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David Romine, CEO of AgileThought, didn't plan on becoming an entrepreneur. His father was a police chief and he says that he was on the typical career track with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
But his ideas got too big for the “Big Five” accounting firm, so he and two longtime colleagues founded Clearwater-based AgileThought Inc.
Romine did all the right things to become a software developer. He went to college for management information systems, attended networking events and made all the right connections. Those connections yielded him a job in Arthur Andersen's technology operations in Sarasota.
The demise of Arthur Andersen following the Enron scandal left Romine questioning the notion of job security and the typical career path. “It really helped me realize that there is no such thing as job security,” he says.
Romine discussed an entrepreneurial endeavor with John Wagner and Ryan Dorrell, who are now both in AgileThought's corporate leadership. Romine and his two friends, whom he met on his first day with Arthur Andersen, decided against it. “We thought it was too risky at the time,” he says.
While working at PricewaterhouseCoopers, the urge to take that risk became too much for Romine to handle. “We wanted to put our ideas to work,” he says, “and be surrounded by the people we choose.”
In 2004 Romine put the security of his job in his own hands and founded AgileThought, a software design and consulting company, with Wagner and Dorrell.
The firm had a humble start. In fact, the three entrepreneurs built their own desks. The company now employs more than 80 and recorded $5 million in revenues in 2010.
Like Romine's ideas, AgileThought's staff grew too big for its office, and it relocated this year.
Painter's tape still adorns some nooks of the AgileThought's new office and a few doors remain unhinged, but Romine is already looking for new space. “I think we're at 85 [employees] right now,” he says. “The reason I say 'I think' is because we're filling positions on a daily basis.”
Revenues are swelling as well, and Romine expects them to reach $12 million this year, more than double last year's revenues.
Romine credits the unique culture of the company for the surge in growth. One aspect is the flat corporate structure that attracts — and keeps — the best programmers. “We were on the front lines,” he says, “so we have that unique perspective.”
The “foos room” helps, too. The aptly named room contains a foosball table and an X-box hooked up to a flat screen TV a few feet away. And the best view in the office belongs to the programmers. “We've already seen two dolphins today,” says one employee.
Romine bet big on the success of AgileThought, a gamble justified by its growth so far. The motivation behind the move was Romine craving to create something of quality that delivers value.
“I got into this to create a product from the ground up,” he says, “it used to be software — now it's a company.”
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