"We thought our company was invincible. We had a market leadership position, going into the recession we had a million dollars in the bank. Then our world changed: we found out in the fall of 2010 that our major investor needed to sell. We needed to fund a buyout immediately, or face being bought or even being dismantled. I tapped our employees for ideas. They rose to the occasion. As a result, we dedicated 30% of our company, quite possibly a record, to employee stock options. And we bought back our company in May 20, 2011. Running a growth company in a down economy doesn't scare me at all. In fact, it's a thrill." -- David K. Williams
What used to scare you that you're not afraid of anymore?
David K. Williams has 30 years of professional sales and business leadership
experience to Fishbowl, where he has held the top office since 2004, when
he was brought in by investors to close the struggling small company down.
Instead, David recognized value in the product and employees that allowed
him to enact a company turnaround, while succeeding three prior CEOs who
had been unable to help the business succeed. Since taking the top office at
Fishbowl, David has been instrumental in making Fishbowl Inventory the top
requested (and the only fully integrated) solution for use in conjunction with
Quickbooks, and has helped the software become increasingly popular as a
standalone or hosted solution as well. During his tenure Fishbowl has garnered
national recognition including positions on the Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Private
Companies and the Deloitte Fast 500 lists, as well as numerous regional and
local awards.
Prior to his years as CEO of Fishbowl and as a business turnaround and
management consultant, David was CEO of Franklin Quest Canada, and later
Managing Director of First Things First, a division of Covey Leadership, a world
leader in time management and leadership consulting. David attended BYU and
studied Business Management.