessons about what to do when you think something is impossible, about success, teamwork, fear, and much more.

Let me show you the lessons we learned last year that made all the difference between stagnation and success, as they happened on our journey to 2022.

The secret to succeeding is to start

Unlike what we expected, the COVID-19 pandemic did not end in 2020. In fact, at the beginning of 2021, the number of infections had increased, and the situation had become more complex. However, sometimes when you’re in a dark place and think you’re buried, you’re actually planted.

That was the case for us because what seemed like a bleak situation turned out to be a great opportunity. We knew we had to take more precautions to provide security for our team and maintain a great work environment, especially due to fast-paced growth. That’s why, in 2021, we made a fresh start. We moved our headquarters to a new setting that makes ideas flow and represents what BEON is, a place where you can unleash your creativity, connect with your colleagues, and grow in your way. In addition, it complies with COVID-19 protocols and keeps us all safe at work.

Work quietly and let your success make the noise

With the new office came a new mindset. We have always worked hard to be devs first. However, we also know that the only difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra. That’s why, in the months that followed, we dedicated ourselves to creating the perfect work environment in which to launch every BEONer’s career into space. From this hard work, programs and initiatives arose that now define us as a company. 

As the most important, we developed the Career Plan and the Talent Experience Manager (TEM) Program.The Career Plan consists of a personalized program for each dev in which they set goals based on what they want to do with their career, and a TEM accompanies them with reviews and guidance to help them achieve their goals. These assessments come with salary reviews to duly reward the growth of each BEONer. 

We improved our perks too, adding a Welcome Package and English classes with a Boston native . We also implemented the Rewards Program, which increased engagement on BEON by 1,000%. It’s a program for participating in company activities such as blog posts, workshops, games, and events for monthly and annual prizes. The 2021 winner received a paid trip to Orlando.

If you’d like to become a BEONer, you can check our open positions.

If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door

After months of hard work, on September 27 we were certified as one of the best places to work by Great Place To Work® (GPTW), an international company that authenticates excellence in work environments. It was then that the careers and growth of our team began to shine. However, to truly bring BEON to the world, a change had to be made.

Prior to the GPTW certification, we already had five stars on Glassdoor and a great careers page, all this effort was going unnoticed because we were not showing it to the world. That was, until Ana Chirinos, IT Recruiter, came to BEON. She recounts:

“Before entering BEON, I always looked at the places certified as GPTW. I chose BEON as a place to work because they had a very good reputation on Glassdoor and the great benefits and work dynamics they offered. Since I joined, I proposed ​​achieving this certification to validate the excellent experience we all have daily as BEONers … We won first place, sharing the podium with Mercado Libre and other prestigious companies. It is a pride being part of this company that cares so much about the well-being of their employees.”

Because of the excellent score we received in the quality survey of our collaborators, we were eligible to participate in the ranking of the best places to work for millennials. BEON led the Great Place To Work® Argentina® 2021 Best Places to Work™ ranking for Millennials in our category. There was even a press release from Infobae highlighting BEON on the same podium as Mercado Libre. We continued to grow and reached 100 BEONers. 

If you want to grow your development team, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

You don’t find happiness, you make it

Not everything in life is work and, at BEON, we are very aware of that. For this reason, to reward the immense amount of work that the entire team did despite adversities, we started the end of the year with a bang. During the first week of December, we had our Ambassador’s Week, an unforgettable annual event to welcome our international team.   

Those who work for BEON receive a subsidy for the stay and the plane ticket to come to work at our headquarters in Buenos Aires for a week. The lively environment with ping-pong and basketball areas supports everyone having fun and creating a relaxed atmosphere. This offer is open throughout the year. However, during Ambassador’s Week, we create special events for everyone to enjoy as a group, which is why most prefer to come during this special time.

That week, we received BEONers from Peru, Chile, Honduras, Córdoba (ARG), and Colombia, who traveled all the way to Buenos Aires to visit our headquarters. We shared an amazing week with different activities every day, such as tours, walks, and delicious meals. 

We also had a full day in a beautiful place in the countryside to celebrate Company Day! Company Day is our year-end face-to-face event in Buenos Aires, a day to celebrate, have fun and play soccer. We spent the day outdoors celebrating all our achievements in 2021 while enjoying games and activities.

You can be the change you wish to see in the world

I have always had a firm belief that no matter how far you go in life, you should never forget where you came from, and the truth is that BEON’s origins are humble and the result of good-hearted people trying to do the best they can. Argentina, BEON’s home country, has long been struggling with inflation. And when we started working with clients in the U.S., we encountered many people who had no idea what people were experiencing but were willing to help.

In 2021, as a team and as a company, we not only wanted to thank our community for supporting us, we wanted to do something more. We wanted to give back. Therefore, throughout the year, we thought about how to create a platform to transparently connect the rich and the poor. By the end of the year, we realized that crypto could be the solution, and that’s when Proof of Integrity was born.

Proof of Integrity is a blockchain protocol that will certify who struggles to cover their basic needs in a decentralized and transparent way, with a rewards system based on Game Theory. One of the sparks that lit the fire was the Proof of Humanity project, a protocol that certifies human users to obtain $UBI. While working on the idea, I decided to try contacting the creator of Proof of Humanity, Santi Siri, on Instagram. He said he was very interested in the idea and came to visit us! Now we have a whole team of developers, specialists, writers, and marketers working on the project, along with excellent support from the Proof of Humanity team.

Attacking a problem as big as poverty from the point of view of a software company in Latin America might seem like too much. But I hope our progress on this project demonstrates that if you think you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.

The story is not over yet

You always have the power to say: it’s not over yet.

Every morning I wake up and say to myself: “How far can I push this company in the next 24 hours?” The year 2021 was the year we broke all barriers and achieved the impossible: we tripled our growth, crossed new borders in many countries, started amazing projects, connected the international team at an unprecedented event, and received validation that we are one of the best places to work.

But by reaching goals that we hadn’t even dreamt of, we realized that life is not what you make of it. Rather, your life is everyone who has touched it and every experience you have had. We are all part of each other. And in 2021 we saw that in each contribution our BEONers made. They were the ones who made this year incredible from the start.

Michel Cohen

Michel decided to dedicate his life to the software industry at a very short age. He graduated with a degree in Computer Science and Mathematics. Since founding BEON, he and Damian have worked hard to establish it as an elite company, providing the best engineer LATAM talent to major U.S. companies.