Often in the startup and business world you hear incredible success stories. Founders talk about how they always knew their vision would work so it was easy to stand by it. Exponential growth seems like something everyone should achieve within three months of launching.
Those of us in the startup grind know that is rarely the case, so it was incredibly refreshing to hear Steff McGonagle’s take on his business.
Steff and his co-founder began Envisage Information Systems twenty-five years ago. Now, they are one of the top companies in the world in their industry; providing workflow and web solutions to the financial side of the retirement industry.
Envisage now employs 300 people and prides itself on maintaining the close-knit business culture it began with. But times weren’t always great. During our interview, Steff was honest and candid about the difficulties he faced during dark times; bringing the business into his basement because they couldn’t afford to rent space, doubting his capabilities and goals.
At one point, over the course of a week, Envisage lost 90% of their clients. Employees gathered together and many worked for free in order to keep the company afloat. Through teamwork, dedication and pride, they managed to turn the business back around, but it wasn’t an instant fix.
It took incredible strength to carry Envisage through the years to where it is now, and many founders would take the accolades that come with achieving that goal, but Steff is certainly one of a kind. He was quick to credit his co-founder, his wife and his team with getting Envisage where it is today.
We had a great turnout for this event, the second in the Startup Grind Syracuse calendar. One of the exciting things about partnering with WCNY for Startup Grind Syracuse events is that we see so many new faces. Since WCNY reaches a different audience than The Tech Garden and the Syracuse Tech Meetup Group, their promotion of our events allows for a great opportunity to introduce new people to the startup and tech scene in Syracuse.
I had a wonderful time interviewing Steff, and as always, the WCNY team was completely supportive and provided a wonderful venue for the event. I’m really excited about our next Startup Grind Syracuse events, the guests we have lined up will have some great stories to tell!
- @SarahRRoche