Does Size Actually Matter?

We have the good fortune of sitting with lots of businesses that want to do business with us. Because of this, I have hundreds of discovery meetings under my belt. In these meetings, all of the usual questions come up for us, how long has the business been open, how many clients do you have, how many have you lost, what's your background story, who's ya mom and them and the best, how big is the firm? As you can probably tell, S1 Technology is not the biggest and has not been around for 20 years. We've been around for 2. To some, that spells uneasiness and that's fine. With some things, I am partial to the larger/older option like my grocery store, my bank, and my neural network. I value experience, routine, and predictability in these areas. And that's something a lot of people tend to transfer to all things. There's a sense of security in longevity, an unspoken trust in the tried and true.

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But here's the interesting twist: when it comes to stuff that moves fast like technology, size can actually work against you. Take a quick look at some tech giants we all know – Yahoo, AOL, and Blackberry. Their size and tenure, though impressive, don't exactly scream "innovation" or "new flavor." They've had their glorious moments in the sun, and while they still hold significant market share, they've mostly been outpaced by younger, more nimble companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon.

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So yes, S1 Technology is two years old. But here's why that’s an advantage - we are HUNGRY lads. S1 Technology is a service firm that delivers IT support and cybersecurity. For a service business, there is nothing in the world more potent than a small group of motivated men. Where all of our competitors leave the grunt work to the lowest man on the totem pole in a "just finish it," fashion; our culture dictates that S1 Technology is an "own the outcome" type of place. I just finished David Ogilvy's book Confessions of an Advertising Man. I love this book and I will read it several more times. In it, he notes that many big agencies tend to leave all their client work with the juniors, while the top talent is all so high up that they're entangled in the administrative parts. "This process builds large agencies, but it leads to mediocrity in performance. I have no ambition to preside over a vast bureaucracy.” I enthusiastically agree with David.

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I tell all of our customers - prospective and existing, we have no desire to be the biggest. Nothing that we do lends itself to that end goal. We have every desire to be the best.

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Being nimble and hungry for greatness means that we are not weighed down by legacy systems or outdated procedures that take months to overhaul. We don't have a 'we've always done it this way' mentality to fight against. Instead, we're at the forefront of current trends, able to adapt quickly to industry changes and customer needs.

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You see, in the rapidly evolving world of tech, experience is important, but it isn't everything. Adaptability, flexibility, context, understanding, and speed - these are the currencies that truly matter. We're not spending half our time trying to keep old systems functioning or retrofitting them to meet today's needs. We've built them from the ground up, with today's tech and tomorrow's vision.

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For the skeptics who question our size and age, I get it. I really do. There’s a natural inclination to gravitate towards what's been around longer. You are not a customer of ours. Scared money don’t make money.

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But remember this: in business, especially in tech, David can easily outmaneuver the Goliath. The garage startups can become the Apples and the Googles. The young, the new, the small, they can become the influential, the game changers.

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In the end, I'm not here to sell you on our age or our size. I'm here to show you our drive, our adaptability, and our relentless pursuit of better. And in this crazy, fast-paced world of technology, that's a badge we wear with pride. Longevity has its place, but don't underestimate the power of being the new kid on the block. Because sometimes, it’s the young, scrappy, and hungry that end up rewriting the rules of the game.

If you're tired of dealing with your complacent sleepy IT company. Call me and we can break up with them together.