One Year In…

“I’m done.”

2 words that sparked the real beginning of this company.  No, I didn’t speak them, though I should’ve numerous times in the months leading up to September of 2009.  Nonetheless, we did jump ship and haven’t looked back.

While modest, our success of the past year far surpasses anything we could’ve anticipated.  There were several company milestones, both anticipated goals as well as non-anticipated that make for a wild, enjoyable ride.  Here’s my short list.

• We jumped!
• We found a customer.
• We hired Nate.
• Ryan sent us a resume.
• We found some additional customers.
• Ken brought us a resume.
• We found another customer.
• We hired Ken.
• We found 3 more customers and had 2 ask for more hours.
• We dug up Ryan’s resume he sent us.
• We hired Ryan.
• More customers, more returning customers!
• Great referrals start coming in.
• We took an investment opportunity.
• We told a customer “No”.
• We parted ways with 2 customers.
• We found a customer that changed our business.
• We self-funded another investment opportunity.
• We had a customer blow our minds!

Was it all fun and games?  Far from, but the challenges are not what sticks out in my mind.  We transformed the stress and anxiety of starting from scratch into aggressive negotiation and smart effort.  We had to make some tough decisions.  We stuck to our guns though.  We had to make very hard decisions, but our business benefitted from those decisions.

I regret only one thing.  I should’ve done this a year or 2 earlier.

We’ve beaten the odds so far.  I’m excited about what’s in store for Protoven this year and in the year’s to come.  Thanks to the whole team for making this year great.

A public thanks to my wife Haley who supported my craziness and provided a sounding board for some of the crazier decisions I made it.  Her recommendations have been spot on every time.