Abby Sims
I've spent more than 20 years in software. First writing it, then leading the people who build it, then running my own seven-person generalist firm, and then running engineering at a 30-person fintech firm.
I started out as a developer in Arkansas, building applications and databases for state agencies and a regional power grid operator. In 2010 I moved into leading a development team at an agency in Little Rock.
In 2012 I went out on my own as a contract developer, and in 2014 I founded Idestini, a custom software consultancy for small and midsize businesses, non-profits and startups. It grew from just me to a team of seven, fully self-funded, with a 14 to 17% net margin. It made it through the pandemic to a record year.
In 2021 we were acquihired by a fintech software firm that had been one of our clients. I spent almost five years there, running custom software, then all of engineering, then solutions.
Along the way I've been a mentor at The Venture Center since 2015, helped organize Little Rock Tech Fest, and I serve on the board of the EAST Initiative.
I write here about running software services firms and engineering teams: what to charge, when to hire, how to keep cash from getting ahead of you, how to manage engagements and deliver the work, and the tools that made it easier. And about which of that still holds up now that AI is changing how the work gets done. It's for founders and principals past the point where everything fits in one head, and short of having a CFO down the hall. And for engineering leaders in the same spot with a team instead of a firm.
How I think about the work
Most of what goes wrong in an engineering team or a services firm goes wrong quietly. The scope nobody stuck to. The project margin nobody kept sight of. The tech debt nobody made time for. The hire made a quarter early. The support processes that never got written down. None of it looks like much on the day it happens. Then it compounds, and by the time you notice, you're redoing work you already did once.
So I go slow enough to check as I go. Write the scope down. Look at the margin while the project is still running, not after it closes. Put the process on paper so it doesn't live in one person's head.
That's not the same as following a playbook rigidly. Every firm and every team is different. Adapt the pattern. Keep the discipline.
It's also not about chasing rapid growth or keeping up with the chaotic pace of the times. I reject the systems that create toxic or hustle cultures. The goal is a healthy, sustainable company you don't have to run all by yourself, or entirely in your head.
Mostly it comes down to people. Build a team you can count on. Then trust them to do meaningful work for the people you serve. Deliver what you told the customer you'd deliver, and make payroll every time. Treat everyone with integrity, and help everyone succeed, customers and employees alike.