Plan for the Long-Term, as well as for the Quarter

Jim Higgins, founder and CEO of Solutionreach, sat down with Silicon Slopes to reflect on “The 18 Year Journey of Solutionreach.” He describes founding the healthcare tech company on the heels of the dot-com bubble burst, which necessitated a more deliberate approach to growth. Believing “you can be disruptive and disciplined at the same time,” Jim focused Solutionreach in the early days on the fundamentals of building a great product, a great sales team and a great service team – shorter-term priorities that positioned the company for long-term growth and durability. A pioneer in text message-based healthcare provider communication, Solutionreach has since evolved to encompass nearly every form of communication between patients and providers, and today connects more than 80 million patients.

Encourage Collaboration, Curiosity and Employee Engagement

We believe a company’s success is often grounded in its work culture, and the most successful growth businesses understand that people are a company’s most valuable asset. Vestmark was recently recognized as a Best Place to Work in Massachusetts; John Lunny, CEO of Vestmark, sat down with the Boston Business Journal to discuss the role of company culture in driving employee retention and the importance of creating an enjoyable work environment: “Retention and joy: Why Vestmark works so hard to be best place to work.”

Develop a Customer-Centric Approach

Many great companies start with an idea – often an entrepreneur’s deep and personal understanding that there is some meaningful hole in the world – an opportunity missed or a problem left unsolved. This understanding leads to a true appreciation of market need and a strong connection with the customer, which in turn provides a framework to drive decisions on product, people and culture. onX – a provider of mobile and web-based off-pavement mapping solutions – offers a compelling example of the fundamental importance of connecting with the customer. Avid outdoor enthusiasts themselves, the onX team built the product they wished they had for their own use; they translated their firsthand “customer” experience into a robust solution serving a large, loyal and deeply passionate user base that fuels incredible organic growth through customer referrals. Read more about onX in “Backing Bootstrapped Companies in the Mountain West.”