Buddy Co-Founder Jonathan Mifsud reflects on startup journey as David Seisun steps down as CEO

Buddy Co-Founder David Seisun has stepped down from his role as CEO of the payroll software company.

“After seven years, it’s time to turn the page,” he said, adding that his “full focus” will now turn to the hospitality industry, which sits at the core of his main venture, Sixteen Group.

He noted that “like any startup journey, it came with its fair share of challenges, uncertainty, and moments where belief mattered more than certainty,” thanking Co-Founder Jonathan Mifsud for “the partnership and the journey we shared building something meaningful together.

Contacted by MaltaCEOs.mt, Mr Mifsud says the official announcement follows a decision taken last year that saw Mr Seisun step back from the business, with the team “rallying and stepping up” as they took on more responsibilities.

“While it does mean that I have had a lot more administrative things to deal with, we are now having the right structures in place to allow me to focus on what’s most important,” he says. “And as a result of that we are also growing the team, with at least five new positions we have just opened across our support and engineering teams.”

Mr Mifsud says the organisational changes will ensure that we are better placed than ever to focus on serving all our payroll clients.

“Once we have the new hires in place it should also allow me to take a step back and start looking at the bigger picture and ensure we have placed our product at the heart of Maltese and UK businesses.”

He adds that while the internal company dynamics are not expected to change, Mr Seisun’s departure “will allow us to have a clear distinction from unrelated ventures that maybe clients were confusing before.”

Mr Mifsud notes that when he started Buddy along with Mr Seisun and NM Group CEO Beppe Muscat (who exited the firm in 2020) some seven years ago, they were all involved in other businesses.

“Buddy was a part-time gig,” he says.

“However, only once you focus and dedicate yourself to one project do you start to see results. And that is what happened to me between 2020 and 2025 as I started focusing exclusively on Buddy, which then starting seeing significant growth.”

The biggest lesson from his startup journey, Mr Mifsud shares, was the importance of focus.

“When your sole focus is one thing, everything you do goes around it. Being involved in different things slows momentum.”

Asked for his advice to other startups, he suggests looking for co-founder alignment “in not only long-term vision, but also the effort and focus to get there.”