Timing counts for so much in business, Kevin Garber CEO of Manage Flitter

By @SimonCocking, great interview with Kevin Garber entrepreneurial sort. Co-Founder / CEO of ManageFlitter & host of the It’s a Monkey podcast . Nature lover. Music obsessive

What’s your background briefly?

I grew up in Johannesburg South Africa, where I worked in live talkback radio. I moved to Sydney Australia after my undergraduate degree where I got involved with tech start-ups. I started by own business in my 20s and here I am today!

Does it seem like a logical progression to what you do now?

Yes, I always wanted to start a business, create value, provide jobs and have satisfied customers.

ManageFlitter, the 1 min pitch, what does it do, and what is the business model?

ManageFlitter helps Twitter users clean-up and grow their Twitter account. ManageFlitter layers a set of search, sorting, filtering tools on top of your Twitter account.

Need assistance? Contact our Support Team via the ManageFlitter Dashboard: https://t.co/nvHqI3Gq5S or email [email protected]

— ManageFlitter (@ManageFlitter) September 14, 2016

How did the idea and then the business emerge for ManageFlitter?

I feel in love with Twitter in 2008. I asked one of my team members to create a tool to see who was not following you back on Twitter. He did a great job. We released the tool to the general public and people started to use it. It all grew from there.

Looking back is there anything you’d do differently?

Many things but hindsight is 20/20 right? Timing counts for so much in business. Some potentially good decisions didn’t translate to successful outcomes due to mismatched timings. For example certain team members not working out because I couldn’t quite create the exact
right role for them at the time, but today they would be delivering strongly in a newly created more appropriate role.

My latest Podcast is LIVE!

Fantastic interview with @CathyHackl about all things AR & VR. https://t.co/xnx8cLLmkK

I hope you enjoy. pic.twitter.com/4tBvXlRz2z

— Kevin Garber (@Ke_Ga) December 9, 2016

I have been enjoying your podcasts, in the most recent one you asked the US Forbes reporter about the profile of Australian startups in the US. Do you find this a challenge / less than optimal?

An increasing amount of all business activity today across the globe is location agnostic. Whilst our main market is in the US our customers don’t really care where we are based as long as we do a good job at giving them what they want. We do have a full time team
customer service team member on the West Coast so that helps us keep the finger on the pulse with the US customers.

You have grown your business to 15 people, what tips would you give to others in growing their businesses?

Always remember to see things from your customers’ as well as your team member’s perspective. Your team and your customers are the pillars on which your success will be built. On the tough days remind yourself how far you have come and that business is only business. On the good days use the momentum to focus and push forward and remind yourself that business is only business.

What’s next for you guys?

We are launching a brand new product in the new year – ManageSocial (ManageSocial.com) – this is a totally reworked version of ManageFlitter including Instagram functionality. We are very excited to unveil this to our users as it really improves the user experience in so many ways.

Have you been to Ireland / Europe what’s your take on it as a potential place for a business like yours?

I have been to Dublin and LOVED it! I can’t wait to get back. Our tech lead is from outside of Belfast so we have an Irish link there too! We have many users in Europe. I don’t think we will ever have a physical presence there but who knows!

Anything else we should have asked / you’d like to add?

Thanks for the opportunity to chat with you.

If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at [email protected] or on Twitter: @SimonCocking