John-Paul Syriatowicz Squiz

In 1998, John-Paul Syriatowicz founded Squiz as a website company focusing on technical solutions rather than graphic design. From the start, he followed two controversial business philosophies: first to develop open source software, and second to operate with little or no debt. John-Paul’s no debt approach served Squiz well through the dot.com crash. The company survived with a relatively small contraction, unlike the majority of its competitors who went under. With the exception of 2001, Squiz has met its annual target of 30% growth while maintaining 30% profitability, without incurring any debt. Meanwhile, open source went on to become a universally accepted IT strategy, giving Squiz a major competitive advantage. Under its open source business model, Squiz gives its clients free software. Instead of licensing fees, the company’s income comes from professional services such as graphic design, training, system set-up and consulting. This means Squiz is more invested in achieving a successful project than its competitors, leading to high customer loyalty. As the business proved its worth in the market, John-Paul developed a model for expanding Squiz and all its associated systems. This made it possible for Squiz to quickly open a new office, taking advantage of local expertise and returning a profit in the first year of operations. Today, Squiz is one the world’s largest web content management vendors, with170 staff across five countries. The company is the creator of MySource, described by Gartner as one of the world’s top five open source content management systems. John-Paul has successfully expanded into new markets, including the UK, Poland and New Zealand. In 2009, he will open offices in Edinburgh, New York, Moscow and Berlin. His strategic plan sees the company continuing to achieve 30% profitability.