Becoming a producer, and going further together...

As NADA 2023 approaches, I'm feeling nostalgic about my journey from solo-preneur to Executive. When I first started, I was a one-man show in the automotive industry for products and development, doing all the heavy lifting myself, and working crazy hours.

But as the industry evolved, I realized that being a one-man show was holding me back. I couldn't move fast enough to keep up with the competition, and I couldn't build entire new products on my own.

So, I made the switch and built a team of 20 rockstars. And you know what? It paid off big time!

As NADA 2023 approaches, I want to share my story and a few of my secrets with you, so you can avoid the same mistakes and come out on top.

Lesson #1: Be present and highly reactive to your entire team:

Using my previous methods, I was isolated, and I didn't have or take the time to bounce ideas off of others. But with a team of twenty resources, it was and is essential for me to be present and highly reactive in order to keep everyone on the same page and to make sure that we were delivering high-quality products and services.

The key is to keep everyone aligned and moving forward, and to address issues or problems as quickly as possible.

I also found that near shoring was the way to go. Having developers in Colombia and Argentina allowed us to have a "real-time" relationship with our team members, which led to better communication and collaboration using tools like slack, zoom or teams.

This is in contrast to using distant locations such as Ukraine or India, where time zone differences and cultural barriers can create a disconnect that leads to misses or extended time delays because of the issues with overnight requests.

Lesson #2: Great products require leaders to spend equal time with clients and their internal teams:

I have realized that in order to create great products, I needed to spend equal time with my clients and development team. By understanding the needs and wants of my clients, I was able to create products that were tailored to their specific needs.

Along with this discipline a good leader must check his or her ego at the door, during sessions with users and clients. And allow for the thoughts that uses outside of the original intend are valid and should be normalized or improved.

At one point in my career these client sessions were my least favorite part of the development cycle, now I must confess these are the most rewarding and educational parts of my "job."

Lesson #3: Hire great managers, let them manager, and keep them long term:

I learned that it's not just about having a great team, it's about having a great team of managers. Beyond having technical skills and knowing software management techniques, our managers know the automotive space, inside and out.

Because of this they are oriented towards dealership data informations systems and can "speak car "with vendors or even dealers!

These people are worth their weight in gold. And we strive to keep them with us during the booms and busts of business cycles, allowing them to make better decisions and to be more effective in their roles.

Lesson #4 Be flexible with respect to team size, and team skillsets:

The ability to transform a teams size or the compositions of the teams skillset is very very important, as often the needs of the business can vary greatly from quarter to quarter.

The fluid nature of business and these teams remind me a little of a pickup basketball game. A game can be 3v3 or 5v5 and the skills of the players can be wildly disparate from game to game or day to day. When you find a good venue (source) you find better games and more consist competition it's very rewarding and you actual improve your own game.

You can level up your development department in a similar way by leveraging a source of talented, dealer focused group.

I hope that my lessons learned will be helpful for anyone who is looking to make a similar transition in their own business or mindset. Remember, be present, be reactive, and always look for ways to improve and evolve.

Regards, William Page III