Net Driven's Fast Growth and Innovation Subject of Keystone Edge News Article
Posted by Nick on Monday, June 04, 2012
Net Driven CEO and Founder Patrick Sandone was interviewed by Keystone Edge, a blog that "tells the story of the new economy in Pennsylvania--a narrative of creative people and businesses, new development, cool places to live, and the best places to work and play." The article talks about Net Driven's growth from a few part-time employees in a 500-square foot office to more than thirty full time employees, helping the local economy along the way. The full article is below.
Reprinted from http://keystoneedge.com/innovationnews/netdriven0531.aspx
Patrick Sandone has a simple message for entrepreneurs: "The best ideas come when you're intimate enough with an industry and can fill a need."
For Sandone, that insight spawned a company in 2007 with a few part-time employees in 500 square feet at the Scranton Enterprise Center. Today, Net Driven employs 30 full-timers, is steadily hiring and has seen triple-digit growth every year.
Sandone worked at a Wall Street investment bank and a Boston venture capital firm before returning home to a family business that distributes and sells automotive supplies. He quickly realized that tire and parts dealers, auto repair and body shops and used car dealers needed the functionality of a sophisticated website that allowed users to see descriptions, comparisons and availability of products and services, get quotes, schedule jobs and more.
Net Driven builds and maintains customized websites, offering a breadth of Internet sales and marketing tools for their clients, who essentially rent their websites. Sandone says the firm partners with large Fortune 500 companies with vast dealer networks and mom-and-pop retailers, serving a total of more than 3,000 customer locations in the United States and Canada.
Sandone sees a clear road ahead. "Our pace of hiring is accelerating. We'll hire more people this year than last. Our goal is basically to grow the number of new clients by triple digits year in and year out," he says. "We have big plans where we want to go and we need people to help us get there."