July 24, 2006
Money trackers | A chat with Glen Solimine, CEO of Speranza Systems Inc. in Scarborough.
By Erview By Kerry Elson
Founded: March 2005
Employees: Eight
Startup costs: $1 million, including client investments
Revenue, year one: $0
Projected revenue, year two: $1.2 million
Contact: 510-6611
7 Oak Hill Terrace
Scarborough 04704
Tell me about Speranza Systems.
We are a software development company that focuses on helping companies manage and track complex financial relationships in compliance with local and national laws and regulations. So, for example, in a large corporation typically you come up with a board resolution that says there may be four people in a company that have the authority to open, close or maintain bank accounts. What our software helps them do is designate this authority physically to other individuals within the company.
The other important part of the system is the ability to audit this information. With a Fortune 500 company, their auditors come to them every year and say, "Give me a list of all your different bank accounts. I want to see who's got authority to do what in those accounts." Right now, there's not a company in the world that has the ability to do that at the touch of a button ˆ except for our customers.
And it's all done through the Web?
Yes. Actually, it's a Web-based product, but our clients host the system themselves. We deliver the software and they put it on a Web server and then they get access to all their subsidiaries all around the world.
What is the name of the software?
We're just changing the name now. It was the Speranza Command Center. We're going through the process now of trademarking eChord. It's a nice way to get across the point of bringing all of your company financial controls into harmony. I think it's a little bit simpler for people to understand and it gives us a lot of marketing spin we can put on it.
How did you come up with the idea for the software?
I've spent the last 25 years of my life in corporate treasury. [At one point,] I headed up the U.S. sales and client services operation for a large treasury management software company, and one of the things our clients kept coming to me with is, "Boy we need a way to manage our bank account structure more effectively." I just kept hearing this over and over. So at one point I said to them, "If you had the best system in the world to manage these bank relationships, what would it look like?" They inundated me with information and I knew at that point that I had struck a chord.
How many companies have signed on so far?
So far we've got two that are officially signed on. We're going through contract negotiations with several others right now, and we are planning on having at least eight customers signed by the end of the year. We are also working on some global distribution agreements with two very large software players in the market that will bundle our package with theirs for distribution to clients around the world. These two companies ˆ I'm not at liberty to use their names right now because we don't have the contracts executed.
How did you finance the launch of your business?
Well, we were fortunate enough to have a lot of our own personal capital. We found some family and friends' funding, and our two initial clients put up a lot of resources to help us through the development effort. Now we're in some conversations with some local angels, and so that'll be helpful for the long term.
How do you market your business?
Well, I've been in the industry for a long time and so people have come to us. We are planning to do a more formal product launch around two big events in the treasury management industry around the world. One is the EuroFinance conference, which is in Italy this year in September, and the other one is the Association of Financial Professionals, which is in Las Vegas this year in October. So we're building up for a product launch at those two events that'll help establish our brand in the market.
Why did you choose to start your business in Maine?
We were told several times that this is not a place to open a software company. But, essentially, we met some great people up in the Portland area that had a lot of development experience and were able to build a really good team there.
Employees: Eight
Startup costs: $1 million, including client investments
Revenue, year one: $0
Projected revenue, year two: $1.2 million
Contact: 510-6611
7 Oak Hill Terrace
Scarborough 04704
Tell me about Speranza Systems.
We are a software development company that focuses on helping companies manage and track complex financial relationships in compliance with local and national laws and regulations. So, for example, in a large corporation typically you come up with a board resolution that says there may be four people in a company that have the authority to open, close or maintain bank accounts. What our software helps them do is designate this authority physically to other individuals within the company.
The other important part of the system is the ability to audit this information. With a Fortune 500 company, their auditors come to them every year and say, "Give me a list of all your different bank accounts. I want to see who's got authority to do what in those accounts." Right now, there's not a company in the world that has the ability to do that at the touch of a button ˆ except for our customers.
And it's all done through the Web?
Yes. Actually, it's a Web-based product, but our clients host the system themselves. We deliver the software and they put it on a Web server and then they get access to all their subsidiaries all around the world.
What is the name of the software?
We're just changing the name now. It was the Speranza Command Center. We're going through the process now of trademarking eChord. It's a nice way to get across the point of bringing all of your company financial controls into harmony. I think it's a little bit simpler for people to understand and it gives us a lot of marketing spin we can put on it.
How did you come up with the idea for the software?
I've spent the last 25 years of my life in corporate treasury. [At one point,] I headed up the U.S. sales and client services operation for a large treasury management software company, and one of the things our clients kept coming to me with is, "Boy we need a way to manage our bank account structure more effectively." I just kept hearing this over and over. So at one point I said to them, "If you had the best system in the world to manage these bank relationships, what would it look like?" They inundated me with information and I knew at that point that I had struck a chord.
How many companies have signed on so far?
So far we've got two that are officially signed on. We're going through contract negotiations with several others right now, and we are planning on having at least eight customers signed by the end of the year. We are also working on some global distribution agreements with two very large software players in the market that will bundle our package with theirs for distribution to clients around the world. These two companies ˆ I'm not at liberty to use their names right now because we don't have the contracts executed.
How did you finance the launch of your business?
Well, we were fortunate enough to have a lot of our own personal capital. We found some family and friends' funding, and our two initial clients put up a lot of resources to help us through the development effort. Now we're in some conversations with some local angels, and so that'll be helpful for the long term.
How do you market your business?
Well, I've been in the industry for a long time and so people have come to us. We are planning to do a more formal product launch around two big events in the treasury management industry around the world. One is the EuroFinance conference, which is in Italy this year in September, and the other one is the Association of Financial Professionals, which is in Las Vegas this year in October. So we're building up for a product launch at those two events that'll help establish our brand in the market.
Why did you choose to start your business in Maine?
We were told several times that this is not a place to open a software company. But, essentially, we met some great people up in the Portland area that had a lot of development experience and were able to build a really good team there.
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