“If you have the right folks in the right position, you can overcome most any obstacle so long as your business plan is sound. Most of the big problems are the result of either having the wrong folks or having them in the wrong spot. My biggest mistakes were not letting the wrong folks go soon enough.” Gregg Freishtat, Serial Entrepreneur, Founder of four companies and Current CEO & Chairman of Vertical Acuity
The Rich Niche Group blog interviews and enables you to hear directly from successful entrepreneurs and product managers about the steps they took to grow their businesses/products and how they were able to create, penetrate, and/or dominate their niche. This week we interview Gregg Freishtat, the founder of four different start-ups and board member and advisor to several venture capitalist and venture-backed companies.
Why Selected: Gregg is a four-time entrepreneur and has successfully sold three software companies over the past 10 years – Telet Communications sold to PGI in 1996, VerticalOne sold to S1 in 1999 and Proficient Systems – sold to LPSN in 2006. Gregg serves on many private company and philanthropic boards including: SONE; MarketWorks; Relevant Knowledge; Outweb; Proficient Systems; VerticalOne; Telet Communications; JDRF; and the Jewish Federation.
I had the pleasure of working with Gregg back in the late 1990’s and have always been impressed with his ability to grasp the power of new technologies, the impact they can have on the business world, and his ability to build a business around that technology. Just as important, Gregg makes those around him better at what they do and always makes working together fun and enjoyable.
In the following interview, Gregg takes us through how he was able to build off the success of each of his start-ups and what he learned along the way. During the interview, Gregg points out what he believes other entrepreneurs can do to help position themselves and their companies for success. The key points you’ll take away include:
- Maintain the flexibility to adjust (morph) your business based on customer/prospect needs.
- When evangelizing your business remember, “Big vision for investors; Simple and safe for customers.
- One of the biggest keys to success and potential obstacle are: People, people, people!
- Establish your culture early and don’t do business with or for people you don’t like.
