Introducing 3Points 3.0
About a year ago, we made a decision that most small firms tend to come to at some point: we realized we needed to begin treating ourselves like a client. As such, we created consistent internal meetings where we would set goals for growing and improving our business, and just as importantly, hold each other accountable for those goals. These meetings were (and still are!) called “3Points 3.0.”
Why “3.0,” aside from the fact that it includes our favorite number? In many ways, we were starting the third phase of 3Points’ journey. For the first few years, we hardly resembled a company — it was just Drew Mauck and typically a couple other employees working with a handful of clients.
In the beginning of 2014, we moved into a new office and slowly began to build our team, going from two people to four, and ending 2016 with six full-time employees and two contractors. We also expanded our client base, both within our original fintech expertise and into the new focus area of HR and Wellness.
We were growing, but the growth wasn’t following any sort of long term plan — to that end, we realized we had the capability to become much stronger.
Our third iteration is all about putting structures in place to grow strategically. We’ve already started to see some results, and while we’re not fully where we need to be yet, it feels like we’ve recently turned a corner. Which is why we now want to finally share some 3Points 3.0 updates with all of you.
Firstly, you’ll notice the 3Points website is new as of this summer. The new site has been a long project for us (and we’re still trying to improve little things here and there), but we’re really happy with how it has come together. It’s cleaner, brighter, and better organized — just like we hope to be ourselves. In addition to the website, our online presence has been boosted by a new monthly newsletter, in which we highlight Chicago tech events, interesting articles, and more. You can view our most recent newsletter here, and we encourage you to subscribe here.
We also recently moved into a new office at 29 East Madison, two blocks east of our former location. We have a lot of good memories from our previous office, but with an expanding team of employees and contractors, it was time to move. We now have more space, an extra conference room, and a kitchen, amongst other amenities.
Our new 3Pointers, as you may have seen, have already made a big difference for us since joining over the summer. We’re thrilled to have Fabiola and Chris onboard as we expand further into the Chicago tech world, and we’re confident they are just the first of many talented people to join this new iteration of 3Points.
Speaking of the Chicago tech world, we’re very excited to have begun a new partnership with Hyde Park Angels. HPA is one of the leading early-stage investors in the nation, and they have an impressive collection of portfolio companies. If you plan to attend any of their events in the upcoming months, let us know — there will likely be a 3Points team member there as well.
We’ve also made several changes that the public won’t see, but will nonetheless help us grow into an even stronger firm. For example, we are implementing an employee shareholder program that will provide 3Pointers an opportunity to own a part of the company. It’s been a team effort to get to this point after seven-plus years, and we’re grateful that everyone has invested so much of themselves in the firm. We’re pleased to offer an opportunity for financial investment as well, and we’re also confident this shareholder expansion will unlock the full potential of 3Points.
For the first time, we announced 3.0 to non-3Pointers yesterday at our new office open house. It was a fun event, complete with — amongst other things — Halloween-themed cake pops, craft beer from local breweries, and a magician who wowed the crowd with card tricks we still can’t wrap our heads around. But the best part of the “officewarming” was seeing so many friendly faces from 3Points’ past and present (and hopefully future!). 3Points 3.0 is an internal initiative, but we couldn’t have gotten to this point without the help of many others along the way.
We don’t know if and when we’ll ever move onto 3Points 4.0 (it doesn’t quite have the same ring to it), but we’re confident that 3.0 is the best version of 3Points we’ve ever delivered to clients. Please have a click around our website to see more about what we’re up to, and if you’re in Chicago, come by our office and say hello!
