Unexpected Lessons Learned from Two Software Startups

How creating a customer can change us

A reluctant entrepreneur, Rohan thinks of himself more as a philosopher and a theologian than a businessman. Rohan will share insights and lessons learned from 30 years in the printing industry, 20 of which were spent inventing a new class of software tool and leveraging it to compete against some of the biggest names in the game.

• Keep learning – it's amazing what you can learn from books!

• Persist! Just because a competitor is many hundreds of times larger than you does not mean you cannot beat them.

• Treat people the way you want to be treated… customers, employees, even competitors.

• Nurture optimism without losing realism.

• Remember that who you want to become is more important than what you want to achieve in business.

Why your character is more important than achievement

How to treat customers, employees and even competitors the way you want to be treated

Rohan Holt is an Australian who discovered the beauty of the Pacific Northwest when he sold his first software startup to the Lynnwood-based, ScenicSoft, in 1999. Holt had joined the printing industry in Sydney, Australia, in 1986, but taught himself to write software so he could invent the first production planning software tool for the sheetfed commercial printing market in 1995.

In 2002, Holt returned to Australia to found a new company, Metrix Software, and create the next generation of printing industry production planning software, the culmination of Holt’s years of print production experience and accumulated software design expertise. Metrix, launched in 2004, received the prestigious 2005 PIA/GATF InterTech Technology Award, recognized industry-wide as a symbol of technological innovation and excellence. Metrix Software grew to have offices in Edmonds, Washington, Turnhout, Belgium, and south of Sydney, Australia, and Metrix became the worldwide leader in its class of software. During this time Holt was also helping to define printing industry automation standards as an Advisory Board Member of the CIP4 Organization.

In 2013, Metrix Software was acquired by Electronics For Imaging, Inc., and Holt joined EFI as the Director of Metrix Products. Leaving EFI in 2015, Holt has since been studying theology at Northwest University and is currently working on his Pilot's Instrument Rating while waiting for his printing industry non-compete to expire.