My failure to give a farewell to Albismart
Mentor Gashi
The recent events in the tech industry, where companies have faced consequences for failing to act but have gained wisdom afterwards, have inspired me to reflect on my own experiences. In particular, I want to address my failure to publicly give a farewell to a company that Arbnor Gashi and I co-founded.
Arbnor and I had a dream of developing a software that could provide a solution for small and medium-sized businesses in the form of a software-defined networking engineering solution, similar to what companies like Warner Bros Telecom have done. Our goal was to create a software as a service (SaaS) product that could help these businesses thrive.
The idea for this dream began in 2016, when Arbnor and I had a meeting with a network provider. During a short walk after the meeting, we discussed the possibility of creating a software solution to help manage their business. Around this time, I also became a father for the second time. These events were the initial seeds that planted the idea for our dream of creating a software as a service (SaaS) product to help small and medium-sized businesses thrive.
After our initial discussion, Arbnor and I decided to partner up and co-found a company that would provide a software solution to manage network provision for local companies in Kosovo. We named the company Albismart, which was derived from the name of Arbnor's own network provider company, Albinet. Arbnor had previously run an online forum for Albinet in 2007, and it was through this forum that we first met in person. Today, Albismart is still active and providing valuable software solutions to businesses in Kosovo.
After giving a talk at The American University in Kosovo, our company experienced significant growth. Within a year, our solution was serving the entire nation of Kosovo and continues to do so today.
As our company grew, we began to receive acquisition proposals from other companies. While I was never seeking these opportunities, I suspected they would be a huge distraction. Ultimately, this was what led me to leave the company. The last of these proposals came from nmsprime.com, and although negotiations began, I never supported the idea.
Through Albismart, Arbnor and I formed partnerships that changed our lives. Both of us moved to Austria and worked on a network equipment refurbishment solution for Normann Engineering. However, due to emotional turmoil I was experiencing. I have decided to focus my time and dedication on my family and help them through the process of integrating into life in Austria.
My journey with the Albismart team in Kosovo was an exciting one, filled with small and big achievements as we worked to develop a modern solution for network providers. Given that the services we provided were sensitive in terms of uptime and availability, it was a thrilling experience for me. I hope that the same emotions were felt by our team, which included members such as Erblin Bobaj, Meriton Gashi, and many others. Developing a solution for network providers in a newborn country was a truly stellar experience.
In a world where technology is constantly changing, the Albismart team will undoubtedly face many challenges. However, I hope that the successes they have achieved so far will empower them to continue providing a better future that connects humans and machines. As technology advances, it will be important for the team to adapt and find new ways to serve their customers and create value. I wish them all the best as they navigate the exciting, but often unpredictable, world of technology.