From Dave Biggers: Growth makes leading a la mode job for more than one person

I usually don't write articles for this newsletter because our team does a great job of writing industry news. But when it's something personal, I think you should hear it from me.

There's a press release hitting the street right now with details (click here to see it), but in case you don't read it, I'll at least hit the high points here.

Basically, we're growing extremely rapidly and I have to adapt to the needs of a much larger company, which now spans three distinct markets. I used to be able to manage it all, but now that we're over 250 employees, it's almost impossible to have one person at the top of the company. So, I've split my job in two. I used to be the Chairman and CEO, but now I've appointed Scott Kinnaird to the CEO position. Many of you know Scott from his work over the years making Mercury, and now the XSites Network, such a success. I'd appreciate your support of Scott in his new role.

That doesn't mean I'm riding off into the sunset. Quite the contrary – handing the day-to-day management to Scott allows me to dig even deeper into the strategic aspects of the Chairman role, kicking off bigger long term projects in many markets. And in everything from copyright protection to comps data sources to appraisal advocacy organizations, I'll continue to be elbows deep in appraisal issues. To be blunt, our success in the appraisal industry is the goose that lays the golden egg – and rumors to the contrary notwithstanding, I'm not an idiot. I do not take the appraisal business for granted, and never will.

And no, this isn't for any personal reason. It's just good business when you're at this size and still growing at an incredible rate to split the load and keep the company closely managed. I was flabbergasted recently when an industry source contacted us wanting confirmation of the rumor, fed directly to them by one of our competitors no less, that I had cancer and would have to step down. I'm sure our competitors truly wish I had to, but no, there's no "stepping down" going on here, and I'm not sick. I don't even have a headache, though I should after hearing something like this, which just exemplifies the total lack of ethical boundaries of some of these other vendors. It just boggles my mind.

I'm sure you'll eventually hear other rumors also trying to make something out of this. "Dave sold the company" is a common one, but no, I still own 100 percent of it like I always have. "Dave's retiring" is another popular myth, but no, I just wish I was retired. "a la mode's gotten too big and Dave doesn't care about the appraiser anymore" is one I've heard others say, but I'm still here, will always be an appraiser, and know that you have lots of choices in software and will go elsewhere if we don't use our superior size and resources to help you, which we're doing. These things are all just wishful thinking by competitors, but that doesn't stop them from fueling the speculation and trying to play on your fears.

Speaking of using resources and fears, note in the press release (click here), that we've not only added new development and training offices in Salt Lake and Orlando this year, but also opened a legal affairs and lobbying office in Washington, DC. That's something our competitors wouldn't be likely to do even if they did have the money to pull it off, because we're unique in caring about your position in the industry and putting our money where our mouths are. We're not in fear of angering large lenders, because they do the same thing – lobby for their best interests. It's in our best interest for the appraisal business to be healthy and vibrant, and we'll continue to do our best to help that be true, whether I work as the CEO, the Chairman, or I mop the floors.

Dave Biggers
Chairman
a la mode, inc.