SurePoint, a corporation that supplies practice management, fiscal and client connection items for mid-sized regulation companies, right now announced the appointment of a new CEO, Eric Thurston, a veteran business-transformation chief with far more than two a long time of knowledge scaling and main superior-expansion software program and companies corporations throughout numerous verticals, which include legal.
Enterprise trader Mike Suchsland, a veteran of the lawful technologies market and the former president of Thomson Reuters’ authorized small business, experienced been serving as interim CEO due to the fact October following the departure of Tom Obermaier, who had been CEO since 2018. Suchsland, who has served on SurePoint’s board due to the fact 2018, will now turn into chair of the board.
Centered in Austin, Tex., Thurston most not too long ago served as president and CEO of TCP Program, a workforce administration option company. Through his tenure, TCP doubled its profits, acquired five corporations, released various solutions, like a suite of built-in workforce administration attributes, and garnered prestigious awards.
Prior to TCP, Thurston was CEO of Personify, a company of technological innovation alternatives to associations and nonprofit organizations serving to them greater interact their users and increase earnings. From 2011 to 2013, he was president of Mitratech, a engineering service provider for corporate legal departments. In 2019, Ernst & Younger named Thurston a finalist for the Entrepreneur Of The Year award in Central Texas.
Understand far more about SurePoint at the LawNext Lawful Technologies Listing.
Possibly Expanding or Dying
At SurePoint, Thurston explained to me in an interview Friday, his emphasis will be on taking the business to its following phase of professionalism, client services and progress.
“There are phases in a enterprise just like in something,” he explained. “SurePoint is at that stage of assessing how does it do a much better career of conference the requirements of its clients and how does it proceed to grow. I notify individuals you’re possibly escalating or dying.”
That will include continuing to acquire the up coming-technology of SurePoint’s Legal Administration Method (LMS), creating on SurePoint’s acquisition final yr of acquired Coyote Analytics, a enterprise that presents exercise management, economical management and company intelligence software program for legislation firms.
At the time of that acquisition, SurePoint had stated that users of both LMS and Coyote would get started to see the greatest of each individual technique rolled into the other, with the two solutions continuing to exist, but every single developing on the strengths of the other.
“We can construct a terrific company, have a excellent lifestyle, and we can supply an off ramp for the recent buyers and on ramp for the future ones,” he explained. “We’re likely to operate the business hunting at what we require to do for our prospects in the business and just continue to keep heading.”
Does that suggest that making that off ramp will be 1 of his targets? In 2021, the non-public financial investment firm Aquiline Cash Associates acquired a greater part ownership stake in SurePoint.
It is not, he explained. “My marching orders are to come in and to run the enterprise in a wonderful way, and exactly where there is places to make improvements to, let’s repair all those, and unquestionably let’s not break points that are working well.”
Prospect for Expansion
Thurston, who experienced reasonably brief encounter operating in the lawful sector by way of his time at Mitratech, claimed he is hunting ahead to returning to the legal vertical.
“What I like about this industry is you can get your arms close to it — it is massive sufficient that there’s excellent prospect for us to mature, but it is also not so big and so open up finished that you are trying to figure out which verticals you want to serve, what is your go to marketplace. We can come at this marketplace pretty crisply, very concisely, and be a terrific supplier to the current market and fulfill our expansion aims.”
He was attracted to SurePoint, in unique, by its founded brand popularity and its mid-sector aim. “It’s a excellent brand name, with excellent recognition in the marketplace.”
Mid-sized U.S. corporations will stay SurePoint’s emphasis as the company seeks to further refine its goods and provide in new clients, Thurston explained. “The prepare ideal now is mainly natural and organic expansion.”
He claimed the business will also look at additional acquisitions, constructing on its acquisitions past yr of Coyote and, just before that, of ContactEase consumer relations management computer software.
Finding out Tour
As he ways into the career starting now, Thurston said his immediate aim for at the very least the up coming 90 days is to find out, both equally from buyers and staff. He will be commencing customers phone calls this week and options to invest at minimum a week a thirty day period for the subsequent four months traveling to meet with shoppers.
“I will need to listen to the voice of the clients. What are they satisfied with? What are they frustrated with?”
In the same way, he plans to meet up with with as a lot of personnel as he can and master as much as he can from them about the business enterprise. That will be a obstacle, he admits, for the reason that the company continues to work remotely, but he wants to emphasis on developing a solid enterprise society even with personnel operating nearly.
I requested Thurston whether or not he is worried about stepping into this work at a time when the economy is in disaster.
“CEOs have been working with a single disaster soon after an additional for the final 10 or 15 several years, and you have to discover to roll with it and not overreact to it,” he said.
“We’ve received a business to operate. If we acquire treatment of what is in front of us, servicing our consumers, doing a excellent work, we’ll be great.”