FROM THE INDUSTRY
Tell us about your plans for expansion in Europe. Mark: We’ve already got customers in Europe, as well as a tremendous pipeline; we’ve also just hired a new sales resource in Europe and we have starting working with a few resellers. We’re expanding cautiously and conservatively, but we believe that there’s big potential in Europe. Husband and wife teams are a rarity; few of us could live and work with our spouses without going a bit nuts, yet you seem to enjoy it and even thrive on it - how do you make it work so well? Lauren: Well, I’m going to take that question since you take all the technology questions. We did meet at work, right? That was the basis of our relationship, we met, and we were extremely... I want to use the right word…
You’re obviously a partnership, there’s no one person in charge of the other, you seem very 50/50.
Mark: I’m in charge, Melissa.
Lauren: That’s the funniest thing he’s said all day.
Lauren: When we were working for other companies, whether it was NYNEX, Verizon or T-Mobile, we always said, “This company is getting so much bang for their buck,” because not only did we work all day, but we would talk about work and solve problems on the weekends and all night because we were so into the job, they were getting so much out of us. Mark: These days, we will go out to dinner, and we’ll be strict with ourselves, and say, “All right, we just talked about work for the last hour, let’s try to talk about something else.”
www.openvault.com
Mark: I’m curious to see what she’s going to say.
Lauren: Respectful of one another’s expertise, that we each individually brought to the table. We’re totally different individuals, we approach life differently, we look at problem-solving totally differently. But because we started our relationship in a work environment... And one in which we needed to work closely together, it’s not like I met him in the cafeteria, and we really didn’t have to interact, when I met him it was because we met essentially in a critical meeting. So, we formed a professional relationship before we ever had a personal one, and as a result I think that’s all we know. Mark: We do have different skill sets; I think we respect each other’s skill sets. We bring totally different things to the table, and I think that helps us coexist. I think it helps us thrive really.
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Volume 46 No.3 September 2024
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