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The Main Event:
The Ups & Downs in the Software Industry
Captured by an introduction that threatened to erase the time allotted to our speaker, Alex Rule got the hook by none other than speaker Dan Vetras, an old friend of Rule’s and currently President and CEO of Captura, headquartered in Kirkland.
“What a year’s it’s been!” Vetras said. “To the challenging economy, the February 28th earthquake (which shook up his company’s board meeting), and September 11th and its aftermath. I was in New York that day and usually stay at the Trade Center Marriott. It was truly an amazing, life-altering experience. I’ve been traveling in Europe since the attack and Europeans are just as concerned.”
On another note, Vetras said, “I couldn’t hate the Yankees more! Alex and I go back a long time as Boston Red Sox fans. And, with the college football season peaking, who’s really better: the Cougars or the Huskies? Won’t be long until we find out.”
Who is Captura? “Our company automates expense processing for corporations and businesses. It’s a web-based financial service enabling companies to control corporate expenses. It automates the processing of travel, entertainment, and procurement transactions for the Global 2000 market. For this reason, we have a sales and marketing reach throughout the world.”
Captura cuts costs for business. Users can make entries through many paths, such as cable TV hook-ups, to process their expense reports. It’s an end-to-end process, with global support in multiple languages.
Vetras outlined the company’s Vision, Mission & Values. “The V in Vision revolutionizes the way companies save time and money by using our systems. The M for Mission is the way our products fundamentally change the way expense transactions are handled.”
Captura in the community translates its business credo into support of many programs, primarily, financial, and volunteer support to the Bellevue Boys & Girls Club and planting trees and shrubs for Preserve Planet Earth (twice). The company has only 185 employees, but the average experience of the company’s management team is 25 years. “There’s no substitute for experience,” said Vetras.
“Business is changing today. There is more scrutiny than ever on everything. Employees are searching for deeper meaning beyond the strike price of options. There is more delay in big dollar decisions and more focus on cost control and cost reduction. Return-On-Investment has to be quick and quantifiable.”
“We found that contracting with our clients by outsourcing our services was just what they were looking for. And, we’ve been able to show clients how to save money (Ford, as an example)”
Dan pointed out that his company’s goals and objective are much like Rotary’s 4-way Test. “These values are what we need now more than ever.”
Truth equals honesty in the way we do business.
Is it fair to all concerned? Respectful of those with whom we do business?
Building goodwill and better friendships – integrity.
Will it be beneficial to all concerned? Translates to honesty, integrity, respect.
If you don’t have a win-win situation, it doesn’t fly. We also want our clients to be successful.
Because of the situation in the business world today, there are a lot of suppliers selling a lot of FUD – fear, uncertainty and doubt.
So, the 2001 Lessons Learned so far: It’s a back-to-basics year. “We must perform, perform, perform. We’ve learned we must get closer to stakeholders than ever, which includes our customers, employees, investors, and partners.”
“A real business and a great team are beautiful things. Live your values – 4 Ways, 4 Ever.”
For his well-prepared and delivered talk, Mr. Vetras was presented a certificate representing 600 pounds of food purchased for Rotary First Harvest in his name.
Thanks to Alex Rule for his introduction.
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