Altaro Software has managed to scale up rapidly. That’s a result of having a great team, David Vella, CEO of Altaro Software, tells Rene Magri.

You have a background in managing software security products very successfully. Why did you feel it was time to venture out and build Altaro?

I always had a dream of starting a company and after spending 15 years learning different aspects of running a business, I realised that it was time to make the leap.

In my career I have worked with great people and they gave me the opportunity to grow in my career and to make mistakes which I learned from. In 2009 I was very lucky to meet with three great guys and we co-founded Altaro together. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for the other co-founders.

You had your start with Oops! Backup, a time machine-like product for Windows Users. What was the thinking behind the product and how did you identify the opportunity?

Altaro’s first product was a consumer backup solution for consumers. It was the brainchild of two of the co-founders – Simon Attard and Julian Pace Ross. At that time there was a need of a backup solution that was very easy to use, and that is what we offered.

Altaro’s first foray was in the business-to-consumer space, and then eventually shifted to a business-to-business offering. What were your considerations for this shift?

Altaro did start in the business-to-consumer – however, our plans were always to eventually pivot into the business-to-business space. Our joint experience was in business-to-business and the plan was to build a technology and marketing company.

Before joining Altaro, one of our co-founders, Stephen Chetcuti Bonavita, held a director of marketing position while I was a director of product management – we both worked on software solutions for the small and medium size businesses space. As opposed to consumers, selling to businesses means a technical customer and better margins.

We grew from a team of four in 2012 to a team of 37 today

Altaro’s main proposition rests on backup solutions for Hyper-V and VMWare enterprise product users. Can you elaborate on the opportunity in this space and why you felt it was underserved?

Nowadays most companies have some type of virtualised servers – these virtual servers need to be backed up. Through research we found out that there is an opportunity for an easy to use and affordable solution for small and medium size businesses. Therefore, we developed a virtual backup solution that is focused on that space. Since we launched our virtual backup solution in 2012 we have been growing significantly year on year – in fact, we grew from a team of four in 2012 to a team of 37 today.

Altaro has attracted more than 30,000 paying small and medium size customers in a few short years. How did you manage to scale up so rapidly?

It all boils down to having a great team. We wouldn’t be where we are today if it wasn’t for the fantastic team we have at Altaro. I’m very lucky to be working side-by-side with a great team of employees and I learn something new from them every day.

We do our best to enable the team and foster ideas. One of the things we do is we always try to instil a culture where the team is not scared of making mistakes as they know that we’re here to back them up. This leads to an energised team which leads to new responsibilities.

What are the main building blocks of a great company culture and how have you made sure Altaro embodies these elements?

Since we started hiring in 2012, I always stuck to a rule that when hiring new members to grow the team I also try to find people who are better than me in their line of work.

I also expect that when at some point they will hire people in their own team, they will follow the same rule and hire people that are better than they are. I also encourage constructive dissidence as I expect that when I do something wrong, the team is not scared of bringing it to my attention.

Altaro’s client list reads like a who’s who of all the major enterprises globally, including Amazon, Harvard University and Xerox. How did you and your team manage to attract these customers?

Apart from having great products we invest in different areas of online marketing and work hard to build a worldwide network of partners. Around 35 per cent of our customers are in the US and Canada, with most of the rest being in Western and Central Europe. To do this we work hard to build strong relationships with partners and we also have a strong focus on content marketing.

If you were not involved with Altaro, what would you be doing?

I would be doing many things as I have many ideas – however, ideas are the easy part as it’s execution that matters. The reality is that I believe that you need to know what your weaknesses are and one of my weaknesses is being organised. With that in mind I make sure to remain focused on Altaro – managing a company is not just about the amount of time you commit but also the energy that you have available in your free time.