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Named for a major trading route in Russia, technology consulting and software development firm DonRiver boasts a presence in Siberia and Vietnam, as well as Toronto, Dallas and Melbourne. Its focus, says co-founder Brent Ho-Young, is mobile financial services for such clients as Western Union in the U.S. and Roshan, a telecommunications provider in Afghanistan, and operational support systems for companies such as Rogers, Visa and Telstra. “We leverage our software applications and back office integrations so companies can deliver in the same way as they would in brick and mortar, anywhere and any time in the world,” he says, “although if you ask my mother she still says I fix computers.” For Western Union, DonRiver developed smart phone apps that take traditional cash-based transfer services to the mobile world, a business that will be worth some US$20 billion to all players by 2014.
From its beginnings six years ago with five staffers, DonRiver today has 120 on board and is always hunting for more. “One challenge, both domestically and internationally, is finding talented people who have a passion for software and who understand mobility, as well as financial services,” Ho-Young says. “If we can find those people, business becomes more manageable.” Thankfully when DonRiver started in Australia, Ho-Young says, “One of our principals, John McVey, uprooted his life, so we really committed wholeheartedly. You have to show your commitment and your willingness to invest. If you are not willing to do that, maybe you should focus at home.”
DonRiver also seeks out solid partners. Says Ho-Young, “A good example is how we ended up in Afghanistan. We worked for a company in the U.S. whose CEO had a cousin at [software developer] VendTek in Canada. They do a lot of business in the Middle East and Africa, so we teamed up. It pays to do business with folks who know the market, because the thing is you can get burned very quickly internationally.”
For such a high-tech company, the things DonRiver has learned along the way are prosaic. Don’t spread yourself too thin might be the most important. Ho-Young laughs when he says that many of his smartest hires come with notions too diffuse to entertain, especially for international business. “Bright ideas can be challenging,” he says. “Investing time and development efforts sometimes makes sense but if it stretches us into areas we are really not familiar with that can be disastrous.” One thing DonRiver has done to appeal to its global markets is to develop a mobile financial services platform that companies everywhere can license and deploy. His best advice is to focus on such core competencies.
One other thing Ho-Young mentions is the time commitment. “When you start doing business internationally, your work day goes from maybe 10 hours to pretty much a 24/7 cycle,” he says. “Our geographies extend from North America to Asia and all the way into Australia, and no matter what time zone we are in, when client have an issue, what they don’t want to hear is, ‘We will get back to you in a day or two.’ ” That can mean home from the office, dinner with the family, and on Skype into the night. So it helps if you have a lot of energy? He laughs. “I have a four-month old daughter and she also has her own clock.” Success never sleeps. |
