Leaders in Tech Interview Part 2: Leading through Inspiration with Fortium Partners

Purpose-Driven Leadership

In Part 2 of the 3-part interview series, Burke and David share their inspiring journeys of entrepreneurship and reveal key insights into purpose-driven business leadership. Both embody the spirit of entrepreneurship, rooted in personal motivation and the desire to build something meaningful. Burke navigated the complexities of consulting to identify a gap in the market for technology leadership that led to the founding of his own company. Meanwhile, David transitioned from early challenges to entrepreneurial success, driven by a desire for autonomy. Their stories share their expertise for the benefit of other CEOs to: 

• Emphasize strategic partnerships, 

• Learn to delegate

• Align passion with purpose, and 

• Find support through faith and family. 

This conversation offers valuable lessons for any CEO seeking to balance personal fulfillment, family, and business growth.

View the full video interview HERE with the host of Leaders in Tech, David Mansilla.

David: What motivated you to start your own agency or company? It's not easy. I know you came from this other business that got sold, right? Why not just get another job? 

Burke: Yeah. That's a good question. So, I started my career in consulting. The cons were, you know, speaking of travel and being on the road and so forth, consulting is a career that's all about travel, and we had a young family at the time. And you know, we just didn't sign up for that. I didn't get married, so my wife could be a single mom at home without me with me on the road. So we made changes in work to keep me closer to home so that I could balance that life and be with my kids and be part of my family, which was important to us. 

I will say that the combination of that consulting experience and what you might call industry experience working for a company as opposed to a consulting firm. It just occurred to me that the work is different; consultants work differently. They attack a problem in their work like a consultant would. You know, they analyze it. They evaluate the current state and think of initiatives that get done. And after doing that for a while and getting that experience, it just occurred to me that doing the role of a leader, whether it's a Director of Finance or a Director of IT or Director of Marketing or something like that, combining the consulting nature of it with the role. I gained some passion for it, so I went on my own and started a small company. There were a couple of us, but we were doing interim CIO and CTO work, as well as fractional and interim CIO CTO work. And I was looking for a way to grow that. I knew there were CFO businesses that were growing at the time, but I didn't quite know how to grow that business because the margins in the business were not great compared to other businesses. 

So it's a services business, and the vast majority of the work goes to the people doing the work. 

I ran into the Tatum organization, which was doing it. We were networking at the time. So I would network with CFOs, and they would network with me, and we would share leads. One day, there was a call that said, hey, Tatum is going to start a CIO practice. Would you be interested in participating? And I thought that's the answer. That is the answer for growth. How do you grow something where you connect with someone who's done it before and they have a plan for that? And the model was useful for any executive role. It just so happened that they did CFOs and, now, CIOs for the technology leadership. And the reality was that I was too young in my career. I really didn't have the experience to go out and do that. At least, that's how it kind of worked out. So I did that from 2001 to 2013, and there were a couple of jobs when the time was right. 

Burke: However, I realized after the sale of Tatum that there was still no technology leadership version of what we did in the market. And so, the former CEO of that CIO practice and I decided to start a technology leadership-only version of that model, the same model, in 2014. I’m very thankful to the Tatum Organization for teaching us how the model works. And I think that's part of our strategic advantage now, which is just having years of experience in this model, how to run this model, and how to stay focused on what we do. But there were times when it would have made sense to get a job, but I had a real passion for creating this service for our partners who need a model like this to be able to extend their careers once they've reached 25-plus years of experience. But they're either not interested, or others are not interested in them for full-time roles. But also the market needs it. I have a passion for that CEO who is trying to get where they need to go, but they just don't have the technology leadership to get them there. They don't have someone to help them chart that path and do what needs to be done because oftentimes, in a medium-sized company, what you can afford or attract are those who have less experience. And so we bring in people who are much, much more experienced than typically would be at that size of company. And I just knew that that company needed to exist.

We started it ten years ago, in 2014, almost ten years now. And, to me, it's been a lot more fulfilling than getting a job. I probably could have made more money getting a job and staying with something for a long time. But there's just an entrepreneurial spirit in me that drove me to create the job to create the company and stick with it for all this time. 

David: You know that I'm a man of Faith, right? That's why I wear this big cross on my chest. And the Bible says that the Lord has a book which every day of your life is written in it. I tell you this because I was similar to you. I had to dabble in corporate for ten years until I really had the courage and the knowledge to open my first business. And I always had this unseen in me to be my own boss. I mean, I went to college in Canada, and as soon as I graduated, I was going to open a software consultant firm. I did not know that I was a 25-year-old kid and that everybody was looking at me as a junior developer, right? They would never trust me with a software project. So I felt miserable for two years. I ended up building clones because back in the 90s, that's what you did. We started selling clones, and in the first year, I made money. In the second year, I lost the money that I had made with the warranties that I needed to honor. Still,  I was able to sell the company for the debt that I had because of the brand value, as I had over a thousand clients. So I didn't go bankrupt. I actually got set free. And that's why my wife told me, you gotta get a real job. 

So, I got a real job as a developer, and my career started to grow there until I went on to higher levels in leadership and technology for multinationals. But my desire for entrepreneurship was still there. And once I jumped ship and started my first business, I never looked back. But it was hard because I had a bad experience in the 90s where I couldn't provide for my family. My wife had to take two jobs to pay the rent and feed the kids. I had three kids already. And now I was here asking her again to do the same thing ten years later. And she actually said yes. And that was the blessing. She actually supported the family. But the second time around, I was so scared that I never spent a penny out of that business. I didn’t collect a salary for two years. It was all my wife's, but then my wife went to University. She graduated as a computer scientist. She got a high-paying job as a data analyst. So I mean, we were doing basic expenses with her, but we didn't have any luxuries. Like we didn't have vacations for those two years, but that allowed us to build a good cushion of cash flow in the business.  And the deal with her: if you don't hire me within five years, you have to get another job because I'm not supporting you again, right? But she gave me five years, and sure enough, in year five, I was hired. So the company was big enough for me to hire her back, you know.

Burke: Yes. Well, I'm a man of faith as well. My wife has faith as well. We're both Christians. And it's been a part of it. I'm very fortunate that my wife had that faith and always knew that God was going to provide for her and that he would lead me down the right path. And if I was listening to him, I'd be going down the path, or I would adjust the path depending on God's answer in those cases. Right. There were some real steps in that entrepreneurial path, which means there are going to be some setbacks. There's going to be lean times, and there were for us. There were times that were really lean, and I was very scared that I had made the right choice. Was I hurting my family by going down an entrepreneurial path? But my wife knew what she could see in me, what I really enjoyed. And it was when I was building a business, serving clients, or getting a new client. She knew she could see that was what was driving me in terms of enjoying my work. So, being able to do what you love and enjoy the work that you do is just a big part of it. It's not required; not everybody does, and they still have to make a living for their families. But it’s great if you can make a living and enjoy what you do. And I always have, especially when I've been working in this model and growing the business. 

But you're right, it’s the same with us. There were a couple of times when I started the second business, and there were some lean times at the beginning. You have to be careful not to grow, not to grow your own expenses too fast, and you know, I was working to pay myself and the business in the early days. Right. But fortunately, we've had good growth over the years, and it's definitely different. I spend most of my time running the business, not serving clients. We spend a lot of time on marketing and writing and internal stuff like operations, legal, and finance. But it's been a real nice journey learning to be a CEO when you haven't been before. When you're not doing everything, you have to start letting other people do things. That's an enjoyable part of it as well. But it's a challenge to learn to be a different type of leader as the company grows. You have to grow with the company, or the company outgrows you, and you've got to do something else. 

“You have to grow with the company, or the company outgrows you.”

David: Right. You touched on a great, great point. There is a big difference between self-employment and being an entrepreneur. A real entrepreneur is able to delegate. When I started the business, my first contract was a self-employed person. So I incorporated, but then I got a job where they actually hired me to fulfill that job. I was trying to figure out the support for this large photocopier where there are actually computers that happen to print on pressure. It quickly became a bigger job because they trusted me with this machine, and I was able to figure it out. And then that required two more engineers. And so I hired my first two employees. And so I quickly became an entrepreneur, but I didn't know how to delegate yet. Even though I was a leader in technology in many companies, when it became my own money and my own time, I wanted to do everything myself because I thought they were not going to do it as well as I am. And that's just ego. And it took me a long time to figure that out. I wasn't growing because I wasn't delegating. It's ego. 

Burke: If anybody on our team watches this, they laugh because, you know, we're going through that now. You can't grow and have one person be too involved in everything. So it's just a natural part of growth. You have to untangle individuals from doing those things. And I did a lot of things myself. There was a point around 2017, 2018, when I was becoming more of a problem than I was helping because I just couldn't keep up. I couldn't keep up doing it the way I did. And so we had to invest in expanding to other fractional leaders, giving them the ability to do their jobs, expand, and take on some operational talent to help do the back office and do the work of running the company because it's just not possible to keep doing that. You hold everyone else back when you do that, and I agree with you. I think there's another element: control, and there's certainly that. But I also think a lot of entrepreneurs love what they do. They love that minutia. They love getting in and solving the problem. That programmer loves to program, and that same programmer who starts a company loves to automate the things that run the company. Some of it is just what you like to do, which makes it worse because it's hard to give up when you're the only one who knows how to do it. Which is fun, but eventually, you outgrow it. 

Summary: In Part 2 of the podcast series, Burke Autrey and David Mansilla discuss the entrepreneurial motivations and lessons that underpin their business leadership, providing insights that are particularly relevant for CEOs. Here’s a recap of Burke's insights:

1. Identifying the Technology Leadership Gap: Burke's journey began in the consulting world, which, while extensive in travel, provided him with a critical viewpoint on the specific needs within technology leadership. His experience revealed a market gap in providing seasoned technology leadership (CIOs, CTOs, CISOs) to companies that could not afford full-time positions but required strategic guidance. This insight led to the creation of Fortium Partners, an organization that focuses on fractional and interim CIO, CTO, and CISO services that align with the needs of SMB CEOs who often face challenges in scaling their technology strategies without overextending financially.

2. Strategic Partnerships for Growth: Understanding the limitations of his initial business model and the challenges associated with service margins, Burke capitalized on strategic networking and partnerships to scale his business. His former work experience honed at Tatum, which was expanding into CIO services, exemplifies how leveraging experienced personal networks and business models can facilitate growth in niche markets—a vital strategy for SMBs looking to expand their influence and capabilities.

3. Entrepreneurial Drive and Market Need: Beyond personal motivations, Burke emphasizes a strong sense of a market-driven need—to provide highly skilled technology leadership to SMBs that typically attract less experienced leaders due to budget constraints. His approach not only fills a critical operational gap but also enhances the strategic capabilities of these businesses, enabling them to navigate more complex digital transformations and competitive landscapes.

4. Leadership and Operational Challenges: Transitioning from a start-up to a mature business, Burke discusses the importance of delegation and operational efficiency. His experience highlights the natural progression of leadership from being deeply involved in all aspects to focusing on strategic growth and letting go of day-to-day operations. This evolution is crucial for SMB CEOs to understand as their role must shift to accommodate growth and ensure their business does not outpace their control or ability to innovate.

Burke’s insights, derived from co-founding and growing Fortium Partners, underscore the critical success factors of a growing business to: 

• Identify industry gaps, 

• Leverage partnerships, 

• Align business services with clear market needs, and 

• Evolve leadership styles to sustain growth. 

Stay Tuned for Part 3 of the podcast/interview series: Burke Autrey delves deeper into the strategic management and growth dynamics of Fortium Partners. In Part 3, Burke emphasizes operational philosophies that can benefit SMB CEOs that include how to: implement frameworks for operational excellence, set a global vision for strategic expansion, and track the future trends of technology leadership.