An individual born of true entrepreneurial spirit, Michael Scissons founded Syncapse in 2007, and has since grown the organization to a global business, with 4 offices worldwide. Scissons foresaw a need for quantifiable social media management in the marketplace, from which the Syncapse Platform™ was born, presently working with many of the most notable brands in the world.
A pioneer in his field, Scissons has built a successful organization from his belief in his business, and most importantly the staff which support the company daily with their creativity and commitment.
I would advise young entrepreneurs to not focus too much on the money at the beginning; if you have a great plan and people to make it happen, the rest will follow.
The Syncapse Story
Syncapse was founded in 2007 by Michael Scissons. Profitable from the beginning, the company has grown rapidly and now has 150 employees. They have spread across North America and Europe, with offices in Toronto, London, New York, and Portland. Syncapse is a social media management company that helps some of the world’s largest brands build, manage and measure their social media presence using Syncapse Platform™ technology combined with Professional Services.
Michael Scissons has a long history of entrepreneurship. At age six, Michael turned his corner lemonade stand in Saskatoon into a multi-site operation, hiring neighbourhood friends as commissioned agents. During high school, Michael ran a multi-employee yard maintenance business. In college, Michael built General Entertainment Corporation, a profitable entertainment event management company that he sold upon graduation. Prior to founding Syncapse, Michael worked as the head of Facebook media sales during Facebook’s launch in Canada. In October 2010, Michael was honoured with Ernst & Young’s Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
What ignited the spark in you to start a new business venture?
I am an entrepreneur by nature, so it really wasn’t a big leap.
How did the idea for your business come about?
I saw the opportunity while I was selling ads on the Facebook platform: there was really a lot of confusion around social media, and not many people stepping up to solve it. There was (and still is) a huge opportunity for marketers.
What was the most difficult part on starting up your business?
Leaving a secure job at an established company to start your own business is always scary. But at some point you just have to make the leap.
What steps did you take to overcome it?
I decided very quickly that this is what I wanted to be doing. Too many entrepreneurs wait for a long time before jumping in. The sooner you get started, you either start succeeding or start failing. Getting started is the hardest part.
Did you uncover any innovations in the process of starting up?
Starting a company from scratch requires that you are innovative in your thinking every day. There are so many questions from where to set up your office, to how to pitch to new clients, to how to attract talented people to work for you; if you aren’t innovative, it won’t work.
Where did your business’s seed capital come from and how did you go about getting it?
Syncapse was profitable during its first year, which is rare, particularly for Internet startups. Now, we seek funding primarily from private investors. We closed two rounds of funding last year, one for $3.3 million and one for $2 million from the Business Development Bank of Canada.
What was your pitch?
Syncapse is in a unique position since the social media marketing space is rapidly evolving, and we have few competitors. Also, our client list consists of brands like BlackBerry, AB-InBev and PepsiCo. Our ability to demonstrate that Fortune 500 organizations are seeing a return on their investment using Syncapse technologies is a pretty powerful incentive for investors.
Speaking of allowing Fortune 500s to see ROIs using your technology, tell us about what Syncapse sells.
The Syncapse Platform™, an enterprise grade Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology, is the only available solution that allows marketers to create a global social media presence across multiple social platforms while reducing complexity and risk. Syncapse’s other core ‘product’ consists of Professional Services, where our experienced team delivers premium and customized brand experiences across all social media platforms.
Who do you primarily sell to?
Our target customer is a Fortune 500 marketer who has been tasked with managing a global social media presence.
What makes Syncapse unique?
The Syncapse Platform™ allows marketers to publish and measure multiple pages and sites from one dashboard, and it supports 48 languages, so it really is the only solution geared toward global organizations.
How do you generate new ideas?
New ideas come from working in an open environment. If you walk through any of the Syncapse offices, you’ll see that everyone sits out in the open, not behind a closed office door (including myself). This encourages idea sharing and cross-collaboration between teams.
What kind of culture prevails inside your business?
Syncapse has a great work culture. The people who work here are energetic and passionate because we empower them by giving them responsibility over their area of the business. Last year we won an award for being one of the 50 Most Engaged Workplaces in North America.
We created this work culture by hiring smart people. It’s my philosophy to not always stick to job descriptions. If I meet someone who’s really bright and who gets what we’re trying to accomplish, I’ll find a place for them within the company.
How did you build your management team?
Some members of the management team have been around since the very beginning. Sarah Johnston, our VP of Client Services, has been working at Syncapse since day one. In other cases, we hired management team members for a specific skill set or because they had experience leading rapid growth companies.
How did you find and recruit your employees?
We have an in-house recruiter, we post jobs on our website and LinkedIn, and we get a lot of referrals from employees because we offer a bonus plan for referring successful candidates.
How do you recognize and reward your employees?
Our employees are rewarded with a competitive salary plan including full benefits and four weeks of paid vacation. We also reward and recognize employees in more informal ways throughout the year such as end of the month drinks on the last Friday of every month and summer and winter holiday parties.
How do you keep them engaged and motivated?
Keeping the lines of communication between employee and manager are key. We set up weekly or bi-weekly one-on-one meetings, and we have global all-hands meetings on a regular basis. Primarily this is to ensure employees know what is going on in the company and feel like they have a stake in Syncapse’s future.
What insights do you have from building and attracting your workforce?
Giving employees a stake in their own success will help to keep them engaged over a longer period of time. That, and don’t be afraid to move people around within the organization. Be flexible and keep an eye to where people would like to be and where they do their best work.
Starting a company from scratch requires that you are innovative in your thinking every day.
How did you build your customer base?
At first, it was through old fashioned sales. I called on my network and had countless meetings, some successful, some not so much. After we landed a few big contracts, our name started to spread by word of mouth.
How did you brand your business and market it?
For the first year and a half, Syncapse was fairly quiet in terms of marketing. Everyone was heads down and working hard. We’ve really ramped up our marketing efforts in the last year with a new website, product launches and public relations campaigns.
What was your most successful form of marketing to date?
Public relations and website marketing, as well as ensuring we were at all the right conferences, talking to the right people at the right time. We’ve also been very successful at marketing some of our thought leadership activities, including a white paper we published in June 2010 entitled Value of a Facebook Fan.
Do you have any marketing campaigns currently running?
We launched the Syncapse Platform™ at Ad:Tech in New York in early November. We’ll be ramping up our marketing efforts in a big way this year, so stay tuned for that.
How much have you spent on advertising to achieve the customers you have now?
Advertising has not played a central role in our marketing efforts thus far. We’ve focused our efforts in other areas, namely public relations, social media marketing and market research.
How did you discover your target market? Or did you know already beforehand?
We knew exactly what type of organization would benefit most from the Platform and our professional services. Sometimes, finding the person within that organization who is responsible for social media can be challenging. Because it is a rapidly evolving space, responsibility for social media can range from the IT department to the customer service department to PR, marketing, or even an external agency.
Could you give a brief description of your biggest success so far?
Expansion of business on a global scale is arguably our greatest success so far. Approximately two years ago, we opened offices in London and New York. We have since expanded to Portland and Boston as well. It’s fairly uncommon for Canadian companies to expand internationally in such a short time frame.
How many customers have you reached out to now?
That number is probably in the hundreds. We haven’t been keeping count.
How many products have you released?
We’ve done two major product launches since Syncapse started. The first launch was last year for SocialTALK, a social media publishing platform, and in November 2010 we launched the Syncapse Platform™, which is a much more robust management software allowing marketers to build, manage and measure their social media programs.
Other major milestones reached recently?
Michael Scissons Wins Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year at Ernst & Young Awards
Syncapse Platform™ launches at Ad:Tech New York
Syncapse one of select “Companies to Watch” in Deloitte Tech Fast 50 Awards
Syncapse one of PROFIT Magazine’s Hot 50 Emerging Growth Companies
Syncapse voted one of North America’s 50 Most Engaged Workplaces
Syncapse raises $2 million from the Business Development Bank of Canada
Syncapse acquires Nudge Social Media, leading UK-based social media development firm
Do you have plans to expand to new markets?
Yes. Our business is global in nature and there’s no telling where it will take us next. We’re already on two continents. I foresee Asia or South America on the horizon but there is nothing set in stone.
Do you have plans to expand your product/service lines?
Absolutely! We are constantly innovating on the product front and will adapt to the social media landscape as it evolves, which is a constant occurrence.
What are your growth targets for the next while?
I can’t share specific numbers, but our business has tripled since it was launched three years ago. We definitely don’t have any plans to slow down.
Do you have any plans to add new divisions to the company?
We’re planning to open a San Francisco office in early 2011. We’re also going to be searching for more talented developers, salespeople and marketers.
Is your current position a life-style job for you?
I live and breathe what I do, I am a born and bred entrepreneur. I foresee that for the rest of my career I will be starting and building companies as I have been doing for the past ten years.
What are your goals as an entrepreneur?
One of my goals is to make Syncapse a company for which all those involved can take pride. I want all of our employees, investors and board members to be proud to have Syncapse on their resume and for them to remember their work here as meaningful and formative on their professional careers.
Do you have any other ventures you are working on?
No, Syncapse is a full time gig.
How do you define success?
Finding your niche in the market and building a product that fulfills a need and will ultimately become profitable. I would advise young entrepreneurs to not focus too much on the money at the beginning; if you have a great plan and people to make it happen, the rest will follow.
What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
Work hard, and work smart.
Do you believe there is some sort of pattern or formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur?
It’s different for each person. As I’ve said before, entrepreneurs have to be willing to take risks. Don’t be discouraged if one venture doesn’t work out. As long as you learn from it, you’ll do better the next time.
To what do you most attribute your success?
Definitely, it is due to the people who work at Syncapse. You can have a ton of great ideas, but they won’t amount to anything unless you have a team to execute the plan.
The people who work here are energetic and passionate because we empower them.
What would you say are the five key elements for starting and running a successful business?
I think there are hundreds of factors that come into play, but five of the key elements would definitely include a solid business plan, sizeable clients, a talented team, superior products and senior advisors from a variety of fields who take the time to understand and support where the business is heading.
What sacrifices have you had to make to be a successful entrepreneur?
Sleep! (Just kidding – well, partly…). I’m sure I’ve sacrificed a lot to get to where I am today. But the thing about loving what you do is that it usually doesn’t feel like a sacrifice at the time.
If you were to recommend a book or movie to a young entrepreneur, what would it be?
I really enjoyed David Kirkpatrick’s “The Facebook Effect”. It’s a great story about one of the most impressive young entrepreneurs in the world and what he has accomplished in a very short period of time.
What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work a job?
Entrepreneurs are usually very free-spirited and perhaps bullish in their beliefs. When you work for someone else, those are two qualities that sometimes don’t work.
What is the best part of owing a business?
Waking up every morning and being excited to go to work!
How long do you stick with an idea before giving up?
It depends on the idea and why it’s not working. I’m willing to stick out some rough patches but in an industry that moves as fast as ours, if your idea is not working chances are you need to change some aspects of it quickly or you’ll be left in the dust.
Have you made any mistakes in business?
‘Mistake’ is a tricky word because it implies that something was done wrong. We have learned and evolved from every mistake and I think that’s the most anyone can hope for. As long as you’re learning, you will benefit from the experience.
How has being an entrepreneur affected your life?
It has probably made me very serious from a very young age. But I still make time to have fun occasionally.
What were some of the emotional challenges that you have faced?
Moving to Toronto from Saskatoon, without knowing a soul, was a bit unnerving. But I made a lot of great connections in Toronto, many of whom I keep in touch with on a regular basis.
How do you maintain work/life balance?
I maintain close ties with the people that matter to me, family and friends in particular. Some of them work at the company so I see them and talk to them every day.
How many hours do you work a day on average?
I’ve never been one to count hours, but let’s just say I am known for constantly being on my BlackBerry.
How far are you willing to go to succeed?
I think if you want to be an entrepreneur, you have to have a “whatever it takes” attitude. I’m always up for a challenge.
What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?
I enjoy golf and take lessons with my wife, Adrienne, on summer weekends. Throughout the year, I like to enjoy a nice bottle of wine with Adrienne and spend time with our Yorkshire Terrier, CoCo.
Excluding your own, what business or individual do you admire the most?
This might be an obvious answer, but I would have to say Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg has done an incredible job of building a site that is truly changing the world as we know it.
If you had the chance to start over again, what would you do differently?
I think I learned a few lessons about managing growth in the early days. If I were to start over again, I would apply some of these key learning’s especially as they relate to global expansion of the business.
The best part of owning my business? Waking up every morning and being excited to go to work!
The Natural Entrepreneur
A business leader and proponent of young talent, Michael Scissons inspires colleagues and fellow entrepreneurs alike with his passion for business. A true born-entrepreneur of the highest class.
His belief in the organic evolution of skills through the objective evaluation of strategic business practice, defines his professional experience as a leader to his team and the global marketplace.
Click the following link for much more information about Syncapse and how it can help your business take full advantage of the social media revolution!
