How Should Software Industry Leaders Prepare for 2023?
With 2023 just around the corner, we asked software industry leaders to share their wisdom on how to prepare for the new year.
What were the common themes?
- Economic uncertainty and unsustainable business models have led to shakeups in the industry. Companies must invest in efficient, longterm solutions to stay competitive.
- At the end of 2023, winning companies will have embraced innovations built on a strong foundation. There’s no more room for flash without substance.
Check out the quotes directly from the source to navigate next year’s challenges and opportunities.
December 2022 Quote Roundup
Arun Samuga, CTO at Elemica
“2023 is going to force a strong pivot around resiliency, transformation and sustainability. It is important for software leaders to embrace these trends into their operating models to provide greater value to their clients. These actions in turn will create new leaders who will continue to redefine future landscapes and ecosystems.”
Jordan Woods, Founder of GoodGrowthCo
“Embrace constraints. The last several years were very good for software companies—possibly too good: capital was abundant & cheap, decacorns became the new unicorns, and everyone was having a great time! Now that the proverbial punch bowl has been taken from the party, a more sober reality is setting in; however, smart companies will treat this moment as an opportunity to harness the creativity and grit that comes from uncertainty.
Where the previous inclination might have been to spend more on ads or increase headcount, successful companies will instead opt to invest in community, sustainable growth channels, and the people they already employ. In short, 2023 has the potential to be a trajectory-changing year for companies that seize this opportunity to recommit to strong business fundamentals.”
Frank Moyer, CTO at Kobiton
“The financial markets have driven software companies to rethink efficiency–doing more with less. At Kobiton, we are assessing all third-party products against how they contribute to our overall software value.”
Sean Beard, VP of Emerging Technology at Pariveda Solutions
“In 2023, the software industry will continue to move to cloud-based, micro-services backed SaaS solutions used for internal consumption or commercially released using a subscription or per-use pricing model. ESG initiatives within organizations will have an influence on software by requiring a measure of either energy footprint or carbon impact that a new piece of software will incur.
This will drive two developments within the software development community; 1) moving from an imperative to a functional programming model to reduce overall code complexity, and 2) additional skill sets in modern compiled languages (Rust, Go, Carbon, etc. in addition to C/C++) will be needed due to the reduced energy footprint of a compiled language over an interpreted one (Java, C#, Python, etc.).”
Milan Luketic, Principal Consultant at Boost Protocol
“Airbnb, Uber, Slack, Square. All founded during tough economies. All industry disruptors. In 2023, double-down on your skunkworks.”
Brad Weekes, Managing Director at Software Equity Group
“With this uncertain macro environment, the importance of retention has jumped dramatically. In fact, it’s on par with revenue growth in terms of priorities amongst firms and investors. Of the top private equity investors in the software space, they ranked gross retention as the number one priority, and it increased three times over last year in terms of level of importance.”
Want to learn more from Brad? Check out this video on maximizing exit value.
Leo Tucker, CEO of KMS Technology
“Times of economic uncertainty, when many companies traditionally play defense, present a great opportunity for those companies that are bold enough to go on offense. My suggestion is to invest smartly in those areas that allow you to create or extend a real advantage in the market.”
Josh Lieberman, President of KMS Technology
“My unconventional answer is that software leaders need to think about how they are giving back to their community. They need to consider taking the 1% pledge and using the power of their organization to make an impact on the world we live in.”
Are you aligned with these software leaders? If you’d like to be featured in the next Quote Roundup, reach out to addielawrence@kms-technology.com.
Looking for more in-depth advice on navigating 2023? We’ve got you covered! This whitepaper helps executives navigate the developer talent shortage in today’s economy.
