Watch our BoS 2025 Talk: 25 Years of Heretical Thinking
Consistency
After 25 years in business, IDR Solutions has grown by doing things differently. We don’t chase VCs, scale unnecessarily or jump on trends. Instead, we’ve built a sustainable business through autonomy, deep customer relationships, and thinking long term while openly questioning the assumptions the software industry treats as default.
This approach is often described as heretical and focuses on choosing autonomy over hierarchy, relationships over rapid expansion and prioritising long term sustainable growth which ensure quality is maintained all around.
In this post, we want to unpack two perspectives from that journey. One looks inward, at how autonomy, trust and culture shape the way a small company operates day to day. The other looks outward, at why resisting “scale at all costs” and applying first principles thinking, encouraging questions and experimentation has been critical to building a resilient business.
This may not be every company’s winning formula but it presents an alternative lens that invites founders and teams to reflect on what “better, not bigger” might look like for them.
Culture & autonomy
One of the principles that has shaped how we work at IDR Solutions is autonomy. As a small company, we’ve deliberately avoided heavy hierarchies and rigid processes. Instead, each member of our team is trusted to take ownership of their work, make decisions and act with the wider business in mind. This trust creates accountability naturally, not through layers of approval and signatures but instead through shared responsibility.
During our talk, I summed it up simply, “As a small company, there’s a lot of autonomy within each individual and we’re able to take action and make real impact” That autonomy has a direct effect on how we operate day to day. People aren’t waiting to be told what to do or how to do it. Problems are identified early, decisions are made promptly and progress happens without unnecessary friction.
It also influences how we grow. Growth at IDR hasn’t been about speed for its own sake. Instead, it’s been intentionally shaped by long term thinking, relationships with our customers, partners and colleagues and a commitment to quality. When people feel trusted and empowered, they care deeply about the outcomes of their work, not just the outputs.
Over time, this way of working has strengthened relationships across the company and with our customers. It’s helped us maintain a consistent culture, even as the business has evolved and ensured that quality is upheld across everything we do. Autonomy is a long term commitment that requires trust, clarity and patience. It’s been a key reason why IDR Solutions has been able to grow sustainably while staying true to our values. This culture of autonomy has also shaped our approach to growth itself—which brings us to one of our most deliberate choices, resisting the pressure to scale at all costs.
(Do not) Scale at all Costs!
One of the cornerstones of IDR Solutions’ strategy has been prioritising sustainable growth over the ‘scale at all costs’ mantra. Unlike many VC backed tech firms that burn cash to capture market share, we focus on maintaining a lean and profitable business model.
By not scaling the team or product suite too rapidly, we maintain a level of depth in technical expertise in our industry. This is primarily why customers like Academia have used our solutions to work with over 60 million PDFs!
What we see with a lot VC backed companies is the pursuit of hyper-growth. Some customers specifically chose IDR Solutions because they were small and could provide better, more personalized service compared to VC backed giants.
Relationships over Transactions
Our strategy is about long term partnerships, not just closing the next deal. By moving away from a one off sales mindset, we’ve built relationships that have lasted over 20 years. Because we aren’t chasing quarterly targets for investors, we can actually focus on what makes our clients successful over the long haul.
We’ve found that being small is our superpower. Many of our clients come to us specifically because they’re tired of the impersonal, bureaucratic feel of $100 million corporate giants. They want a dedicated, agile team that can promptly respond, not a transactional one where they’re just another number in a database.
At the end of the day, business is personal. We’d rather be a great product company than a commercially obsessed one. By focusing on solving real problems, we get to grow better alongside our users. It’s a shared journey where we aim to improve with our customers, not just get bigger at their expense.
Why Communities Like Business of Software Are Essential
A community like Business of Software is essential because it offers a real world reality-check. It’s easy to get lost in your own bubble, but these conferences create space for honest, informal conversations with people who actually face similar struggles.
We value these spaces because they focus on the messy truth of running a company rather than the polished versions you see in press releases. They’re also a reminder that there is no single playbook for success and that learning from each other is the best way to stay grounded.
The Future of IDR Solutions
Looking ahead, we are not interested in chasing a massive growth curve just for the sake of it. Our goal is to keep refining our craft and solving the tough technical problems our clients face as they move toward modern web environments.
We want to remain a company that is easy to talk to and quick to move. By staying lean and focusing on quality, we ensure we can keep doing work we are proud of for another 25 years without losing the personal touch that got us here. Are you curious about our approach? Whether you’re evaluating PDF solutions or simply interested in how a 25 year old company operates without VC funding, we’re happy to talk. That’s what being small and accessible means, real conversations.
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