1 Decade, 10 Years, or 1/10th of a Century

Ten years ago today, on August 1st, 2002, I established Matrice Consulting, LLC.  I’ve been contemplating this anniversary since the beginning of this year.  What does this all mean?  How should I feel about it?  Why am I psychoanalyzing myself?  It is probably just best to recap the milestones over the past 10 years.

Matrice Consulting – A Chronology:

• June 2002 – My employer, a major telecommunications infrastructure provider based in Miami, decides that they will not bring my salary on par with the people whom I was supervising.  The request would have been $5,000 per year in additional salary.  As a result, I give them my resignation, and they subsequently hire two consultants, at a total cost of $10,000 per week, to replace me.
• July 2002 – I spend the first two weeks of my three week vacation, prior to my final day of work, trying to decide what to do with myself. I have no plan.  I drink lots of Cuban coffee, spend a lot of time hanging out on South Beach, and thinking.  In week three, I hatch the idea that I want be a consultant.
• August 2002 – I officially launch Matrice Consulting with no clients, but a pocket full of hope and a coffee mug full of dreams.  I come up with the name ‘Matrice’ while sitting in a theater watching movie trailers. In the aftermath of the dot-com bubble burst and post-recession, there is very little spending in IT.  I consider that this might not be the best time to start a business, but I am determined as hell anyhow.  We incorporate as a Florida LLC.
• September 2002 – After a very nervous 6 weeks, we land our first client in Scottsdale, Arizona.  A 3 week project turns into a 4 month project.
• November 2002 – Our first check arrives, almost two months after work begins.  We learn what Net-30 really means.  I take my girlfriend (later, my wife) out for a good meal.
• February 2003 – I work for my old employer again, this time as a consultant, managing a small data conversion project.
• Summer 2003 – I work for the FBI, doing decidedly non-Oracle work.  But I travel around the country, meeting great people, eating good food, and help make the US a safer place through technology.
• September 2003 – IT spending increases everywhere.  We survive our first year in business.  We begin our first full life cycle Oracle HRMS implementation.  We drink Guiness, Bass, and Newcastle beer with some Brits.
• Summer 2004 – Our first global HRMS implementation begins, with a not-for-profit.  We help save the world through HR.
• August 2004 – Major milestone achieved: two years in business and getting stronger.
• Winter 2005-2006 – Slowdown in IT spending and fewer ERP projects cause us to tighten our belts.
• Spring 2006 – We take on our largest client to date, with over 6,000 employees.
• Spring 2007 – We continue to grow and expand our presence in the Mid-Atlantic region.
• January 2008 – Our first implementation of Oracle iRecruitment begins.
• June 2008 – By a stroke of good timing, we are able to land our first major direct client, with over 17,000 employees.  This turns out to be a very fruitful relationship for both parties.
• September 2009 – We move our offices from Miami, Florida to Newark, Delaware to better serve our clients in the Mid-Atlantic region.
• December 2009 – We take our first major client in the Miami area. The irony is not lost on us, but we have a little chuckle, pack our bags, and go to work.
• May 2011 – We fire a client for the first time, learning the importance of upholding our values when they conflict with client requests.  As a karmic reward, our net income increases 60% over the prior year by the end of 2011.
• Spring 2012 – We hire our first part-time employee to assist with day-to-day back office operations.  We acquire two more direct clients.  We officially register our LLC in Delaware.
• August 1st, 2012 – We celebrate 10 years in existence.  A bottle of champagne is opened to celebrate and a warm sense of accomplishment is felt by all, although that might be the champagne talking.

At the end of the day and the end of the decade, I would like to thank all of the people who have been a part of this amazing, wild ten years.  Thank you to our clients, our partners, our friends, and most importantly our families who have been with us every step of the way.