Anthony Putignano of Xonatek
Anthony Putignano of Xonatek is definitely a unique entrepreneur. His positive outlook on life and the tight relationships he has with friends, family, and clients has helped steer him on the path to success. He’s determined, motivated, ambitious, and young. Anthony’s a web entrepreneur on a mission and he’s here to stay.
Tell me a bit about the focus of your company. How did the idea come about? What was the brainstorming process like? Did you feel that your particular niche was unexplored or one that just needed improvement?
Xonatek is a web design & development business with a strong focus on servicing small to mid-sized businesses. For me, Xonatek is not so much a realization of an “idea” I had, but more the natural extension of a lifelong hobby mixed with some heavy business and marketing savvy. The niche I’m in, if you can even call it that, had a definite need for improvement. Too many web design & development firms cater to only two types of potential clients: Client A wants a < $500 cookie-cutter website, whereas Client B might want to spend $30,000 on a completely customized solution. Client C, your typical small to mid-sized business, is left searching for a company that caters specifically to them and they have trouble finding one that is competent, credible, and willing to look at the opportunity as a long-term relationship rather than a month-long contract.
What inspires you as an entrepreneur? Any companies or people in particular?
I suppose you would expect me to say Bill Gates, Michael Dell or Albert Einstein here. Sure, they are all amazing individuals. But what really inspires me are the everyday acquaintances, friends and family members that I personally know, not people who have already reached the big-time and can only be read about in magazines. Because guess what? The people on the bottom are the people who can tell you what they need, why they need it, and how they think it should be done. Bill Gates and Michael Dell are now only inspired by their stockholders, and although I can’t claim to know them on a personal level, I’m sure their inspirations when they were starting out were not the people they looked up to, but rather their love for what they did and the everyday people they did it for.
What are some of the roadblocks or setbacks that you have encountered as being an entrepreneur and how have you gotten past them?
Of course, there are always obstacles in the way of success. I’ve had my share of them, and to go into detail about each one would be monotonous. So, instead, I’ll speak about my latest. I recently had PRK laser surgery performed on my eyes. I was told the recovery would be a few days and then I would be back to normal. That was over two months ago. For the first month, I had headaches so painful that all I wanted to do was sleep. Things have gotten better since then, but I still see starbursts around bright lights and have dry eyes most of the time. It was hard enough getting through the first month, but I was able to do it for two reasons: (1) I had surrounded myself with people eager to help me at the drop of a hat, and (2) I kept positive and told myself that in life/business, there are obstacles, and that often, they are not permanent. As the old saying goes, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, and rather than looking at my situation as a blow to my business and my self-esteem, I looked at it as a unique opportunity to grow stronger and wiser.
How old are you and have you ever not been taken seriously because you’re so young?
I just turned 21 last month. Surprisingly, when I started Xonatek a few years back, I thought my age would factor into my business in a negative way. But in fact, the effect has been quite the opposite. Rather than allowing my age to hinder my abilities, I use it to my advantage by following two simple rules:
• Respect is mutual. If you treat everybody with respect, whether it is a potential client or your next-door neighbor, people are more likely to reciprocate. Oftentimes, young people are stereotyped as crass and disrespectful. By proving them wrong on that front, you automatically “brand” yourself as somebody who is a positive exception to the rule.
• Once somebody respects you, the only thing you have left to prove is that you can be trusted. Gaining somebody’s trust means being open about who you are, what type of experience you possess, and what your intentions are. I don’t sidestep the fact that I’m 21; I bring it up, although not in so many words. I make it clear that because I am young, I am not jaded; I have a fresh outlook on everything and the drive to do keep that up for another few decades. And on top of that, I have a few years of experience and a lot of satisfied clients under my belt already. So, not only am I serious about what I do, but I do it well, and plan to continue doing so for a long time to come.
What are some of the things that you consider before designing a new website for a client?
Inevitably, the first question that enters my mind upon meeting a potential client is: Will this client provide me with not only a short-term contract, but also a long-lasting relationship that will be mutually beneficial down the line?
If the first thing a client asks me about is my pricing, I immediately turn a cold shoulder. Personally, if I am shopping around for a particular service, I look first for quality, then for price. When you pay for a quality service, you are paying not only for a better product, but also a better relationship with the provider. If a potential client doesn’t understand that, then find one that does. If you only concentrate your efforts on clients interested in long-term relationships, then before you know it, you will have a client base that you can feed off of – they will provide you with advice and feedback, they will come back to you with future projects, and they will refer other quality clients directly to you.
In your own view, how would you define the internet 10 years from now?
I think the internet ten years from now is something that will have trouble defining itself. Already, we are seeing this. Is a website something you view on a personal computer, a TV, a PDA? What exactly is a personal computer? One thing is for sure: the internet ten years from now will be less about static information viewable only from a computer monitor, and more about dynamic information that you can interact with from anywhere on virtually any device.
Where do you see yourselves in 5 years?
I see myself doing the same thing I am now, and most likely supporting many of the same clients. Times change, technology changes, but people don’t change. Business requires you to stay ahead of the curve; as long as you can do that, your current clients will stick with you and future clients will take notice.
Talk to me about the support from your family and friends. Good, bad, none?
The people I surround myself with are extremely supportive and there is not one day that passes that I don’t thank my lucky stars for that. Without people that can cheer you on when you’re doing well and pick you up when you’re not, the world is a lonely, unforgiving place. It’s important to keep those bonds and not burn bridges. On the other hand, when possible and necessary, it is equally as important to sever ties with negative influences, and there are times when I have been forced to do just that. If somebody you know doesn’t respect your dreams, then they don’t respect you, and it’s downright unhealthy to surround yourself with that type of negative energy.
Describe a typical day in the office?
Time management is key. Without a set of written goals, tasks, milestones, and a timeline to tie them all together, you are shooting a bunch of random arrows into some heavy wind. I write down my long-term goals, then write down the short-term goals that will help me reach them. I then break down those short term goals into tasks, which I assign to different days of the week. It’s important to be realistic and hold yourself accountable. Once I decide that Monday will consist of following up with specific people, meeting up with a client, and reviewing a project with an employee, then I do not let myself get wrapped up in mundane/unnecessary tasks. Instead, I concentrate on what was originally planned, and I don’t let myself stop working for the day until I have accomplished just that.
Were you ever told to get a “real job” and just forget about being an entrepreneur? If so, how did that make you feel and what was your response?
This goes back to the question about the type of support I receive from family, friends, etc. Everybody I know is extremely respectful of my efforts, but a select few respectfully express opinions that I don’t agree with, such as the fact that I am too young to have this type of weight on my shoulders, and it would be more secure to simply work on a generic corporate level in the future. On the contrary, it’s more evident than ever that each person is his or her own freelancer. Just because you are working for somebody, that doesn’t mean you are safe, and I venture to say that it means you are even worse off than the average entrepreneur. With that said, I believe that I am at the prime age to have this type of weight on my shoulders. I can mentally and physically handle more stress now than I will be able to twenty years from now. In addition, the extra time allows me to experiment and think outside of the box a little bit. I need only fend for myself, and I won’t have that type of luxury forever. I will inevitably marry, have children, and settle down. At that point, I know I can keep a successful business running, but I’m not so sure I would have the energy to start fresh. What better time than NOW to jump-start my career?
Have you dabbled in any form of entrepreneurism prior to starting your company?
Prior to starting Xonatek, I had little to no entrepreneurial experience. I think I spent most of my childhood as a complete sponge. I had the rest of my life to experiment, so at the time, all I was interested in was gaining the knowledge that I could use later. In retrospect, I regret that. Because now that I am out there “on the field”, I’m increasingly aware that knowledge, wisdom, experimentation and success are things that are not necessarily attained one at a time in any specific order. They key is to build on each one of these things as you go along, and as the opportunities arise.
Can you talk a bit about the designing and programming industry for students trying to go this route?
It’s rough and it’s certainly only for the most determined people out there. I have two reasons for this statement:
The first is more the here and now, and it lies in the fact that it’s hard to break into this industry when there are already seasoned professionals out there. The key is to find clients that other firms/freelancers won’t go near, most likely because they don’t have enough money to spend. Offer to do it for them cheap, and better yet, tell them you’ll do it for free. This will not only build your skills and your assets, but it will also help you to create your first connections which you can then build upon.
The second reason this industry is tough is because technology changes a lot. If you looked back 40 years, you would see people programming by typing a bunch of 1’s and 0’s. Now, you have people looking at GUI’s and using intelligent object-oriented programming. It’s a whole new world, and that’s only in the last 40 years. The next 40 years will bring change that is even more tremendous. If you want to be in this industry, you have to be dedicated to not only learning the newest technology, but also staying ahead of the curve and anticipating it. Because if you don’t, your competitors will. Case in point – Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 7, AJAX – these are all things that are just on the verge of becoming commonplace and will completely saturate the market within one year’s time. And as a web design & development firm, I know I better be ready for them. Because if IE7 breaks some of my clients’ website code, or if a client requests a “standard” AJAX application for their site and I’m not familiar with how to code it, then said client will move right on to a company that can. It’s just that simple.
What’s your take on the whole go-to-school-get-a-good-job-work-for someone-for-40 years-then-retire-comfortably-somewhere philosophy?
The fact is, without those types of people, us entrepreneurs would never reach our goals. Everybody has a different personality and that’s a good thing because if everybody had the desire and willpower to start their own company, then it would be one fierce battle to the top and nobody would win. You would have 10,000 Michael Dell’s running around with a bunch of big dreams yet no employees to make Dell a reality. So, if you’re the type of person who values security, and you want to follow that lifestyle, great, go for it – the world needs people like you. But if you have different plans, then don’t settle because after all, the world needs people like you too.
What advice would you give to another budding entrepreneur with big dreams and high hopes of success?
Dream big, use those dreams to create realistic goals, and then break those goals down to important milestones and tasks. Realize that reaching those goals are the last step of the process – everything in between, as encouraging or discouraging as it may seem, is simply one little step. Don’t let a small setback turn into a big one; any good entrepreneur knows that when a mess is made, there is no time to stare at it and gripe, just enough time to clean it up and make sure it never happens again. And in the same respect, don’t let a small victory leave you feeling overconfident. Rather than riding out a small success, look at it as a temporary building block for an even bigger success down the road.
