Brian Reale, CEO and Founder of ProcessMaker, a popular workflow tool that improves information flow between data and systems, was kind enough to participate in our popular “Take 5 with the Founder’ series this month. ProcessMaker’s mission is to simplify your workflow and their clients range from major universities and banks to government agencies. It is truly a global company, with offices in North America, Latin America, and Europe, and a network of over 35 partners that extends across five continents.
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ProcessMaker:
What is the most rewarding part of running your own business?
The most rewarding part of running your own business is being so close to every part of the business from engineering to sales to support. There is never a problem where I can just leave the office early and think that it is not my problem. At the same time, this means that it is really easy to work hard and make a difference almost every day.
What advice would you give yourself before founding ProcessMaker?
In retrospect I probably would have not jumped right into founding my second company (or my first company for that matter). I think that I could have probably benefited from working in a few other companies before setting out on my own. Being part of something started by someone else provides a perspective that is equally important as starting something oneself.
What advantage does ProcessMaker have over its competitors?
ProcessMaker takes a much simpler and more intuitive approach to Business Process Management than our competitors do. Our customers consistently tell us that ProcessMaker is more intuitive and much easier to understand than other BPM & Workflow software. The problem with BPM Software is that the boundaries are not very well defined. As a result it is very easy to get ugly products that are filled with feature and scope creep. The result is not pretty from a usability perspective. ProcessMaker, on the other hand, focuses on usability and simplicity first.
Do you see ProcessMaker as an underdog?
Yes. If you still see yourself as a startup, then by definition you still see yourself as an underdog. The good thing about seeing yourself as the underdog is that it keeps you focused on working harder than everyone else. ProcessMaker has decided to grow organically from the get go. We raised less than $200k of initial seed capital when we started the business more than 15 years ago. Since then we have never spent time looking for investors. Instead, our philosophy has always been about building great products and services that customers wanted to buy and making sure that our income was always greater than our expenses. Most of our competitors have grown based on VC financing. They seem happy to throw money around to fuel their unprofitable growth. We prefer to be the underdog focused on smart, profitable growth.
Why did you choose to enter this particular business?
I love thinking about how complex operations can work or “flow” better. My very first job after college was working in a donations warehouse in a Refugee Camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. After about 4 weeks on the job, I had completely changed the distribution system by inventing an artificial currency, setting up a reverse auction system, and insisting on full inventory turnover on a weekly basis. Like I said, I like to make things flow better. One way or another – ProcessMaker was bound to happen.
Now for the Lightning Round!
Coffee or tea?
Tea with Milk.
PC or MAC?
Mac
Early bird or night owl?
Night owl
Bagels or muffins?
Bagels
Classic or modern?
Modern
Detailed or abstract?
detailed
Washing dishes or doing laundry?
Neither
Saver or spender?
Saver
Hardwood or carpet?
