Celebrating Ten Years of Think Company!

To celebrate our anniversary, the Think Company team is sharing thoughts on the reason we do the work that we do—our *why*. Keep up with the whole series at #Think10Years on Instagram. 

Today is Think Company’s 10th birthday!

Back in 2007, before “UX design” was really even a thing, Carl and I were frustrated with the way software design was getting done. We’d been working together for almost 10 years inside a few IT professional services companies and had dreamed of starting our own company that would put UX design at the front of the process instead of treating it like an afterthought or a coat of paint. Our first client (then Centocor, now Janssen—still a client today!) took a chance on us and on September 30, 2007, Think Company (of course, then Think Brownstone) was born!

We were ambitious and had some big dreams, but Think Company has become so much more than we ever thought it would. This past Wednesday I sat down to lunch with Lizzie, our newest and 80th (wow!) team member, and later that night we all headed down to Citizens Bank Park for our Q3 quarterly meeting. During the presentation I shared about the many milestones we’ve reached together over the last 10 years.

We remembered the very early days in 2007 when Carl, Russ, Phil, Brad and I worked in our first “studio”—which was literally a storage closet at Centocor’s office in Horsham:

I shared about how leasing, renovating, and opening our Conshohocken studio in 2008 was a big step—helping us feel like a “real company” and giving us space to grow as we added new clients and new team members:

We looked at some of the “family photos” we’ve taken through the years, like this one from 2011 when there were just 12 of us:

We remembered how we more than doubled in size from 2012 to 2013, growing from 15 to over 30 Thinkers, and how that meant we needed more space—so we leased, gutted, and renovated the 3rd floor of our building in Conshy:

I shared about how 2013 was a big year, as we added some key clients (that we’re still working with today) and crossed the $5 million revenue mark. In 2013 we also articulated Think Company’s purpose, core values, and vision for the future—three foundational elements that have been important guideposts for our team in the years since then:

We looked at photos from the 2014 renovation and grand opening of our first studio in Center City Philadelphia, including the exciting ribbon-cutting ceremony led by Mayor Michael Nutter:

We remembered reaching the 50 people milestone in 2015, which was also the year that we had our first annual Family Dinner (with spouses and +1s), and celebrated our first (and second, and third) million dollar month:

I shared how we grew to more than 70 Thinkers in 2016 and how our fabulous team generated more than $10 million in revenue that year:

And we talked about 2017 which has already been an exciting year, as we’ve opened our second Center City Philadelphia studio and changed our name to Think Company!

Carl and I are proud of these milestones and accomplishments. But most of all, we’re proud of the amazing community of Thinkers past and present that have made Think Company a uniquely great place to be. To celebrate these wonderful people, we thought we’d share a few more moments and memories from the last 10 years that will give you an inside look at why we all love this place so much:

We’ve done lots of Think Sessions together:

…and lots of video conference calls:

…and lots of happy Huggles:

We’ve worked out together:

…worn plaid together:

…and served together:

Together, we’ve helped provide over 80 “Neema Girls” with a safe place to live while they were being trained at the Neema Project in Kenya:

We’ve hosted and spoken at events together:

We’ve done lots of photo shoots:

…and lots of Photoshopping:

We’ve enjoyed “Leisure Club” outings together:

…and holiday gift swaps:

We’ve run races together:

…and paddled dragonboats together:

We’ve cooked and eaten many lunches together:

We’ve met each others’ kids:

…each others’ families:

…and each others’ dogs:

We’ve honored many Uncle B winners:

…and so much more. But I’ll end with this: THANK YOU. Thinkers, Carl and I are blown away by the fantastic work you do and the truly great people that you are. Thank you for giving so much of yourselves to our clients and to your coworkers every day. And to our clients past and present: Thank you for choosing Think Company, for letting us into your world, and for being such great collaborators.

Ten years! Pretty awesome, but we’re just getting started. 🙂