Read an interview with Karolina, who shares her experience of managing a remarkable organization that ITCORNER is. You’ll learn about the Association’s challenges and how its unique values, trust and cooperation influence its development. You will get to know a bit of history and plans of an organization whose openness and sincerity spirit can be an inspiration for the wider community.

Why did you decide to join ITCORNER as Managing Director?

Karolina:

The decision to join ITCORNER in the role of Managing Director was easy, paradoxically. Paradoxically, because at the time I had two other positions with similar opportunities, and I lacked experience in IT. However, I rather try to choose more difficult paths and challenges in life – adventures with a chance to develop myself and others, places where there is room for creativity and experimentation.

And ITCORNER is an absolutely unique place. The more discussions I had and the closer I got to know the people in the organization, the more I became convinced that this was a place worth getting involved in more than any other. The very first conversation with Grzesiek Rudno-Rudziński, then the CEO of ITCORNER, who called me with an invitation to a meeting, worked like a magnet: unusual sincerity and clear presentation of the problems and challenges that need to be faced.

And what challenges do you have in mind? What was the organization facing at the time?

I joined the ITCORNER team at an unusual moment – of recognizing and absorbing the consequences of prolonged covid isolation, which left a particular mark on relationship-based organizations. There was no full-time team at ITCORNER at the time – the previous one had disintegrated during the pandemic. I took over the position of Managing Director, for the first time in the Association’s history, as a woman, and one who had not been involved in IT before – with the awareness that many things would have to be worked out anew, in a sense.

Moreover, the war broke out in the first month of my work. This added to the whole situation the extra qualities of scouting the ground with battle. Beyond challenges, however, which are always there, I found a remarkable community of people and the prospect of co-creating and managing a very unique organization.

ITCORNER is an entrepreneurial association where relationships and cooperation play a key role. What benefits and uniqueness does this format bring, especially in a business environment where competition dominates? 

Karolina: ITCORNER is an Entrepreneurs Association – it is formed by owners and leaders of technology companies that have sole Polish capital. They create in a literal sense because the internal initiatives and bodies of the Association are driven by their commitment and the time they volunteer. The Board of Directors, the Audit Committee, the Membership Committee, and the Coordinators of the various initiatives are made up of CEOs of companies who are regular members of the organization. They get involved and spend time together because at ITCORNER this is the way to build trust, get to know each other and grow. On the basis of these relationships, it is possible to openly exchange knowledge, learn from one another, draw conclusions and…. do business together.

Quality relationships are therefore the DNA of the Association. In an organization comprising of more than 100 business owners, they can only be built based on shared values: transparency, lack of anonymity, trust, and openness in sharing experience and knowledge. Therefore, the growth of the organization is not equal to the number of companies joined, and admission to ITCORNER is determined by recommendations, discussions with the Membership Committee, and the decision of the entire community. We do not sell memberships. Nor are we a place to sell products and services. Business emerges organically here, as a result of the fact that members like and respect each other, exchange knowledge, trust and help each other – even when they compete with one another.

The community of experience and the collaboration at ITCORNER, despite the competitive environment, are reasons that give me a sense of the special value of the work I do. I am participating in a project that appears not quite Polish in spirit – the openness, sincerity, willingness to help and exchange knowledge in a business environment can resonate further and set new standards of quality in relationships. In B2B, B2C and, quite simply, in human relationships. This is an interesting phenomenon, in a time of post-human challenges and threats. In a world where relationships are becoming shallow and vulgarized, something that is driven by social media, ITCORNER is a good place, with good people. Here the “we” is more powerful than the ubiquitous “I” that is being pushed today, here we know that without putting our own work into relationships nothing will be achieved. I believe that such an environment can influence some broader social change happening slowly in our country – a country for many years suffering from a huge deficit of social trust.

The organization is entering a new development stage, professionalizing itself both internally and externally. What are the main goals and projects that ITCORNER is currently pursuing?

Karolina:

Naturally, no development is possible without change. We are learning our lessons and moving forward. What is changing is the business environment, the profiles of the companies, the experiences of the people around us, and their needs – mainly because over the years of being in ITCORNER they have grown, gained experience and have an appetite for more. What does not change, however, is what has built this organization from the start: high-quality relationships and exceptional people.

We continue to spend time together very actively – it helps to build trust, connects, and creates a special community of experience. We exchange knowledge and help each other not only during manager meetings but also during cruises or mountain expeditions. 

“ITCORNER is a remedy for owner’s loneliness”, “ITCORNER has given me more than any MBA studies”, “thanks to ITCORNER I have grown by 100%”, “…by 200%”, “it is my biggest source of inspiration”, “if it wasn’t for ITCORNER, I wouldn’t exist in business anymore” – such statements I have heard many times.

So what now? We are professionalizing – in the good sense of the word. I’m talking both about professionalizing the processes inside the organization and making sure that content-wise the best possible things are happening here – while maintaining the values the Association has developed. 

However, we are also working on our image – to show externally the strength that this community creates and how it is growing. The rebranding concept we are now beginning to communicate, thanks to the fantastic work of Andrzej Dobosz and Ania Podołowska from dobosz.studio, is based on the most important value of this organization – the people. Soon we will also unveil a new website, which, similarly, is designed to meet the changes of ITCORNER – good communication of our development and values.

Image is important – today everybody knows this. Showing ourselves to the world in a professional manner is part of the process of our change. In a world where building a brand and customer trust is part of business activity, being part of such a valuable environment becomes a significant asset. So by communicating the values of the organization well, we strengthen our members – after all, not everyone can be here. 

We also work on projects to share knowledge better and to provide better support to our members’ companies, and with the same premise we also enter into interesting collaborations and partnerships.

Certainly, the biggest project we are currently working on is the nationwide congress “UPGRADE’23: Competitiveness of Polish IT business in a changing world.” We are working on an event that does not yet exist on the Polish technology industry market. We are creating a space for C-level executives to discuss development, lessons learned from industry mistakes, and, most importantly, the understanding of competitiveness and growth. This will be a congress of in-depth panels, rich in content, open and direct – all in the spirit of ITCORNER. We already have a lineup of fantastic speakers. Any moment now we will start promoting the event – all those who are curious are invited to come to Wrocław on November 23-24, 2023.

The keyword “upgrade” will accompany us in our pursuit of quality. We believe that the essence of human life is development. We have ambitions – we want to develop and grow together, each in the way they need – each at their own pace and to their own expectations. We share knowledge and give our best to achieve this goal. We will be the best in Poland at inspiring to develop – this is one of the goals of ITCORNER.