Yoke Har Lee: Making the website go faster

Even when your focus is on the internet, person-to-person connections are vital, says Aptimize's Ed Robinson. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Not many Kiwi companies can boast of a client list that includes Microsoft, Google, Allergan, Raytheon and Trade Me. Wellington-based Aptimize may only have been in business for a year, but the company is already selling to some big-league clients.

Aptimize builds software that removes the sloth from the internet when pages are downloading. In internet jargon, they call this delay "latency".

Aptimize's pitch is that its software can help reduce download times by between 33 and 75 per cent.

Ed Robinson, CEO and co-founder of Aptimize, was working on an online project management system in 2007 when he and the team noticed how slow the software was.

They took a slight detour to build software to help speed up the project management system, managing to trim page load times from 30 seconds from its test site in New York to four seconds. That was when reality hit: the solution to the problem could itself provide an exciting business. Robinson decided to concentrate on Aptimize.

From day one, Aptimize focused on marketing its software using a website aimed at the US market.

"That was the first thing we did," says Robinson. "We used US spelling and built it for the US market. The second thing that we did is, we didn't rely on the website. We used our connections to find, and talk to, people who might use our software, or go to the site."

As Aptimize was trying to make inroads into the US market, it set out to provide better service than US-based companies. Robinson cites the case of California-based Allergan, which makes pharmaceuticals, most famously Botox.

"When they call us on a Friday - although it may be late on a Friday for us - we answer the phone. When they want to talk early, we're also there."

Robinson also swears by the power of personal contact. "The key thing for us is still the people-to-people contact, building the connections."

He doesn't recall the first big US deal, but recounts the moment of clinching the Microsoft business. "We managed to double the speed of their website. It was around August 2009, we got on the phone, had a shared conference link. We set up, configured it [the software], doubled the speed [of their website] and were all finished within 60 minutes. That was a powerful moment for them."

The US was the right place to start, Robinson says: US companies are early adopters of technology and half of global IT spending happens in America. For other Kiwi software companies looking to sell to the US, Robinson offers this advice: "Make sure you have a simple value proposition. Ours is - we speed up websites. All sorts of benefits are found around that value proposition."

Faster websites mean less download time, less cost, more clicks, and hopefully, more business. The advent of high-speed internet has led directly to consumers demanding ever-faster web downloads, even as websites carry richer content.

"The problem [latency] is a recent one. Because we felt it ourselves, we had a 12-18 month head-start," says Robinson.

Although Aptimize has a simple value proposition, the technology used to reduce web latency is complex.

The software was developed using Kiwi know-how within the 10-person company. The intellectual property has been patented worldwide, says Robinson, co-founder of the company with Derek Watson, the firm's chief technical officer.

Some 90 per cent of Aptimize's business is outside home base. In March last year the company raised money from private equity. Robinson won't disclose growth statistics, beyond saying growth has exceeded expectations.

"We didn't understand our market at first," says Robinson. "We thought we'd be selling lots of licences to small dotcoms over the web. It turns out, bigger more established businesses were far more interested. So we adjusted and focused more on the enterprise. Now we help over the phone with every installation, and provide 24/7 support, and focus on providing great service."

New Zealand is a great place to start, he says, as there is a certain level of helpfulness and openness found here that cannot be replicated elsewhere.

"Chances are, if I wanted to talk to the CIO [chief information officer] of a big NZ company, I would know someone who knows that person."

Trade Me was the company's first customer in New Zealand, using Aptimize software for two of its sites: findsomeone.co.nz and oldfriends.co.nz. Trade Me's client reference has been incredibly helpful, he says.

This year the focus will be on setting up its distribution network in the US and Britain. "We are starting to talk to resellers in the US."

Robinson advises software entrepreneurs to stay focused. "Pick a niche, concentrate on becoming the best at that."