Integral Impressions, a morefocus company
I’ve been sitting on this post for a while now, craving an opportunity to write about the Integral and morefocus relationship. The time is right to let loose on what has been almost 6 months in the making.
I want to explain first, why the merger with morefocus made strategic sense Integral Impressions. Secondly, I want to share with you why I am so excited to be an ‘integral’ part of their organization.
Integral Impressions was an amalgamation of application development and hourly services; where the consulting business fed the application development side. Our goal at Integral was simple… instead of raising VC cash to fund our applications, we set out to do high quality service work, and invest in our own internal applications. We’d license these applications to individual users as a “freemium service” with the goal of growing our residual income.
In fact, the plan worked well for 5 years. We made it out of the critical first year where most business fail. While getting the basic infrastructure of our business built, the company was extremely profitable.
Year two also went well for our business. Revenues doubled, profits were consistent, and there was a overall feeling that we had made it. I was slowly starting to realize that I was becoming a career entrepreneur. It was at the end of that second year that I realized I’d never work for someone else again, as an employee that is. The value I brought to my business, and the business before it (Z57), could not be confined in a job description, or bonus structure. I wanted to be paid on the growth of the business, the rise in profits, the efficiencies in the systems I recommended, and the long-tail that my influence created.
Year three we hit a few snags as most businesses do. Revenues were consistent, while profits thinned. Our challenges involved clients defaulting on large sums of money. The result was the over-use of our legal team that was not budgeted nor anticipated. It was also in year 3 that we launched our 2 flagship applications, Outlandish and Nourish. The business model was coming together. We created a profitable service business that developed standalone applications that would thrive given the right exposure.
Year four was a growth year for our applications, and we shifted focus away from services. The result was a major reduction in revenues, while our profits slipped. We’d hoped to complete the transition from an agency to a full fledge application firm, but the foundation wasn’t prepared for such a stark transition. It was also in our 4th year that my partner, and our lead developer were recruited to a San Francisco based start up. Sufficed it say, we went through several major changes that significantly affected the trajectory of the company.
Now we are entering our 5th year in business, kicking it of with one of the most important events in Integral’s 1/2 decade, namely a merger with morefocus.
This merger allows Integral to focus on application development, and the growth of Nourish, Outlandish, and EasyCropper. morefocus formed a strategic partnership with Integral to develop similar applications that support the growth of their vast content network.
Moving forward, morefocus has a major stake in Integral’s applications giving them resources and support. On the flip side, I have assumed the role of Chief Marketing Officer for morefocus Media. My responsibilities will include the development and execution of all internal and external marketing initiatives.
morefocus wins, Integral wins, and two complimentary businesses form a symbiotic relationship and reposition themselves for growth in a down economy.
From a financial perspective, the deal makes a lot of sense for both companies. However, it wasn’t purely a financial decision. At the end of the day, I chose the company that I felt had the best cultural fit. Listening to Tony Zappos talk about company culture at SxSW reaffirmed my decision.
You can’t succeed if you run cultureless business, driven solely by VC cash. You can raise money from anyone, even in this market. However, being financed by a company that is aligned with your goals, serves as mentor, and has a long term perspective; all necessary ingredients if an acquisition was going to take place.
After a 6 month courting process that included many lunches, email, meetings, and projects; we made the commitment and announced the decision. It just so happened we were able to break the news at SxSW, which was pretty cool for me personally.
I’ve been working for morefocus for 3 weeks and I couldn’t be happier. I have worked for, and with many entrepreneurs in my 10+ years in this business and I have not worked with a more talented, intelligent, and capable leadership team than those at morefocus. I’ve never been so challenged, motivated, and confident I am making a difference in the success of a commercial enterprise. I am fulfilled, content, and ready to charge ahead to new heights.
p.s. I predict that amazing things are going to happen with morefocus Media, stay tuned @morefocus.
3 Responses to “Integral Impressions, a morefocus company”
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Matt-
Great recap of the experience. I'm pumped for you. I'm also glad that good companies are merging and creating a stronger “web” environment out in San Diego. Damn, I can't wait to get back.
Talk to you soon.
Cheers,
Ryan
Congrats Buddy!
Sounds like a great partnership, keep rocking it!
“the growth of Nourish” ?
Where's it gone?