Bootstrapping A Software Company From Minnesota: Vicki Raport Of Quantum Retail (Part 2)

Sramana: How did you end up leaving Wilsons and head toward retail systems software?

Vicki Raport: My last role in system redesign led me down that path. I wanted to take the knowledge of enabling business change via technology and see if I could apply it to a broader audience than Wilsons. I left to start working at a software company called Arthur Planning. At the time it was owned by Comshare. I spent a year there doing project management before I went to Retek.

At Retek, I learned the software business as it related to the retail industry. I came in as a strong retail expert with project management skills and an understanding of systems. I began to take over aspects at Retek where my skill set was appropriate. I became head of the global services group and ran their customer support area. I headed up a business group that did systems optimization and benefits realization for its clients. I ended my career there as a VP in merchandising strategy.

Sramana: What year does that bring us up to?

Vicki Raport: I left Retek in early 2003.

Sramana: Is that when you founded Quantum Retail?

Vicki Raport: No, I spent about six months letting my non-competes expire. In the fall of 2003, I sent a note to some of the folks I had worked with at Retek and asked them if they wanted to discuss an opportunity to work together again.

Sramana: Based on your experience and knowledge from your time with Retek, what was your assessment of opportunity gaps?

Vicki Raport: We felt that the retail industry was underserved. Enterprise software was being forced on the retail industry with the goal of solving some of the more retail-specific challenges. Enterprise software is about plumbing and making transactions go. We felt there was an entire layer of applications missing that would take the information generated by enterprise applications, point of sale, customer transaction files, RFID [radio-frequency identification] data, and bring it all together in a way that would be valuable to retailers.

We looked at our own expertise and identified a white space. We felt if we brought the right thinking and technology to bear, we could solve some fundamental problems that had gone unsolved in retail. We wanted to use all available data to drive sustainable operations in retail businesses.

Sramana: What part of retail were you looking to optimize?

Vicki Raport: We started with a foundational component which was inventory placement. A lot of the systems and processes in design fix mistakes. We went and looked outside of the industry. We started with a blank piece of paper to find a way to use all of the information available in a retail environment to tell people continuously how much inventory should be stocked, in what store, and at what time to achieve business objectives. Those objectives could be maximizing business profitability while maintaining customer service levels or learning how to drive traffic. We put a business driver in the placement of a retail business’s greatest investment, inventory.

This segment is part 2 in the series : Bootstrapping A Software Company From Minnesota: Vicki Raport Of Quantum Retail
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