Windward gives companies report-producing solutions

BOULDER – In the competitive world of software manufacturing, Windward Studios Inc. has shown that the little guy can come out on top.

Between 2004 and 2006, Windward’s revenues grew 714 percent – from $138,389 to $1,126,933. Engulfed by a tidal wave of leads, the firm is now hiring additional sales staff.

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The growth made Windward the No. 3 fastest-growing private company with revenues less $2 million on the Boulder County Business Report’s Mercury 100 list.

It expects to move to larger quarters within a few months.

“The growth curve is steep, and that’s probably the biggest challenge facing the company,´ said Brad Feld, an entrepreneur and investor who sits on the company’s board of advisers. In an e-mail, he explained Windward needs to grow internally to support its burgeoning customer base, and it also must accelerate the pace of growth.

“This will be a juicy nugget for a larger company to acquire,” he said.

Windward Reports – the company’s software – enables business users to design and produce monthly statements and other reports that extract information from large corporate databases. It provides an add-on to Microsoft Word and requires neither programming skills nor special training to use.

According to Windward Chief Executive and Vice President of Development, David Thielen, “We can eliminate 90 percent of the design costs.”

Turnaround time is better as well. In large firms, competing demands for programming resources mean that the information technology department may need six to nine months to design a report. The Windward tool helps the business unit control turnaround time, “and the users get the report they want,” Thielen added.

Thielen created the software about three years ago. Within a month it passed what he called “the checkbook test.” It found its first buyer.

Among Windward’s early customers was a bank in Japan. Today, the client roster includes GE Industrial Equipment Services, Fidelity Investments and Pfizer Inc. More than 55 percent of Windward’s customers are outside the United States.

Thielen expects Windward’s revenues to continue doubling annually. “Everyone needs reporting, and they know they need it,” he said.

The benefits of Windward’s product are so compelling, he said, that the U.S. General Services Administration, or GSA, which screens vendors for federal agencies, was the company’s first federal government customer.

Although employees in business units are ultimately the users of the tool, Windward’s marketing currently targets in-house developers and programmers.

“They feel the pain,” Thielen said. “They would rather apply their skills to tasks other than designing reports.”

To reach prospects, Windward uses the Web. Thielen said that most customers find the company through Google.

He said Windward appears on the second or third page of pertinent search results even though it does not invest in “search engine optimization” techniques designed to boost rankings. “People know and like us and link to us,” he said. “We don’t have to game the system. It works the way it’s supposed to.”

In addition to taking advantage of search engines, Windward also produced a short video about two programmers with excess time on their hands because of Windward Reports. Posted on YouTube, “Cubicle Wars” has caught the eye of nearly two million people. In a recent tally, more than 4,000 YouTube viewers had rated it their favorite.

According to Lisa Harris, Windward’s vice president of marketing, the video was much more effective than print advertising or an e-mail campaign. Still, sales results are hard to quantify.

Traffic reaching the company’s Web site through searches for “Windward” (or approximations of the company name, including “WinWord”) doubled, she said. The total number of visits to the Web site also increased dramatically.

“People come and find us online by searching for us by name – not just searching for a solution. It’s been great for branding,” Harris said.

Windward has launched a contest offering more than $18,000 in prizes for videos that mention Windward Reports and appeal to software developers or information technology managers.

The videos appear on YouTube, where viewers can register and vote for their favorites. While Windward will hold distribution rights to the prize-winning videos, the company hopes viewers will freely share the clips with other prospective buyers.

The video approach is a natural extension of Windward’s legacy. At its inception, the company developed computer games, products in which attention-grabbing visuals are a stock in trade. Its founder has also authored a word processing software package for screenwriters.

While Windward Reports faces formidable competition from established firms, Thielen is undaunted.

“It’s cool to beat out a billion-dollar company when you’re competing against their core product,” he said.

About Windward

Windward Studios Inc.

637 B South Broadway, No. 115

Boulder, CO 80305

303-499-2544

www.windwardreports.com

David Thielen, chief executive and vice president of development

Employees: 10 in Boulder

Primary service: Software and services for enterprise reporting

Year founded: 1996