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Entrepreneur Files
Euclid Technology
UT Connection: Charles Vinal, MBA 95
Location: Bethesda, MD
Euclid, the father of modern geometry, developed a structured mathematical approach to make sense of the phenomena of the physical world. It is for this ancient historical figure that Charles Vinal (MBA 95) named Euclid Technology, a small software and consulting company which he founded in 1997. “We don’t implement systems to automate the mess,” Vinal avows. “We apply technology and business savvy to complex business problems, and like Euclid, create understanding and opportunity out of disorder.”
Located in Bethesda, MD, Euclid provides integrated Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Electronic Commerce software to mid-sized, customer-focused organizations. Euclid’s core client base currently consists of member-based organizations, like trade and professional associations, which proliferate in the nation’s capital. However, the company is rapidly expanding into other markets, such as subscription management, event management, and catalog sales, where the use of its software provides a clear competitive advantage to its clients.
With only 10 full-time employees, Vinal says that Euclid’s object-oriented approach to software development allows it to compete with companies that have five times as many software developers on staff. “This is a way to build software such that single objects can be combined together to make larger pieces of software,” he explains. “It’s easier and quicker because each new piece of software inherits a basic functionality that’s already been built.” Small and nimble, Euclid’s solutions often cost half of what a larger, more established company would charge and take less time to implement.
“We work closely with clients to understand their current business environment and help them define their new organizational vision. We then help redefine their processes and determine an optimal organizational structure, always emphasizing a business process innovation approach,” says Vinal. It is only then that Euclid implements its integrated software package, ClearVantage (formerly known as MSAS). “We try to align people, process, organization and technology to help our clients realize their full business potential.”
Having started with just one client, the company has grown steadily over the past three years, without benefit of venture capital. “We were so busy and had so many clients that I never had the luxury to sit down and refine a plan to seek money. However, we are now finalizing the business plan for venture capital and will be seeking investors starting in May,” Vinal says Euclid moves into larger office space this spring and is planning to expand while still retaining the dexterity of a small company.
Like many people who decide to earn an MBA, Vinal had come to a point in his career as a financial analyst and self-taught programmer that he knew he needed to get a higher level business perspective in order to do what he really wanted to do. He picked UT-Austin specifically for the Information Systems Management program, which at that time was a new, highly exclusive program. “Aside from how to manage the technology, the biggest thing that UT taught me was how to balance a vast amount of work,” says Vinal. “That was great preparation for starting your own business—you simply can’t stop for anything.”
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