By Jennifer Karpus, Tire Business staff
SCRANTON, Pa. (July 21, 2014) — Net Driven, a software-as-a-service technology firm, has moved to a new headquarters in Scranton where it held an open house July 17.
It has taken a lot of effort from a lot of people to get Net Driven where it is today, Patrick Sandone, founder and president of Net Driven, said during the open house.
“The team that we have at Net Driven, people who dedicated hours and hours, extra hours, every week; every day to kind of bring this together,” he said.
The 15,000-sq.ft.-office space is a far cry from where the company started just a few years ago in a one-room office.
“Our core focus is helping independent automotive businesses thrive,” Mr. Sandone said.
“With that core focus, we've also helped our community here in Scranton, Pa., thrive.”
Mr. Sandone said applying the “Hedgehog Concept” is what has really made the company successful. This concept is all about focus. There are challenges when starting a business, he said, and one of your biggest enemies can be the business owner him- or herself, the lack of focus.
When going through all these challenges, on has to to “keep your eye on the prize.”
Stay tuned to tirebusiness.com for a virtual tour of the new office space and for stories from the Dealer Conference.
Following something one is really passionate about, being the best at what one does and finding a way to make money doing it are the three things Mr. Sandone said are the three components of the “Hedgehog Concept” and has helped Net Driven succeed.
More than half of Net Driven's staff not only has technology experience, he said, but also experience in the automotive industry.
Addressing those attending the ribbon-cutting, Mr. Sandone half-jokingly stated his goal is to have a skyscraper down the street with 1,000 employees in it.
“It's Pat Sandone's vision, his willingness to stick with it, got it done,” said Corey O'Brain, Lackawanna County Commissioner.
He credits Mr. Sandone's parents for instilling that drive in him.
“He always had this passion in the automotive industry and here we are today,” Mr. O'Brien said.
His innovation is what has helped Net Driven grow to 60 employees and counting and “that's what's going to make in five years, that skyscraper because I guarantee it's coming if Pat Sandone's involved in it.”
The new office space is complete with two conference rooms and a large working area with cubicles, along with some additional offices. The walls have some innovative quotes to inspire staff, along with a wall-size mural of Tony Stark — Marvel Comics' Iron Man — who the Net Driven team deemed as a symbol of innovation and being on the cutting-edge of technology.
Mr. Sandone also credits the support of his wife, Kelly, along with his parents and the rest of his family as motivation for him to keep fighting through the challenges to make Net Driven a success.
“And also local state officials and programs that really helped support us with money, advice and a lot of other intangibles that helped accelerate the success that we have today.”
The Open House event also included a mini car show and had two DJs, one outside and one inside the headquarters. The Open House event came after Net Driven's first Dealer Conference.
