During that time frame, we had a singular focus on “doing the work” and making our clients successful. As we codified both our approach and our technology, we felt it was time to lift up our heads and tell the rest of the world about the impact we were having with our clients. The funding has clearly helped us do that in particular regarding our ability to invest in marketing.

In 2005, though, we also saw a “perfect storm” of trends leading toward an explosion in the sales-enablement space. Due to the impact on revenue growth and brand equity, companies across all industries were becoming extremely focused on enabling their sales organizations to more effectively communicate their value and differentiation.

Further, since many enterprise initiatives over the last 10 years were really focused on driving value for executive management rather than individual salespeople, we were observing a massive refocusing on improving the lives of front-line salespeople. These trends combined with the maturity of our solution were clear indicators that we should accelerate our growth in all areas of our business.

IVCA: Do you think you had added leverage when approaching VCs because you survived a down cycle and had significant revenue prior to your raise?
JA: There were a number of factors that made SAVO very attractive to a number of potential investors. These included being cash-flow positive from day one, having an outstanding client list, having a recurring revenue stream, having a software-as-a-service (SaaS) deployment model, having deep domain expertise to complement our technology and never having had a client cancel or not renew their contract.

All of these factors not only allowed the company to continue to grow during a difficult down cycle for the tech sector but they also gave us the opportunity to be very thorough in our selection of a VC partner. Given that we were looking for funding to accelerate growth rather than simply to survive, we could take our time and find the right firm.

Fortunately, we found that in Sterling Partners. They understood our business, our differentiation and, most important, our culture. They have been incredibly collaborative, and rather than simply monitoring financial metrics, they are more than willing to assist in any way possible with the less glamorous aspects of execution. This is a distinctively different mindset compared to many traditional venture capitalists.

IVCA: Sterling Partners invested $10 million in SAVO. How were you introduced to the firm?
JA: Through a consultant that SAVO retained to assist with the search.

IVCA: Sterling received a $4 million commitment from the Illinois Technology Development Fund. State treasurer Judy Baar Topinka said SAVO is the “perfect showcase” for why the fund was created. Why do you think SAVO is perceived this way?
JA: We firmly believe in two principles. First, there is an incredible talent pool within Illinois and specifically in Chicago.

That includes new graduates from Illinois-based universities as well as executive talent that has traditionally “commuted” for technology companies headquartered on the coasts. As such, the vast majority of the new jobs we have created since we received the funding have been filled by Illinois residents. SAVO has increased from approximately 35 people in the third quarter of 2005 to 60 in the third quarter of 2006.

Second, to build a stronger technology community within Chicago, we believe we need to establish an ecosystem of suppliers (i.e. advertising, PR, recruiting, external contractors, etc.) that are based in Illinois. By leveraging this approach, we build a larger network of non-technical companies that understand and can fulfill the needs of growing technology firms.

Building this supplier ecosystem is just as important as increasing the number of Chicago technology start-ups. In fact, it’s on the critical path to doing so.

IVCA: How have you allocated your funds to date? What further investments will you make?
JA: We will continue to invest in literally all aspects of our business: a new data center, new service offerings, new alliances, new product capabilities and most importantly top-tier management, consulting and development expertise. We will also steadily increase the “volume” of our marketing voice by building a globally recognized brand as the undisputed leaders in sales enablement.

IVCA: Do you anticipate raising further venture capital?
JA: As entrepreneurs, you learn to never rule out any possibility. However, we believe the funding we’ve raised to date is more than sufficient to drive explosive growth for our business. Prior to establishing our relationship with Sterling, co-founders John Aiello and Drew Larsen built a business that was cash-flow positive from day one.

As a result, financial discipline – or, more simply, making sure that receivables exceed payables – has always been a key aspect of the SAVO culture.

IVCA: Please describe SAVO’s products and services and how they differentiate from other players in the market.
JA: While companies can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on marketing materials, that investment becomes a waste if salespeople never use them. According to the American Marketing Association, up to 80 percent of marketing materials are rarely used by salespeople. In turn, these employees spend roughly 40 percent of their time recreating marketing materials rather than getting out of the office and generating sales.

The divide between marketing and sales is both inefficient and costly. The SAVO Group’s answer to this problem is an innovative software platform that translates to benefits for the front-end user as well as the management structure.

A pioneer in the emerging sales-enablement space, The SAVO Group enables a sales organization to communicate value and differentiation in clear, consistent and compelling ways. Through a set of client-proven best practices, SAVO helps leading companies align their messaging, people, processes and content to maximize the impact of their value proposition where it matters most: at the point of customer contact.

These methods have been developed and refined as a result of longstanding relationships with companies such as Morgan Stanley, AmerisourceBergen, Citigroup, ADP and FedEx Kinko’s.

IVCA: What are your thoughts on the overall environment for early stage technology firms in Chicago?
JA: The environment today is outstanding. VC activity has increased substantially. There are an incredible number of organizations that exist today that are solely focused on driving entrepreneurship in Chicago. These groups (most of which didn’t exist when SAVO was founded) are extremely proactive in offering their assistance.

In addition, there is a renewed interest by many large companies to take advantage of the expertise, specialization and “service-obsessed cultures” of smaller technology firms. As a result, there are outstanding resources available for smaller firms and there is a market that is very willing to consider their solutions.

IVCA: Does SAVO belong to any local business and technology associations? How do you leverage those groups?
JA: Absolutely. We are active members within the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC), the Business Marketing Association (BMA) in Chicago, the Illinois Information Technology Association (ITA), the Technology Executives Club and TiE-Midwest. We are also very involved with the American Marketing Association (AMA), which is headquartered in Chicago.

We leverage all of these organizations to increase our exposure, identify leads, network with other entrepreneurs and identify candidates for key positions within SAVO. It is also amazing to see how proactive these organizations are in offering to help us succeed.

IVCA: What kind of company do you think SAVO will be like five years from now? How about 10 years from now?
JA: Though I know this answer will sound trite and contrived, we believe everything else will take care of itself so long as we focus solely on the success of our clients. More specifically, we will evolve based on how the needs of our clients evolve over the next five to 10 years.

When the company was founded, we had no consulting methodology and no software product. The first “packaged” offerings in both areas only appeared after our first three years in business. As of today, our software is on its 15th release and our consulting approach continues to get broader and deeper. We fully expect the next several years to follow this same trend.

We will evolve in a manner that drives the most value for our clients. If we stay focused on that, great things will happen at SAVO.