I have a certain respect for people who start businesses with the intent to flip them in a year or two. It shows a clarity of purpose and requires a well thought-out product and operating strategy with excellent marketing and sales. It’s not me, though. It always seemed too risky. We would be betting too much on getting our product right the first time, we would be subject to market timing (IPO or M&A windows) and forces (bubbles, recessions) beyond our control, and we would need more money to meet a market window. Even in the midst of the dot-com mania I had no desire to bet on it continuing. What happens if our product were a flop, or took a long time to take off, or the bubble burst? We would pretty much have to fold the company and start over.

I wanted to create one company and get it right. I knew that might take some experimenting and iterating, with mistakes to overcome along the way. I also knew I had a lot to learn about management. I had worked in a small Internet start-up prior to Ipswitch, but I had never started a company. It felt like then or never, though, so I decided to go for it. No capital, no business plan. Just something to do with IT, the Internet and software. Some might call that a risky path, but I look at it as being more conservative, with more control over one’s destiny. It would take more time, but I would be in a better position to navigate the shoals on which so many start-ups perish.

As it turned out, it took much longer than I had expected – about six years to get to a point where I felt like we had established ourselves as a real company with a real future. When we got there, though, we were stronger, more resilient, and retained control of our destiny. If I had it to do over again, I would take the same approach.