GE 248: How Fred Voccola Grew Kaseya’s Revenue from $85M to $275M in 2.5 Years by Focusing on Customers and Employees (podcast)

Eric Siu

7 years ago

Hey everyone, in today’s episode I share the mic with Fred Voccola, CEO of Kaseya, an IT Management and Monitoring Solution software company.

Tune in to hear Fred discuss how he took Kaseya from $85M to $275M in revenue, why managing your network is so critical, and why he considers intellectual curiosity to be such a great skill set.

Download podcast transcript [PDF] here: How Fred Voccola Grew Kaseya’s Revenue from $85M to $275M in 2.5 Years by Focusing on Customers and Employees TRANSCRIPT

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

[00:45] Before we jump into today’s interview, please leave a review and rating and subscribe to the Growth Everywhere Podcast!
[01:26] Fred got into the software industry in college. He loves being part of something that disrupts lives and industries.
[02:15] He has worked with Nolea and Yodle, both of which he sold.
[02:49] Fred likes to get involved with a business when the owners want to cash out or when it is at the turning point where the company will either grow or fail.
[04:05] Fred has been with Kaseya for two and a half years.
[04:15] When he came on board, the company was at $75 or $85 Million. He hopes that by 2018, they will have reached $275 Million.
[05:20] Kaseya is growing at the rate of 35-50% per year.
[05:40] Maintaining the entrepreneurial focus and being able to make pivots is important to keeping a company’s revenue on the rise.
[06:40] You need systems to quantify data besides customer feedback.
[08:24] When people are looking for a CEO to help them scale a business, you need to know what your company’s needs are.
[09:00] If you have to struggle to make payroll, it gives you a special appreciation for the hustle it takes to keep a business afloat.
[09:20] Yoki Sloanum was one of Fred’s mentors when he was Fred’s boss at Identify Software.
[09:34] Surrounding yourself with the right people is a skill and having a good mentor is a part of that.
[10:10] Managing a network is so critical, because it will help you find the people that will make you successful.
[11:10] “People are pretty cool” – Fred Voccola
[11:27] Being intellectually curious is a great skill set.
[12:10] When you are genuinely interested in people, it is easier to keep in contact with them. Build your network this way.
[13:15] Find a process to make sure that your network continues to be curated.
[13:52] Fred is old fashioned, in that he likes to pick up the phone and call people, regardless of what he needs from them.
[15:30] Fred stays top of mind by staying in touch with the people in his network, which he thinks is easy, because he considers a lot of his contacts friends (or at least interesting people).
[15:45] The holidays are a great time to reach out to your network.
[15:59] He blocks out two hours every week to connect and check in with his contacts.
[16:26] Always ask for help, which is something most people are uncomfortable doing.
[17:50] Kaseya provides IT infrastructure management solutions to small to midsize businesses.
[18:00] This means that Kaseya works with companies that have one employee to thousands.
[18:20] A small biz is one that doesn’t have any IT people, whereas midsize companies have a team of IT employees.
[18:55] Kaseya customers are managed service providers (companies that provide IT services to other companies).
[20:13] Kaseya’s software proactively identifies and remediates any security issues, infrastructure issues, and network backups.
[21:05] Kaseya is riding one of the biggest technology waves that exists.
[21:56] When Fred goes to the dentist, he gets an appointment reminder with info for service coupons.
[22:22] This is notable, because it means that the Dentist has someone doing their IT work.
[22:56] For every dollar you pay Kaseya, you should be getting at least $20 back in a managed service.
[23:55] Kaseya is generating $4 billion in managed services.
[24:24] One of the MSPs working with Kaseya, focuses on providing IT solutions to dental offices. They run IT for 5000 dental offices.
[25:30] Everything from their pricing model to their processes is all created with the aim of providing 20x in value of what the customers are paying.
[26:42] The tech needs of small to midsize companies are increasing in terms of volume and complexity.
[27:09] MSPs are always looking for ways to meet the ever increasing needs of their clients.
[29:00] Two key things any business needs to focus one: understanding your customer and building a company culture around the needs of that customer. The other is making sure you assemble a team of people who are capable of achieving this.
[29:50] Fred brought a team of people with him when he came to Kaseya (about 20 people).
[30:25] Bringing these people with him allowed him to hit the ground running and shaved a year off of the time it would have otherwise taken them to reach their goals.
[31:09] Unfortunately, this means that certain people were replaced or displaced when he took over Kaseya.
[32:55] The good news is, only four people were let go, while others were moved into positions that were more in line with their skill sets.
[33:26] Fred prefers a culture were performance is the most important trait.
[33:50] Performance trumps everything else (age, career status, etc.)
[35:15] It’s great to create a culture where people are trying to excel and don’t make it hard for people to self-select out of high-pressure positions or challenges.
[37:25] Fred doesn’t like to use the word “fair” in terms of giving people chances. The only “fair” thing is what is fair to the company.
[37:39] If someone doesn’t have the right skills for a role, you are only screwing them over by keeping them in that position.
[39:00] Either find that person a better position or phase them out. This should all be done within three months, otherwise, you are taking too long.
[39:20] Fred recommends The Wheel of Time series, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, and Leadership and Self-Deception.

Resources From This Interview:

Leave Some Feedback:

What should I talk about next? Who should I interview? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.
Did you enjoy this episode? If so, leave a short review here.
Subscribe to Growth Everywhere on iTunes.
Get the non-iTunes RSS feed

Connect with Eric Siu: