I blinked and Citizen Codex turned three years old.

‍

Year One was what Biniam and I lovingly call ‘cosplaying business’. A lot of time was spent on very important business like deciding names and logos. Year Two we were finding our footing. We debated internal boundaries and direction and relentlessly self-examined.

‍

In 2025, we finally jumped.

‍

We pursued projects that challenged our assumptions about what we could do. We granted each other autonomy to work in our own lanes, even when it pulled in different directions. We brought on new teammates and felt the weight of keeping momentum. We stopped theorizing about risk and started taking it.

‍

The results speak for themselves. We're now nine people strong with revenue up 15X from last year. External validation came in forms we'd only hoped for:

• $425K in pre-seed funding for GovSkills
• $560K pilot grants for the Open Rent Initiative
• Growing audiences for our research
• A client portfolio that keeps expanding with both new and returning partners

‍

The validation that matters most came from the people who chose to bet on us. We had to convince talented people to take a chance on us. Each new team member has challenged our thinking, raised the bar on our work, and proven that we're building something worth building.

‍

Throughout it all, our north star remained constant: deliver on our promise to build products and tell data stories that make the world demonstrably better.

‍

We have huge ambitions for what comes next. This year proved we could jump. 2026 is about seeing how far we can go.