Ep 10 - Chris Caparon: Hard-Won Lessons from a Long and Successful Tech Journey
Episode Summary
Chris Caparon shares his 20-year journey building Sephoria Software, an accounts receivable automation company that grew from a garage startup in 2001 to serving Fortune 500 companies across 110 countries before its private equity exit. He discusses navigating multiple economic crises, evolving technology platforms, and the critical importance of customer-centric product development and maintaining strong founder relationships throughout the company lifecycle.
Key Quotes
"The number one reason why people buy software is it's good for them personally—it gives them a max bonus and helps their career, not just because it's good for the company."
"We had the courage to jump off the cliff in August 2001, and then 9/11 happened. My business partner drove from Orlando to California because all airports were shut down, and he stopped at a McDonald's in Montgomery, Alabama to borrow their modem and provide customer support."
"When the 2008 financial crisis hit, every top sales cycle went into someone's drawer. I sent an email saying 'I poked my head out of the bunker and saw some green shoots'—and that's when our largest customer signed."
"We closed one of the largest distributors of auto parts in the world out of our garage in the early days. The ROI was so compelling that we could deleverage the risk of buying from a small company by delivering returns in six months."
Transcript
Hi welcome to Tales From The Sky Lounge. It's a podcast about business consulting and venture investing. We get out there in the world and we talk to people who are making it happen and get their stories. Today's guest in the Sky Lounge is Chris Kapron. Hi Chris, welcome to Sky Lounge.
Hey Todd, good to see you again. Thanks for having me.
Yeah Chris, why don't you give us a little background? Who are you and what's your history?
Well, it's a long question or kind of an origin story here. I actually grew up in Michigan, born and bred and raised, a lifelong fan. Went to the school, got two engineering degrees and the first thing I realized I didn't want to be an engineer in Michigan certainly. And so before the ink was dry on my diploma I had moved to California and started my career out here. California is just a great incubator where I say dreams come true but really where you could do anything you want to do and what you're interested in, and that defined my journey. I worked in multiple different industries but it was really an entrepreneur at heart. And there came a point at which I wanted to get into technology and leverage my background. I got into ERP and enterprise consulting and I spent about seven or eight years doing that on the run up to Y2K and learned a huge amount. Learned how enterprises work, learned how the technology enables the enterprise and vice versa, and where the gaps were in the software. At that point, I met my future and current and I guess past business partner and we decided to start a software company. And so out here in Southern California, we started Sephoria Software right after Y2K in 2001 and ran that organization for 20 plus years and ultimately sold it to a private equity company. And that's obviously Todd where you and I met.
Congrats, yeah that's a heck of a run. And then so your founder, I don't know if you want to name names but Dave?
Want to go deeper?
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