Tigerpaw Software CEO: 'No Plans for Outside Investors'

Tigerpaw Software CEO James Foxall is committed to innovation, which is reflected in his company’s moves during the past year.

Foxall’s company has hired a new marketing director (while also reducing its marketing department from seven employees to one), updated its professional services automation (PSA) software and unveiled a new learning management system and mobile CRM, among other offerings, for Tigerpaw.

While Foxall admitted last year was rough at the beginning, he pointed out that he owns his mistakes. Tigerpaw is not the biggest PSA, Foxall noted, but it strives to be the best and will continue to search for ways to innovate and make automation easier for its customers.

So what does the future hold for Tigerpaw? Foxall sat down with MSPmentor Associate Editor Dan Kobialka during last week’s Tigerpaw Partner Conference in Chicago to discuss his company’s past, present and future.

Dan Kobialka: How would you describe Tigerpaw Software’s new mobile CRM platform?

James Foxall: We’re big believers in mobile and building a mobile workforce, and mobile CRM is a great tool for salespeople to capture information on the go. Salespeople can use mobile CRM to capture the opportunity, move it forward and schedule a follow-up. Mobile CRM is a really robust platform that makes it easier for sales to keep connected and make more money while out of the office.

Kobialka: Could you tell me more about the automated reports platform?

Foxall: It was amazing to hear the audience response to it! We’re proud of the automated reports platform, and we’re really excited about it. Today’s businesses are dealing with lots of data, but they have to go look for it. Now, the automated reports platform will make sure people have the data they need, when they need it. As an executive, I personally can’t wait for this to be done so I can have critical reports pushed to me while I’m on the road.

Kobialka: Tigerpaw recently added a new marketing director and has made several executive changes during the past year. How would you describe the past 12 months?

Foxall: A little over a year ago, we were in need of some changes. We had ineffective marketing, for example. We had good people, but we needed to find the right fit for them. We’ve refined our processes and changed our teams, and it’s had an incredible impact. We’ve cut back our marketing department from seven people to one person (Marketing Director Corey DeJong), and our marketing has been much more effective as a result. We also added Rudy Jivaraj last December to lead our software development. We’ve hired a lot of really bright people, and we now have an amazing team! Our product is robust and stable (with new innovations coming), customer support is doing well, and we’re profitable.

Kobialka: Your competitor, Autotask, was acquired by a private equity firm earlier this year, and your other competitor, ConnectWise, has hinted that it plans to go public sometime in the next few years. Does Tigerpaw have any plans to court outside investors? If so, what are the plans? If not, how will the company finance the moves it needs to grow?

Foxall: Tigerpaw is a privately held company with a 30-year history of profitable operations. We have plans for steady continued growth, fueled by the profits generated by the business. At this time, we have no plans or needs for any additional outside investors.

Kobialka: Where do you see the PSA space going from here?

Foxall: I think there could be a lot more scrambling for consolidation. I wouldn’t be surprised if Vista Equity Partners (the people that bought Autotask) made a play for a remote monitoring and management [RMM] software company. We’re not in the Wild West anymore, and as profits rise, I see more outside companies moving into this space and consolidating components into a suite.

Kobialka: Is there anything you’d like to add?

Foxall: We’ve made a lot of changes over the last 16 months, and those were deliberate and good for us; it’s been important to redesign our company for further growth. Right now, our company is extremely healthy. We’re focusing our energy on innovation and refinement, and we’re constantly searching for ways to make our software easier to use. We received confirmation at this conference that we’re focusing on the right things and firing on all cylinders.

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