Reflecting on 2024 and Looking Ahead to 2025
Our last post of 2024, here is a behind the scenes look at 2024, and the future of Code n Culture
As we approach the end of the calendar year, I thought it fitting, as the behind-the-scenes person for Code n Culture, to share a review of our journey in 2024 and outline where we’re headed in 2025.
But first...
We cannot emphasize how grateful to you, our readers. In a world saturated with constant demands for attention, we appreciate you taking time out of your busy Tuesday mornings to read Code n Culture (over anything else). Your support means the world, and we’re especially thankful for the feedback many of you have shared (often outside this platform). It’s your insights and encouragement that push us to improve and keep going, even on the dark days when we are struggling to write.
What We Accomplished in 2024
1. Launching Code n Culture on Substack in the summer of 2024
Coming from a consulting background, we are always brought in to solve a problem and have to take a Swiss army knife approach in resolving it. While that makes for good consulting, it's challenging to help people at scale and make an impact within our ecosystem. Often times we are solving similar issues repeatedly. It meant we were looking for a different path with the following goals:
Scale the impact of Gurinder’s expertise as a LinkedIn Learning Instructor, Cybersecurity expert, DevOps & Tech leader.
Learn and grow—for me, that meant diving into DevOps and understanding how to scale a business.
Why Substack? There's a lot to like here - low barrier to writing and reaching our audience, and opportunity to build a community. We were also inspired by the thriving ecosystem of newsletters—both adjacent to our focus and in completely different spaces on Substack itself.
2. Refining Our Audience
As with any project, we grappled with a critical question: Who are we helping?
Should we guide executives in understanding DevOps?
Should we support platform engineers navigating their DevOps journey?
Should we support Cybersecurity experts in navigating the complexities of DevOps?
We know that the problem exists, we’ve started honing our focus on platform engineers and managers, addressing not just tools and technology but also the cultural aspects of DevOps, and the nuances of a world where cyber threats have never been higher. This focus will continue evolving, but we see enough traction to continue our growth.
3. Rebranding to Code n Culture
6 Page Memo was the inspiration of how we wanted to help people: Good, in depth content, but distilled down to give you enough information to be able to make good decisions. While the inspiration resonated with people the name did not. so in the fall, we adopted a new name, better reflecting the areas we want to serve. We’re often brought in for the technical “code” side, much of our impact lies in driving the cultural changes required for success—think governance, RACI matrices, and change implementation. Code n Culture strives to embody this balance.
What’s Next in 2025?
Here’s what you can expect from us over the next year:
1. More Writing
We live and breathe technology, and we’ll continue sharing insights on topics that intrigue and challenge us. We are committing to this endeavor in the long run, working through challenges rather than moving on into something else.
2. Building a Community
We are working towards building a space where like-minded individuals can:
Seek help/feedback navigating platform engineering challenges and opportunities
Explore how emerging trends, like AI & blockchains, will shape the field
Learn how to adopt these changes or help their teams adopt them
Be a trusted source of information (and inspiration)
The how? We will start with leveraging the Substack tools such as chat, paid subscriptions etc and go from there.
3. More Engagement
With other likeminded people, readers, creators helping in similar spaces. Not only does it help with building a community, but the more engaged we are the more we can welcome people and help them.
Our Subscriber Goals
People often ask if we have specific subscriber targets. While we’ve certainly dreamed about the numbers, our priority is building an active, engaged community. We’d rather have 10 passionate participants than 1,000 passive followers.
Wrapping Up 2024
The next two Tuesdays will be quiet as we recharge and relax over the holiday period. However, we’re always open to comments, chats, and discussions, so feel free to reach out.
Thank you for being part of our journey. Here’s to an exciting 2025!
See you in the new year,
Muhammad & Gurinder