I met Allan at a conference a couple of years ago, and after meeting him, I recall skipping most of the sessions just to pick his brain about all things business — marketing, structure, etc. He's still one of the nicest folks I've ever met.
Months later, was connected with him again on Skype, and he remembered just about everything about our interaction, and once again, was super nice and helpful with all of my questions.
I also met Steven quite briefly at the same conference this year. Although we didn't talk for hours on end, he was also very kind, and very approachable.
Anyway, really happy for both of them. It's great to read that nice guys don't always have to finish last.
They used FE International to sell the LessAccounting assets to American SMB Services. Took about 6 months to close the deal all together. They declined to disclose any $ numbers, but it was an all cash up front deal.
The interview is actually a really interesting interview to read.
We use Xero.com. Its considerably "less shitty" than QB was for us. But I still struggle to wrap my head around basic accounting concepts and therefore require a bookkeeper.
I hate Xero with a passion. I've a software engineer background and currently serve as CEO, ala non-accountant, I'm constantly finding bugs with their software that go on unfixed for months. I'm only using Xero because my accountant prefers it than spreadsheets.
We use Xero and still have our accountant check our books before we file our end of year returns. The bonus of Xero is that our accountant has real time access to our finances - which means he can provide a more proactive service.
As a long time QuickBooks online user it should be noted that about 2 years ago QuickBooks did one of the best online reboots I've ever seen. The new website is way simpler to use and understand.
Man, this is great. When I lived in Florida, I had a chance to hang out and cowork with Steve a time or two (this was perhaps 7 years ago?). Incredibly nice, very talented. I'm super happy for them!
Interesting, I suspect this is why the interview posting went up last week but was presumably very quickly removed (before I looked at podcast episode listings and attempted to download it).
Or potentially most of their employees are contractors or remote bookkeepers who don't list them as an employer - a quick Linkedin look shows that a number of the people are located in India, so potentially they're a core group of 5-10 people with X number of offshore contractors.
Months later, was connected with him again on Skype, and he remembered just about everything about our interaction, and once again, was super nice and helpful with all of my questions.
I also met Steven quite briefly at the same conference this year. Although we didn't talk for hours on end, he was also very kind, and very approachable.
Anyway, really happy for both of them. It's great to read that nice guys don't always have to finish last.