How IT Services Providers Throughout Northern California, Sacramento, And The Bay Area Can Now Receive Greater Cybersecurity And Compliance Even As A Teenager, Mark Richter Never Lost Sight Of The Main Focus: The Customer B etween TV, videos, and video games, kids today average between 5–7 hours of screen time per day! Mark Richter’s childhood was different. At age 12, while the neighborhood was asleep, Mark would hop on his Schwinn bike at 5 a.m. to deliver newspapers. He continued to deliver newspapers for a total of six straight years, even throughout his four years of high school. As one of seven siblings, Mark never once had to ask his parents for money. Even at that young age, he had an entrepre- neurial spirit and was self-sufficient. Mark smiles as he remembers, “As a paperboy, I would ride around every Friday to collect my 30 cents from my customers. They grew to know me, and I was often invited into their homes for a piece of pie or dinner.” Asked why he kept his challenging paper route for so many years, Mark says, “For my customers. I knew them all by name, loved their pets, and would miss them when they moved. To this day, I still remember the Jacobses. They paid me $10 to mow the grass on their back forty. Once they offered me a piece of cheesecake, and when they went out that evening, their son Mike and I ate the whole cake! Mike and I are still best friends today and reminisce about that story whenever we visit!” Mark’s tireless work ethic and love for his customers would one day pave the way for him to open his own IT services firm.
Spending Over 20 Years Learning From One Of The Greatest Business Minds After earning his electronic engineering and MBA degrees, Mark was fortunate to land a job at Hewlett-Packard. As a field engineer and then outsourcing solution specialist for a total of 20 years, Mark made the principles of quality, integrity, and “the HP Way” the foundation of his business approach and values. “There’s no other company I would have wanted to work for,” Mark says. “I got to work with some of the brightest people around. I actually had the privilege of meeting David Packard himself. At 6-foot-5, he was a giant of a man, but he also had a giant heart. He just exuded energy.” The HP Way is a unique approach to business and core values that everyone at Hewlett-Pack- ard lives by. First, they practice continuous improvement. “It means that nothing is good, nothing is bad,” Mark adds. “Everything can be improved, and every day brings an opportunity to examine what worked and what didn’t work to discover how to get better. It arms everyone in the company with the ability to improve products, service, everything. “Another HP tenet is quality. They invented what they call ‘management by wandering around.’ Everyone
Mark Richter, CEO Of iStreet Solutions
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