"Not so many tech companies could last this long" - and yet here we are, ten years later, stronger and more innovative than ever.
Ten years ago, we started Dwarves Foundation with a simple belief: great software comes from teams who never stop learning. What began as a scrappy tech consultancy has evolved into something we never quite imagined: a strong team spanning multiple time zones, serving clients globally while building one of the most innovative research-first companies in the tech industry.
As we mark our tenth anniversary, it's worth reflecting on the lessons learned, the mountains moved, and the path ahead. This isn't just a company milestone; it's a story about adapting, surviving, and ultimately thriving in an industry that never stops changing.
Five years of transformation
The last five years have been transformative, not just for us, but for the entire tech landscape. We've witnessed the rise and evolution of blockchain technology, the mainstream adoption of AI, the shift to remote-first teams, and the emergence of new economic models that blur the lines between traditional employment and community participation.
While many companies struggled to adapt to these rapid changes, we found ourselves uniquely positioned. Our commitment to research-first thinking meant we were already exploring these technologies before they became industry trends. This gave us the ability to not just survive the waves of change, but to ride them.
Six pillars of our last five years
1. We learned about money (the hard way)
The biggest lesson of the past five years? Money isn't just about traditional revenue streams anymore. Through our web3 projects, participating in building blockchain products, and launching our own IDO initiatives, we discovered that value creation in the modern economy is fundamentally different from what it was even a decade ago.
We didn't just build blockchain products for clients - we participated in the ecosystem as builders, investors, and innovators. From participating in IDOs to building decentralized applications, from smart contract development to DeFi protocols, we've gained real-world experience with digital assets and tokenomics.
Key achievements:
- Built 20+ blockchain projects across multiple networks (see our Web3 services)
- Developed expertise in DeFi, NFTs, and smart contract security
- Participated in major blockchain ecosystems as both builders and community members
2. ICY token builds community through economics
In 2020, we introduced ICY, our community token, as an experiment in recognition and reward. What started as a simple tipping system has evolved into a sophisticated economic layer that powers our community engagement.
ICY taught us that community isn't just about culture, it's about economics. By backing ICY with Bitcoin in our treasury and creating real utility around it, we've built something unprecedented: a borderless software company where contributions are measured, rewarded, and valued in ways that go beyond traditional employment models.
Through ICY, we've built up a treasury backed by Bitcoin, creating real value for our community members. Our contributors don't just work for traditional compensation - they earn a stake in our collective success. Learn more about how ICY works and our tokenomics design.
The numbers speak for themselves:
- 335 memo entries published in 2024 alone
- Thousands of ICY tokens distributed to community contributors
- A growing Bitcoin treasury that provides real value backing
3. Our framework for adapting to new tech waves
The past five years brought us face-to-face with massive technological shifts: the blockchain revolution, the AI explosion, the rise of spatial computing, and the emergence of agentic systems. Instead of being overwhelmed by these changes, we developed a framework for navigating technological evolution with resilience as our priority.
This framework is simple but powerful:
- Research first: We dive deep into emerging technologies before they become mainstream
- Build quickly: We create proof-of-concepts and real implementations to understand the potential
- Share openly: We document our learnings through our Memo platform, building reputation and attracting talent
- Stay flexible: We adapt our service offerings based on what we learn
This approach has kept us ahead of the curve and positioned us as thought leaders in areas like AI engineering, blockchain development, and platform operations.
4. EO management framework with leading chairs
Traditional hierarchical management doesn't work for a research-first company full of brilliant, curious minds. Over the past few years, we've adopted what we call the Leading Chairs framework, a more flexible, autonomous approach to leadership.
Think of chairs as department heads with more freedom and responsibility. Each chair owns a specific area of our business:
- Learning Chair: Labs team that picks up new tech, assesses it, and shares knowledge
- Delivery Chair: Client work and project execution
- Communication Chair: Content creation and brand building
- Partnership Chair: Business development and strategic relationships
- Engagement Chair: Community building and talent development
This model gives us the agility to respond quickly to opportunities while maintaining focus on our core mission of research and innovation.
5. Research-first company direction
Perhaps our most important evolution has been fully embracing our identity as a research-first company. While we still do excellent consulting work, our competitive edge comes from our commitment to pushing the boundaries of what's possible.
This research-first approach isn't just philosophical, it's practical. Our research informs our consulting work, our consulting work funds our research, and both contribute to our knowledge base that attracts the best talent and most interesting projects.
We've learned that being research-first means:
- Saying no to projects that don't teach us anything new
- Investing in labs time for every team member
- Publishing our insights openly through Memo
- Building internal tools that become products
- Attracting talent who want to work on the frontier of technology
6. Memo as our knowledge base and legacy
Memo has evolved from a simple blog into a sophisticated knowledge management platform that captures our collective intelligence. It's where we document our research, share our insights, and build our reputation as thought leaders.
But Memo is more than just a content platform. It's our commitment to learning in public. Every project teaches us something new, and those learnings get captured, refined, and shared with the broader community. This creates a flywheel effect where our knowledge attracts interesting projects, which generate more knowledge, which attracts even better projects.
Memo also serves another crucial purpose: it connects generations of Dwarves alumni. Whether someone worked with us ten years ago or joined yesterday, their contributions are captured and preserved in our shared knowledge base.
What's next in the protocol era
As we look ahead, we're not just planning for the next five years. We're architecting the next evolution of what a tech company can be.
1. Continue building the research-driven tech company
Our core mission remains unchanged: we will continue to be a research-first company that solves interesting problems and pushes the boundaries of technology. But we're scaling this approach through our protocol model, which allows us to work with a broader network of contributors while maintaining our quality and culture.
2. Leave more positive footprints
Success isn't just about revenue or growth, it's about impact. We want to tackle bigger challenges, work on projects that matter, and help shape the future of technology in ways that benefit everyone. This means being more intentional about the projects we take on and the problems we choose to solve.
Our focus areas for 2025 reflect this ambition:
- AI engineering & agentic systems for automating complex workflows
- Blockchain development for building decentralized solutions
- Platform engineering for creating robust, scalable infrastructure
- Spatial computing for exploring new dimensions of user experience
3. Dwarves as a protocol
The most ambitious part of our next chapter is transforming from a traditional company into a decentralized protocol. Through our dual-token system (ICY for utility, DFG for governance), we're creating a new model for how distributed teams can collaborate, contribute, and benefit from collective success.
This isn't just about tokenization for its own sake. It's about creating more sustainable, equitable, and scalable ways to organize talent and resources around research and development. We believe this model will enable us to work with the best people regardless of their location, legal status, or traditional employment preferences.
Why this matters
As we reflect on ten years of building, learning, and adapting, we're struck by how much the definition of a "tech company" has changed. The companies that will thrive in the next decade won't be the ones with the most resources or the biggest teams. They'll be the ones that can learn fastest, adapt most effectively, and create the most value for all their stakeholders.
Our journey from a traditional consultancy to a research-first company to a decentralized protocol isn't just about us. It's a glimpse into how all knowledge work might evolve in an age of AI, blockchain, and global connectivity.
Not many tech companies last this long, and fewer still manage to continuously reinvent themselves while staying true to their core values. We've survived multiple tech cycles, economic downturns, global pandemics, and fundamental shifts in how software is built and deployed.
More importantly, we've created something that attracts brilliant people who want to work on the frontier of technology, solve interesting problems, and be part of something bigger than themselves.
Lessons learned from the trenches
Ten years in the tech industry teaches you a few things:
1. Quality compounds Every line of code, every design decision, every client interaction builds on the previous one. We've never compromised on quality, and it's paid dividends in client relationships, team satisfaction, and business growth.
2. Community beats competition The most successful periods in our history have been when we focused on building community rather than just winning clients. Our approach of being both company and community has created more opportunities than any traditional sales strategy.
3. Learning never stops The technologies we use today didn't exist when we started. The frameworks, tools, and platforms that will define the next decade are probably being invented right now. Staying curious and maintaining a learning mindset is not optional - it's essential for survival.
4. Values are your north star Market conditions change, technologies evolve, team members come and go - but values remain constant. Our commitment to software craftsmanship, community building, and innovation has guided every major decision we've made.
5. The future is distributed Remote work, decentralized protocols, global talent pools - the future of work is already here. Companies that embrace distributed models will have access to the best talent and the most innovative ideas.
A message to our alumni network
To every person who has been part of our journey - whether you were with us for a week or several years - your contribution matters. That's why we've created the contributor profile system at memo.d.foundation/contributor.
This isn't just nostalgia - it's about building an onchain record of your contributions to our collective success. As we evolve into a protocol, these profiles become valuable assets that connect you to a larger network of innovators, regardless of your current relationship with Dwarves.
We're keeping that tracked and connecting a larger network of Dwarves, whatever the future holds. This isn't just nostalgia, it's infrastructure for the next phase of our evolution.
Looking forward
Ten years in, we're just getting started. The research-first approach that got us here will carry us forward, but in new forms and with new possibilities. We're excited about the problems we'll solve, the technologies we'll explore, and the impact we'll have.
The next ten years will bring challenges we can't yet imagine and opportunities we haven't thought of. But if the past decade has taught us anything, it's that staying curious, staying flexible, and staying committed to learning will see us through whatever comes next.
Here's to the next chapter. May it be as surprising, educational, and impactful as the first.
Want to be part of our next chapter? We're always looking for brilliant people who love to learn and build. Check out our open positions or just say hello at team@d.foundation.
