Since college, NerdPhone CEO Phil Supinski he started working for a technology VAR and learned to be more technical each role he took on. With his constant exposure to cutting edge marketing and next generation telecommunications, he felt he had learned enough to change the market himself with the launch of NerdPhone in 2010. Now, Supinski said the cloud communications company is “growing faster than we can handle” with the upgrading of their infrastructure in three different datacenters and expansion of full service throughout the US and Canada by January. As NerdPhone is growing expotentially, Supinski gave Built In Colorado a look back at his history:
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What has been the hardest part of being a founder and CEO?
Letting people down. Whether it be customers, partners, or my family, I take it very personally and it definitely happens. However, the flip side of failure is progress and we are making progress faster than I ever thought possible.
How did you acquire your first customer at NerdPhone?
I have had several customers acquired long before I founded NerdPhone that follow me from company to company over the years. But my “first” customer was a real challenge: we acquired our first customer through our channel and no one from our company had evaluated the customer's need prior to the signing of the contracts.
When I got on site, they didn't have enough bandwidth, they didn't have the proper wiring infrastructure, they still had telecom contracts with significant term left and they didn't want to hear any of this from me. We decided to take this situation head-on and we came up with a unique interim solution while we worked with their existing carrier to compromise on the contracts and fixed their infrastructure. I can't say that the whole process was the highlight of my career, but I think it speaks volumes that I still have that client today.
What do you find unique about the Colorado tech community?
Colorado tech is the biggest small town I have ever been a part of. I feel like everyone know everyone. It definitely keeps you accountable for your actions.
What are your aspirations outside of NerdPhone?
I would love to play football again. There was something fulfilling about having your hard work pay off in a competitive environment and earn you the recognition of your peers. I thrived in that environment and I would love to find a way to build that kind of camaraderie, work ethic and competitive spirit into NerdPhone.
