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Did you choose IT or did IT choose you?
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| I have always been good at IT. I was lucky enough to attend a school that was fully equipped with computers and so from a young age I realized how fun technology was and by performing a basic function, you can in effect ‘program’ something to make something else happen. At around the age of 10 or 11 (clearly I was very advanced for my years!) I was conscious of not becoming an ‘uber geek’ so made a concerted effort to steer clear of technology and become more skilled at human interaction! After that, and for the next ten or so years I didn’t really have much to do with computers at all; until studying my PhD in Physics at Imperial where I realized that it was probably time to start back up again as technology was becoming a necessity. As it turns out, at the time being a Scientist wasn’t a particularly lucrative career and after returning from my emigration to Canada where I was a researcher who programmed; I got some work in the electronics field as a circuit-board tester, which lasted six weeks. After this, I joined software company (which went bust after about seven months) and the rest, as they say, is history! Taken as a whole, I would say that although my love for IT was evident from a young age, I chose to pursue the career therefore I think it’s a 50/50 split between me choosing, and it choosing me. |
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Is there such as thing as a ‘typical day’ for you? If so, what does it consist of?
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| The only thing that’s typical is that I spend a lot more time running a company and a lot less time being a technologist which is what I love. Of course there is a general ‘structure’ of what I have to do each day which consists of sales, to strategy; admin to account management and walking the floor to check on all the employees. I will be the first to admit that I haven’t been as ‘hands on’ as I should be, or want to be, due to the huge amount of admin and general ‘running of the business’, but it’s something that I am looking to rectify in the not-so-distant future. |
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What is your favourite thing about your job?
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| I love our working environment. This building is so inspiring; it lifts spirits and really motivates and encourages the people inside it. This is a truly agile environment and I don’t just mean in the technical methodology sense of the word, but in the literal sense. All our developers are in this big space together and the manager’s mix in with everyone – I built the Company and its ethos on trust and I believe that if you treat people fairly, that you will be repaid. By offering an option scheme, my employees feel as though they are almost working for themselves – it definitely promotes productivity. We have ‘as much as you can drink’ teas and coffees (remind me to tell you a funny story about that later!)*, our own kitchen and dining area; but most of all, a strong ‘open door’ policy. I like everyone to get involved, all the people here have a voice and I make sure it’s heard. Pinesoft has really good employee retention and most of the time when people have left it’s due to a change of circumstance such as relocation. They leave here feeling good about the Company, not feeling resentful that they wanted better pay or a friendlier working environment. I have a huge personal sense of pride when it comes to this Company as I had no prior experience of running anything and have built this from the ground up over the last 17 years.*(Interviewers note: upon reminding Steve about the ‘funny story’ he promised, he recounts a tale of coffee and craziness!)Around five years ago, I decided to perform a little experiment. This was in the days when we didn’t have a fancy coffee machine; it was just a normal filter. The amount of coffee consumed on a daily basis was pretty great, so I thought that I would perform a productivity test…every week I would secretly add a different coffee, getting strong by the week until I ended up brewing a phenomenally strong java bean. The developers were basically crawling the walls and it was at that point, that I decided my little experiment should probably quit whilst it was ahead! |
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What are some of the challenges of your job?
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| For me, the challenges are the also the best parts! I love being able to problem-solve and think of a better way around something…it’s the Scientist in me! Before I founded Pinesoft, I had never really stayed in the same place for more than three years, and now 17 years later I am proud to say that this is one of the best decisions I ever made. Probably the biggest challenge was teaching myself how to run a business and figuring out the trials and tribulations along the way. You have to be able to cope with what’s thrown at you, decipher the difference between ‘multi-tasking’ and ‘dropping the ball’, and definitely be able to list ‘time management’ as one of your strong suits! I’m good at development, I’m a Scientist at heart and I like the technology aspect; so managing my time correctly between the parts that I enjoy and the parts that I need to do, is important. |
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What is the best piece of advice you could give someone considering a career in IT? Or more specifically, someone who wants to end up in a similar role to you?
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| “Have the balls to go and do it!” Don’t ‘wish you had’ years later; at the end of the day, if you want it badly enough you will go for it and achieve it. A recession is a great time to start a business; people being made redundant left, right and centre – if you get a pay out, it’s up to you what you do with it. Some people will sit and spend it bit by bit, and some people will use that lump sum to try and make more…so what category do you want to fall in to? |
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How did you get into your current role?
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| Strangely enough, before I founded Pinesoft, I only had a seven-month career in IT! As I’ve mentioned, I am a Scientist at heart and my degree and subsequent jobs were in this arena. Upon moving back to the UK from my emigration to Canada, I was lucky enough to have a recruitment consultant who took a chance on me despite my lack of experience in the IT world. I interviewed and secured a job within Applied Logic, a software company in Putney, working as a circuit board tester where amusingly enough, I tested for about a day until I was called into the CTOs office after my rather verbal realisation that none of the circuit boards were working nor would they ever work. He asked me for my thoughts and consequently informed me he would like me to redevelop the boards completely, but still using the original components. I was informed that the penalty charge from the Client was £75,000 for each week over time; so no pressure then! It was a challenge I relished and after what seemed like an eternity (in reality it was about six weeks!) when I was nearing the very end of my tether, I was offered two positions; one risky and one safe. Obviously I look the risky one and joined a software company which eventually went belly up seven months later. The culmination of some people from the remnants of the company, plus myself of course, formed Pinesoft. So I guess in the long term, the risk paid off!!Applied Logic were a great example of how NOT to run a company…another amusing story; they were located over two buildings and instead of wiring up both, they had a network cable running out of one window, across the floor outside and through the window of the next building. The connection was always ‘shaky’ at best, but the crux of the situation was evident when a storm hit and lightning struck the cable outside, basically blowing up all the systems AND the whole network. Of course, the fact that they didn’t back anything up didn’t help either.When they inevitably dissipated, Pinesoft was formed from their ashes. Originally, there were three owners of the company including myself; and seventeen years down the line, (after one had ‘tripped over his P45’ and the other left due to a difference of opinion as to the company’s future) it’s just me and my team. |
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What is your best memory throughout your IT Career?
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| My fondest memory is walking into a Japanese call centre and seeing 200 odd girls using the software Pinesoft developed, and despite the language barrier they were still able to impress how amazing the software is and how it has significantly changed their day-to-day work for the better. In reality, it was a relatively simple piece of software (and we’ve come on leaps and bounds since then!) but compared to what they already had in place, it was a miracle! |
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What personal characteristics do you think you need to be in your job?
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| For starters, you need to be an entrepreneur. Owning my own business took guts, determination and a whole lot of drive. You need to be ‘not risk adverse’ – which is not the same as taking risks; just not being afraid of them and learning to manage and accept the risks taken during any new business venture. This leads to balancing risk with reward. Of course there is an element of chance and hard-work, but there is a massive element of luck and anyone who tells you otherwise is talking complete rubbish. |
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How do you think we could encourage more Graduates into IT?
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| By bringing ‘real work’ back into the country. There are too many high paid IT jobs in this country which just involve managing IT operations abroad. How are we supposed to grow the talent it the jobs required to get graduates in aren’t in this country? IT needs to get over its recent fascination with off-shoring and become more stable. This ridiculous situation even extends to call centres; If the government are willing to pay out dole money to everyone, then why not bring the call centres back to this country and give job seekers the opportunity to earn their money here? It sustains our economy and gives grads PLUS people who are having a tough time, a fresh start.We are a nation of engineers and we need to get back to what we’re good at! |
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Blackberry, iPhone, Android or other?
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| All Apple products are addictive! They are also highly intuitive – my four-year old daughter can pick up my iPhone and just instinctually know how to use it! |
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What car do you drive?
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| I bought my house because of the eight car garage! I normally ride a motorbike to work but for fun I’ll definitely drive out in my vintage Porsche…I am a bit of a self-confessed ‘petrol-head’. |
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Who would play you in a movie?
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| Kevin Spacey (interviewers note: Steve actually chose George Clooney because the last film he’d watched is from the ‘Oceans’ series however James Day, Business Development Manager at Pinesoft chose Kevin Spacey as he thought Steve both looks and acts like him!) |
