Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later from Utah: HireVue CEO Mark Newman (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: You’re doing this all from Utah. Is that still the structure of the company?

Mark Newman: Yes, 60% of our team is in Utah. 30% is spread throughout the United States. These are people that work from home. Then, 10% of our team is global.

Sramana Mitra: What has your experience been like building this company from Utah? I’ve seen some very good companies come out of Utah. I’ve done a lot of Utah stories, oddly enough.

Mark Newman: I think we’re creating a really special place to build businesses. In 2010, we were the only company besides Fusion-io to raise venture capital. It was a dog market. There was no one coming in. It was really hard to build a business here in those days. Now, I laugh about kids today building businesses in Utah. There are two things that you do get in Utah. One is you get great team member loyalty. Our topline turnover is less than 5%. You have a great quality of life. You deliver great benefits to your team and work on interesting things. We’ve had a lot of people on our team that have been here three to six years. That doesn’t happen a lot in other markets.

Sramana Mitra: I think it happens in a lot of other markets but it doesn’t happen in Silicon Valley.

Mark Newman: Yes, it doesn’t happen in Silicon Valley. Put it this way, it happens in a lot of places besides Silicon Valley where there’s a mercenary culture versus a missionary one. Secondly, because you don’t have a lot of that noise all around you, you actually have a lot of the patience to be able to build the business you want to build. There’s not a lot of shiny objects.

Sramana Mitra: It’s less distracting. I totally hear you.

Mark Newman: A lot of great companies here started and focused, and didn’t pivot when it got hard. We’ve been fortunate to do the same.

Sramana Mitra: Sticking to your core vision is very helpful actually. Having the patience to be able to stick to your core vision and having a team that is willing to stay with you without getting impatient is very helpful. Is there anything else you want to add?

Mark Newman: We have a whole program called WorldVue where we offer our technology for free to any non-profit. We did some work with First Round Capital. The other side of it is the WorldVue side. We do a lot of work with volunteer organizations and other personal development programs. If there’s anything we can do to help, we’d love to because I really admire the work that you’re doing in your program.

Sramana Mitra: Thank you. It’s very nice talking to you and I am delighted to see the trajectory.

This segment is part 5 in the series : Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later from Utah: HireVue CEO Mark Newman
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