Bootstrapping Using Services From Atlanta: PMG Founders Joe LeCompte and Robert Castles (Part 7)

Joe LeCompte: We are starting to enter a new market in the business process automation where we’re actually going head to head against the BPM players. These are large-scale business management platforms that typically are in the order of seven figure license deals, five to ten person consultant deals for one to two years. What we’re seeing is that we can provide 95% of that functionality but without that same amount of labor. Frankly, that 5% of functionality might be a 5% that nobody uses or cares about. I liken that to Microsoft Word. You can do amazing things with Microsoft Word, but I typically limit my use to underline, bold, and italics. When I’m really feeling crazy, I’ll indent. That’s about it. That’s where we’re seeing our competitive landscape.

Sramana Mitra: Is there anything else you want to share in your company building process?

Robert Castles: I think one of the most important things that we have here is the culture. Culture is the feeling you get when you walk in the door of a company’s location. You feel that you’re warmly greeted and people are happy doing what they’re doing. That’s something we really try to encourage as we’ve grown the company. We do it by looking for very specific traits of people. Those traits are smart, driven, and fun.

Sramana Mitra: You’re still based in Atlanta?

Joe LeCompte: Headquarters is in Atlanta. We have offices in New York and the Silicon Valley.

Sramana Mitra: Where is the bulk of the work force located?

Robert Castles: The bulk is in Atlanta.

Joe LeCompte: All the development is done here. The other offices are typically professional services people.

Sramana Mitra: The culture really is driven out of Atlanta.

Robert Castles: It is, but it’s interesting because people here had offers from your classic Silicon Valley companies like Apple and Google. Having worked with us, they decided this was a better fit.

Sramana Mitra: In your view, what are your advantages of being in Atlanta. Obviously, one is you’re not competing in the talent war in Silicon Valley. Is it easy to recruit people?

Joe LeCompte: Atlanta is the technology hub of the southeast. There is a huge focus on building tech companies. There is a challenge around talent. We’re in growth mode right now and trying to find people. We’re getting people to come to the door and we’re having success. The challenge is more on our side in making sure we hold on to our standards and that the person that we’re hiring is the right person because when you get really busy, the temptation is to say, “This person was good enough.”

Sramana Mitra: Terrific. Thank you for your time.

This segment is part 7 in the series : Bootstrapping Using Services From Atlanta: PMG Founders Joe LeCompte and Robert Castles
1 2 3 4 5 6 7