Q: What is LargeSoftware?
A: LargeSoftware is a consumer-focused software company specializing in creating a painless and easy computing experience for any level of computer user. In other words, we make software that even your 90-year-old grandmother could use to help ease the daily frustrations of using a computer, but it also helps your 16-year-old-nephew, the computer whiz.
LargeSoftware was founded a little over two years ago, over dinner in San Diego. The company has exploded over the last year, in sales, employees and customers.
I would love to yell our revenue from the top of the Rockies, but I think my finance people might be a little angry since we are a private company. What I can say is we have offices in six countries, including in Amsterdam, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and corporate offices in San Diego.
Q: You decided to leave the company in its present location and move to Colorado. Why?
A: People ask me that question every day, and I always ask back, why would you not want to be in Colorado? I grew up in San Diego, and it’s absolutely beautiful, but Colorado has it beat. You can’t beat the mountains, the hiking, the biking, the kayaking and the scenery.
Living in Denver and being able to run my company has a lot to do with the location of the Denver airport. With the amount of travel I do, being airport-accessible to each and every partner or potential partner is very important.
Q: What is it like being a remote CEO?
A: It’s incredible. All the bosses I ever had were micromanagers, mainly because they just didn’t trust people. We have the most incredible team at LargeSoftware. Everyone is in this for the same reason, the same goal, and everyone has a vested interest that we succeed.
Some days I do go and play golf with business partners at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, but I am also working till midnight trying to finish deals. I trust our team completely, and I believe they trust me. I don’t need to be there hovering over their shoulders.
Q: What business practices do you use to maintain your post at the company, and how do you balance that with the reasons you moved to Colorado?
A: I am not sure there is a person at LargeSoftware that I don’t have a personal relationship with. We all work hard to know each other and try to keep a close bond because if one person succeeds on a certain project or objective, the entire company succeeds.
We also have every means possible for communication: e-mail, phone, video conferencing. We all have smart phones, and we are able to reach every team member on e-mail, voice, text and instant messenger on our phones. We all have instant messenger on our computers and have an in-house blog that every employee contributes to, to make sure everyone is up to date on the latest development in every department.
Q: What do you do in your off time? And do you really manage from the slopes or the golf course?
A: I try to get out as much as possible for a hike, a bike ride and, of course, as much golf as I can.
Do I really manage from the slopes or the golf course? I don’t want to seem too lax, but what I can say is that I take both life and work seriously.
I actually finished a deal on the phone with one of our vice presidents and a company in the U.K. on my first run of the day up Peak 9 (in Breckenridge) last year. I also had to put out a fire with my head of product development while at the top of Peak 8. I am always accessible.
People hate playing golf with me because I am always on the phone, but golf is relaxing to me. It also happens to be a great time for business.
Q: Tell us a more about your background and philosophy on life.
A: When I was 8 years old, my father passed away at age 38 from colon cancer and left my mom with $500 to her name and having never worked a day in her life. She took care of me and raised me to be who I am today.
I realized at a very young age life is short and you need to go after anything you want. We didn’t have money for new Nikes — if I wanted something, I had to find ways to make my own money to buy it.
People ask me all the time was it hard to lose your father at such a young age . . . and it was, it was extremely hard, but without that tragedy in my life, I would not be where I am today. I would not have worked as hard as I did through high school, college — and after that to get to where I am. My philosophy on life is pretty simple, and it is definitely something I live by every single day: “You only live once; make the most of it.”
Edited for length and clarity by Elizabeth Aguilera
