Colligo Networks was founded in 2000 to address a significant problem faced by enterprises with mobile teams: namely, the need to collaborate when working remotely over poor Internet connections. Initially, the team developed and launched “Colligo Workgroup Edition,” a patented technology to enable laptop users to connect over ad hoc wireless links to replicate Lotus Notes databases, and share messages, files, folders and resources. Between 2000 and 2003, Colligo raised approximately $9 million in venture capital, and at its peak, had a staff of 30.
By 2003, faced with the realities of the market and the inability to raise additional equity capital, Colligo was forced to lay off most of the staff. With about $300,000 in cash remaining, and a staff of 3, the challenge facing the company was how to create a new business plan, develop a product, launch it, grow revenues, and achieve positive cash flow with the resources at hand—all without diluting stakeholders by raising any additional equity capital.
In 2004, the company identified a new market opportunity for Microsoft’s emerging content management server platform, SharePoint. After extensive interviews with potential customers, the company focused on an unmet need and over the next two years invented a new market category, SharePoint Client Software. Colligo’s new product line, “Colligo Contributor,” was developed to help organizations drive SharePoint adoption by enabling their users to easily access, capture, and tag SharePoint content from popular desktop applications including Microsoft Outlook and Windows Explorer.
Colligo launched the new SharePoint product line in February 2006, and is now the undisputed market leader in its category. Its products have been purchased by over 3000 organizations worldwide, including Fortune 1000 companies such as Microsoft, KPMG, Towers Watson and Siemens. Colligo’s SharePoint products have won numerous awards, such as the Community Choice Award for SharePoint from WindowsITPro magazine, “Best of Tech Ed” in the Productivity and Collaboration category, and “Best SharePoint Product” by Penton Publishing.
Today, Colligo is a profitable private software company with offices in Vancouver, Maryland, and London, in addition to over 150 resellers worldwide. While Colligo has achieved significant growth and profitability already, this is only the beginning. SharePoint is the fastest-growing server product in Microsoft’s history and Colligo is one of Microsoft’s top SharePoint partners. The successful launch of SharePoint 2010, and the move by enterprises to embrace cloud platforms, such as Office 365, will create significant opportunities for Colligo in the coming years.
Barry Jinks – The Serial Entrepreneur
Barry Jinks is a serial entrepreneur who has participated on the founding management teams and boards of directors of several technology start-ups. Shortly after graduating from university, he joined LSI Logic, a pioneer in the semiconductor market, as part of the team that spun off the Canadian subsidiary and took it public. Subsequently, Barry led Spectrum Signal Processing, a provider of software-reconfigurable signal processing platforms, to a dominant market position, guiding it from a start-up to a NASDAQ and TSE-listed company with 200 employees and $40 million in sales. He left Spectrum in 1999 and founded Colligo Networks in 2000.
Financial Highlights
Overall company revenues have grown at a cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) of 42% since 2004; impressive when you consider that revenues from the original Workgroup product line have been declining. Despite the global economic slowdown, revenues have continued grow in the past two years.
By achieving its sales goals and managing expenses, Colligo has been cash flow positive for the past three years. In 2009, through revenues generated by product sales, license renewals, and the sale of non-core patents, the company was able to pay off all loans, is now debt free, and has a significant cash reserve.
In the January, 2011 press release announcing Colligo’s 2010 Q4 and fiscal year results, the company noted that record bookings, sales, and profits were achieved in fiscal 2010. Total revenue for the year increased significantly compared to the previous year with revenues of SharePoint products increasing 22% during the period.
Colligo was recently recognized by Profit Magazine as one of Canada’s fastest growing companies. It currently has over 30 employees and contractors.
Core products
Colligo Networks is the leading global provider of client software that drives SharePoint adoption by enabling users to easily access, capture, and tag SharePoint content from popular desktop applications, including Microsoft Outlook and Windows Explorer. With the award-winning Colligo Contributor product line, information workers can instantly view, modify, and create SharePoint documents, forms, lists, and metadata, whether online or offline. Users can also drag-and-drop emails and attachments from Outlook to SharePoint, automatically capturing metadata.
Geographic markets served
Colligo has a global customer base of over 3000 companies and organizations in over 55 countries. 90% of all product sales for Colligo are to companies and organizations operating outside of Canada. Colligo’s largest market currently is Europe with nearly 50% of sales, followed by the United States with 35% of sales. The Company is also experiencing increased activity in Pacific Rim countries, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia.
What inspired you to start your business?
I was really inspired by what we were able to do at Spectrum Signal Processing in the 1990s. Lots of interesting challenges, happy customers, happy employees, strong growth, and a nice financial return in the early days really jazzed me to do another start-up. I love that stage in a company’s life.
I really wanted to do something in the software space. My last company primarily manufactured hardware products, but the logistical and financial headaches associated with making and delivering hardware made me want to try software.
I’ve always been interested in collaborative work and think that it’s the future of business. A few colleagues and I (Mike Blackstock, Brent Bolleman and Mike Brown) did a bit of brainstorming around how we could develop the next generation of collaboration applications. When we presented our initial ideas to prospective customers, they got really excited. They were so excited, in fact, that they committed to significant orders if we could deliver. So that prompted us to start the company, raise the initial rounds of financing, and develop the first products.
What was the market need?
The initial market was within teams that work together out of the office—like teams of auditors that visit client companies. The need was for a software tool that enabled team members working out of the office to collaborate (share files, messages) easily without access to the Internet. The need for our first generation products has declined as Internet access has increased.
Through this initial experience, we realized that conventional collaboration and content management tools, while providing a lot of value to companies and their employees, are often hard to use. The result is that they don’t get adopted. So we increased the functionality of our products so that users can more easily access collaboration technology from within the desktop tools they use every day. This is driving collaboration and knowledge sharing within our customers, thereby increasing the value of their information assets while at the same time improving workforce productivity.
Recently there has been an explosion of new technologies on the Internet for file sharing and social networking. Companies are struggling with how to integrate these into their business. After making these tools more accessible to mainstream users in a way that meets the organizations’ objectives, there is no shortage of need for our technology.
Keep plugging away if YOU still believe in the vision. Usually, things work out.
What was the hardest part about starting out?
Initially, it was building a great team. In 2004 and beyond, it was surviving without raising additional capital through equity financing.
Where did your business’s seed capital come from and how did you go about getting it?
Initial seed capital came from Growthworks, a large Canadian VC, and several successful angel investors.
Tell us about Colligo’s products.
Colligo’s client-based software solutions fill functional gaps in SharePoint and increase both the adoption and productivity of users in organizations that have deployed SharePoint.
Colligo Contributor delivers the ultimate SharePoint experience through three desktop interfaces: (1) an Add-In for Microsoft Outlook for email drag-and-drop to SharePoint and automatic metadata capture, (2) a Windows Explorer extension for seamlessly linking folders on users’ file systems with SharePoint document libraries and (3) a standalone client for instant SharePoint access and rich metadata management for mobile and remote workers.
What makes your products unique?
While the product line includes many technical innovations, the real breakthrough is the combination of high functionality, ease of use, and ease of deployment. In short, through its unique design and architecture, the Colligo products satisfied the needs of both the IT department and the needs of individual users. This is something that no SharePoint client product before or afterwards has been able to accomplish.
How long did it take to build traction behind your business?
Our initial target customers were in the professional services vertical, with an initial focus on accounting firms. Because we already had a prospect (PriceWaterhouseCoopers) lined up when we started the company, we had immediate traction for our products. Once the initial product was launched, they deployed about 25,000 copies worldwide. The big issue for us was getting the next customer. At the time, Arthur Anderson had gone belly up and all the major accounting firms were reducing their IT expenditures. We couldn’t raise any money. It took us until 2006, when we moved into the SharePoint market, to start to build our revenues consistently.
How did you build your management team?
Mainly through referrals from people I know. That’s still the case today, although I’m using recruiters more often as I find they can source good people from outside my network.
How do you keep your staff motivated and engaged?
It’s important to paint a compelling vision to inspire people and keep staff motivated through continuous recognition. It’s also important that the company have purpose—that it solves a compelling problem for its customers. People also need to feel that they are part of an organization that cares for the community. We try to do all these things.
Surround yourself with great people. Smart, dedicated people are infectious and bad people can kill your company.
How did you brand your business and market it?
Colligo engages in a number of marketing and branding activities designed to support a global customer base. Colligo participates in industry events worldwide including tradeshows, conferences, user group meetings and partner events. Colligo also sponsors a well-attended web seminar series that routinely attract thousands of participants worldwide. One of our most successful branding initiatives was to give away a free version of the Colligo Reader product for personal use. This marketing initiative has driven thousands of downloads and created many good business opportunities for Colligo.
Could you give a brief description of your biggest success so far?
One of Colligo’s biggest successes has been that our main partner, Microsoft, has now deployed our software internally. Microsoft’s Legal and Corporate Affairs Department uses Colligo Contributor Pro to enable their attorneys, paralegals, and business professionals to access, capture and tag SharePoint content from within Microsoft Outlook 2010. This deployment is the first of what we hope to be many other deployments inside of Microsoft and represents a huge win and a real accomplishment for the entire Colligo team.
Colligo’s other major milestone has been our steady quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year growth along with three solid years of profitability. This was achieved without diluting shareholders.
Do you have plans to expand to new markets/products?
We are now providing support for cloud-based collaboration and content management and will continue to evolve this as organizations further embrace moving their IT infrastructure to the Internet. We are also looking at how to integrate file sharing and social networking into a corporate fabric.
What are your goals as an entrepreneur?
Build something of lasting value—to our customers, to our employees and to our investors.
What is your exit strategy?
Eventually we will sell to a company that has the resources to take us to the next level.
Do you have any other ventures you are working on?
Yes, I’m on a few boards. I’m on the board of VRX studios, a very cool company that’s doing content creation and content management for the hospitality industry.
I’m also on the board of advisors for the UBC electrical engineering department, the board of the BC Technology Industry Association, and the board of governors of the BC Business Council.
Do a lot of research and analysis before you start spending money. The right answer of what to invest in is there. You just need to find it.
What are the company’s goals for growth?
Grow revenues at greater than 50% per year. Remain profitable.
What is the company’s expansion funding strategy?
We are cash flow positive, so no plans at this point.
Where are you sourcing expansion capital from?
From internal cash flow.
How do you define success?
Doing what you like to do, and making your stakeholders happy in the process.
It’s important to paint a compelling vision to inspire people and keep staff motivated through continuous recognition.
To what do you most attribute your success?
Perseverance.
What three pieces of advice would you give to others who want to become entrepreneurs?
1) Sometimes things are really tough, and a lot of people will try to persuade you to give up, but keep plugging away if YOU still believe in the vision. Usually, things work out.
2) Keep an open mind and don’t believe in sacred cows. If an idea or a path is not working, kill it early and try something else.
3) Surround yourself with great people. Smart, dedicated people are infectious and bad people can kill your company. Get lots of advice from people wiser than you who have done it before.
What advice would you give to those seeking to build it up to the next level?
Do a lot of research and analysis before you start spending money. The right answer of what to invest in is there. You just need to find it.
If you were to recommend a book or movie to a young entrepreneur, what would it be?
Hmmm. There are so many. I think Malcolm Gladwell’s books are all good and get you thinking about the market (The Tipping Point, Blink, etc.). For technology entrepreneurs, I suggest reading Geoffrey Moore’s book Crossing the Chasm. It’s old, but the concepts are still very relevant. We are using the one-page strategic plan, so I like Verne Harnish’s Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. There’s lot of great material at his website www.gazelles.com.
People also need to feel that they are part of an organization that cares for the community.
How has being an entrepreneur affected your life?
Being an entrepreneur has enabled me to travel the world and meet some great people. I’ve also had the honour of working with some amazing people, both personally and professionally. I really value those relationships.
I don’t spend as much time with my family as I could, but I think we still have a great relationship. I hope my struggles and successes at being an entrepreneur will inspire my kids to accomplish greater things in life than I have.
What is the best part of owing a business?
It provides a platform on which to execute your vision.
If you had the chance to start over again, would you do something differently?
Not really. I wish I’d made some different decisions at times, but hindsight is 20:20. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I try to learn from them and be better. Mistakes are part of the process, so I wouldn’t change that, even though it was tough at the time.
Building Lasting Value
Barry Jinks is the quintessential serial entrepreneur who has been instrumental in leading several companies from start-ups to being publicly listed. Barry has the belief and the perseverance to execute his visions into realities. If building something that is of lasting value is his goal as an entrepreneur, he’s certainly succeeding with a legacy of successful businesses behind him.
