Advising the Gov Tech Market

All right, TGIF, and welcome back to another episode of GovTech's In Case You Missed It. It is a holiday week coming off of the 4th of July. I think Joe and my ears are still rattling from all the fireworks. And just like those fireworks, the market continues to be hot, and we're seeing a lot of activity, a lot of M&A, a lot of private equity, a lot of new innovation and new entrants from startups to companies that are at different stages. And we thought it might be fitting to bring on a longtime friend, GovTech veteran, and enterprise SaaS and advisor for GovTech companies, Angela Langston of Langston Advisors, to share some insights about what she's seen in this hot market and talk a little bit about some of the common challenges that are there and offer her advice for the next generation of GovTech companies and their leaders. So let's welcome to the show Angela.

Hey, it is hot out there and it is hot in GovTech. That is so true. It's wild, is it not?

It is wild. Every day is a new set of articles and other things.

So never, never when I started my career 20-plus years ago did I think that GovTech would be as hot as it is today, but the results prove, you know, for themselves, right?

Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, maybe to start, let's dig in on that 25+ years in this market. Share a little bit about your background. You know, you've been with 3 companies that have exited in this space, so you've had an incredible journey on this rocket of GovTech. So tell us a little bit about that.

Yeah, you bet. Believe it or not, I actually started as an intern back before Y2K. Yes, don't, don't, don't be cruel to me, please.

We won't judge.

Yeah, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. But yeah, I mean, that's when it all started. I actually started as an intern for a company by the name of Open Data Systems. You may be familiar, you may not, but they had some pretty big logos back in the early 2000s with City of Columbus and City of Albuquerque. It was around that time that actually Open Data Systems was one of the companies that formed what is now known as Accela. You guys know that name, right?

Oh yeah.

Yeah. So crazy enough, I was actually one of the founding employees at Accela, and I built my career at Accela. I like to say I grew up there. I held different positions in business development, account management, created all different sorts of functions, including customer success and really everything that kind of touches that customer journey, if you will, over the course of 20 years. And as a senior executive, I experienced my first exit there at Accela, which was a very, very exciting one. And I think at the time was either one of or the largest that GovTech had seen. So that was really cool. And at that point in my career, I wanted to do it all over again. I was like, hey, I'm ready to roll up my sleeves, find a GovTech solution, but one that was maybe just a little bit different than, um, Accela had provided. And so I went with SeamlessDocs. You're probably familiar with them, uh, form application solution with workflow. It was a pure SaaS platform, and that's really what excited me. I had come from the on-prem to cloud in that transition world to really wanting that pure SaaS experience, which I got at Seamless Docs. Seamless Docs was acquired by CoFile, and then at that point I decided to join the amazing journey with OpenGov. And OpenGov at the time, uh, was reporting transparency, budgeting, and planning, and while I was there became the modern cloud ERP for government. So it's been an incredible journey And after 3 years at OpenGov, I thought, hey, I want to do something I haven't done before, which is I want to help as many companies as I possibly can in different stages. And I want to do that through offering my expertise and guidance to as many GovTech companies as possible.

I feel like we should all get shirts saying, I was in GovTech before GovTech was cool. But the 3 companies that you mentioned, I mean, look, We've covered them extensively, government technology, for the reasons that you've identified. But when you look closer at the market in terms of the complexities of working with the public sector and you look across your experience, were there any common challenges that you dealt with those firms that were consistent?

Absolutely. I will say, and I only say this with the utmost respect to GovTech, Governments do all feel like they are unique, and with that comes the request to GovTech companies to build exactly what they may have in their head or had previously and want to replicate, or simply kind of are thinking to themselves, hey, this is a need that I have in the moment. And sometimes those needs rapidly change based on what's going on. I mean, COVID is a great example, right? There was suddenly a need for sidewalk cafes. So what, what I tend to do as I progress with these companies and with my teammates is say, let's stay focused. Let's make sure that we're providing the best possible product. to the right product-market fit, ideal customer profile. That's really what it's all about. And if you can stay true to that and be focused, you're gonna be golden.

Yeah, I think that's great advice for those companies that are out there. Now, you know, you've seen a lot in this market. As Joe said, you know, you were in GovTech before it was cool. I think we all can wear that shirt. That's right. But, you know, what's changed and what remains the same? You know, looking back over that 25 years, I mean, I remember conversations about open data that we're still having today and some of these other things, but what do you see?

Well, I mean, look, for me it kind of boils down— and so I love that, you know, you kind of threw open data out there— but everybody needs to report. Like, people tend to put reporting on the back end, but it's so important to put it on the front end because at the you know, at the end of the day, if they can't pull the reports they need and provide either city council or their constituents with the information they need, it's worthless, right?

Right.

So, that's a consistent theme for sure, is, hey, I've got to be able to produce these mission-critical reports when I need them and how I need them. And I think the other consistent theme is definitely integrations. How many companies tout, I'm a platform, I can integrate with anyone, But hey, let's face it. I mean, these systems are really only as good as the ability to interconnect across the government entities and those entities outside of the government, as well as most importantly, the citizens and the constituents. I know that's a tricky thing. Do you say citizens, constituents? What do you say? What do you guys say?

I go with residents. I always stick with residents.

Yeah, and then you got customers, you get— you got citizens, customers, constituents, you know, you got all these different things. So yeah.

Always debatable, right? And it's that, that public-facing piece. So one of the struggles I think has always been how do we provide more online services? How do we provide more communication? Um, you think of the You know, a couple years ago it was like, hey, we want to be able to provide Amazon-like services, FedEx-like services. The desire to, you know, provide information for an easier communication stream with customers at the end of the day has always been there, but I think it really wasn't forced to the forefront until COVID hit. Like, when COVID hit, it was such a huge milestone for GovTech because at that moment in time, it was essential to be able to provide services like we all use every single day. And there was a time in government where maybe some people were using laptops, some people were using phones, A lot of people weren't. And then now all of a sudden everyone's a user of this thing called an iPhone, right? So we've been kind of catapulted into this situation where you have to provide online services, and I really think governments are trying as much as possible to deliver that type of service just like any private industry would.

Absolutely. And I think you look at the, the market, not only how it's matured, You look at the companies that you've worked with, the companies that you've mentioned so far. Now there's a much larger ecosystem of companies that are almost exclusively, if not exclusively, focused on only serving US state and local or even SLED entirely. So I want to dig a little bit more into that spark you talked when you kind of did the intro in terms of this recent transition that you've made to now go out and help more GovTech companies.

Yeah.

So maybe you can share with the audience what led you to change your direction from being an executive at a GovTech company to now helping more companies successfully scale their business?

You know, Joe, what I found is that each company, and depending on the stage of growth and where they were in their evolution, they were always struggling with kind of the same things. And, you know, I think it's always important to think forward and say, you know, what kind of company do you want to be when you're $50 million? What type of company do you want to be when you're $100 million? And these are equally important when you're just trying to get from $5 million to say $10 million and $10 million to $20 million. And so what I always advise and really what I was most passionate about making this transition for was to really help companies understand how you build for scale correctly. You can grow and you can grow in unhealthy ways, but what I and all the companies I've been with have really focused on how do you grow successfully? How do you grow the right way? And I really wanted to, you know, bottle up those experiences and be able to help as many companies as possible say, hey, how do you grow correctly? How do you prepare operationally? How do you take your systems and really your people, your tools, your technology, and how do you build for scale? the right way. That is so absolutely critical and really near and dear to my heart.

Yeah, I love that. Now, you've seen your fair set of challenges within the market too. I mean, over 25 years, government has had a lot of challenges that you've had to help solve. What would you tell those GovTech companies are, you know, some of the best opportunities for them to look at tackling?

Oh man, and there are, yeah, there are so many opportunities right now, right? You know, one of the things that blows my mind, and this kind of goes back to your earlier question, which is what's changed and what stayed the same. I mean, I remember again back in early 2000 when Accela launched their web-based product, and, you know, it was like, what is this? We couldn't possibly think of, you know, outsourcing our software, right? And, and to see that evolution over time, but to be honest, it's still all about cloud. It's still all about moving to the cloud. And I know for folks that aren't in GovTech, they're probably like, what, are you serious? But it's so true, and there's so much opportunity there for, you know, numerous reasons. And I'll cite a couple examples. You know, there are some solutions where simply some of these emerging companies and technologies just do it better than even the early companies that came out with a pure SaaS play, right? And so it's important to constantly be looking at new software and new technology as a government to say, hey, you know, just because I am in the cloud with a product, there may be a newer and better product that I would want to use. But also just there's still a lot of systems in there that were put in place Y2K, right? that need to now be replaced. And then there's other systems that maybe were deployed 10 years ago, 15 years ago, and, you know, now they're becoming outdated. They're, they're still on-premise, believe it or not. And so I see a lot of companies that have still on-premise deployments that they got to figure out how to move to the cloud. And then I do see those new emerging technologies that just have a ton of market opportunity.

You're right. I think it's, you know, even stuff from 5 years ago, uh, in that timeframe we're seeing, you know, be pushed out and, and agencies are now kind of defining it as legacy and no longer meeting their needs. So the market is moving much, much quicker, like we talked about, you know, when we started here on this episode. I'm sure we could also dedicate a whole episode to answering this next question that we have between the 3 of us here, but what questions are you most frequently asked by GovTech companies who are engaging and talking with you today?

Well, as hot as the market is, um, you know, folks are really starting to be cognizant of the fact that they need to at least be able to operate at cash flow break-even. They know that their money is tight, right? And that they need to start being very, very mindful about their total cost of their operation and, you know, ideally be able to make some profit and to show, you know, how they will be profitable. It's just not like it was in the days where, you know, VCs were, you know, pumping lots of cash in. And even on, you know, growth equity and private equity, while there always has been this mindfulness around really being you know, cash flow breakeven, if not positive, you still need to be able to really understand what's the exit strategy. So I think more and more companies are starting to think to themselves, how do I become cash flow breakeven? And how do I figure out what my exit strategy is sooner rather than later? And how am I just more mindful about how I operate and build for scale?

Yeah, great, uh, great feedback. Now, you've been involved in, uh, 3 different exits in an executive role, so you have kind of a unique vantage point to, uh, to this landscape of success and successfully exiting a company. And, you know, this is a question that I often get a lot too, which is, you know, when you look at the market and you look at these successful exits, are there tactics or strategies or kind of a secret sauce that may be underlying that is consistent across all 3 that you might be able to share with the, uh, with the wider audience of hungry entrepreneurs looking to copy your success?

Yeah, you bet. Um, I mean, I would say product, product, product. If you have a solid product and then you make it easy to sell, deliver, support, That is the secret sauce, right? Start with the product and make sure that product is the main focus of the operations, keeping in mind that customer journey. And at the end of the day, if it's a really solid product, it is going to seamlessly be able to be sold, delivered, and supported with minimal cost and effort.

So building on that advice, If there's someone here that just tuned into this episode today and they're just thinking, hey, I think I'm gonna dip my toes in, in GovTech, uh, they're brand new to the market, what advice would you have for them?

Do it. Absolutely do it. Um, you know, to our earlier conversation, I kind of go back to, uh, where GovTech was, you know, in the early 2000s. And it was like, you know, I'll never forget a recruiter said to me Well, Angela, you only have experience in GovTech. And, you know, it was kind of like using this limiting language like it was some sort of a, I don't know, like a downfall. And, you know, I think about that advice and how awful, you know, that conversation was because GovTech has just been incredibly rewarding to me for a number of reasons. And I know you all too, which is hey, we're changing lives and we're making a difference every single day. There's not many industries where you can absolutely say every interaction is meaningful and purposeful. It is actually making a difference in the day-to-day lives of building strong communities, safe communities that we want to live in and we want our grandchildren to live in. And so, You know, as hot as the market is around GovTech, the work itself is so incredibly rewarding, not just from a monetary perspective, but from a purpose-based perspective that I would absolutely encourage everyone to be a part of.

Yeah, we echo that and completely agree. I mean, I think having a mission orientation in addition to, you know, that product focus is definitely The key to success in this market. So really appreciate you sharing your insight. Now the last question I have for you is, where can our audience go to connect with you? So if you've got, you know, a startup or a company—

Yeah, yeah, I mean, just, just connect with me on LinkedIn. I'm always kind of out there. I will respond if you have any questions. If I can be helpful in any way, I'm there for you. I want to see as many people enter into the GovTech space as possible. It's an amazing place to be, incredible opportunity, and again, very mission-based. You can make a difference. So let me know how I can help.

Well, Angela, we appreciate you coming on In Case You Missed It and joining Dustin and I this week, especially after the holiday.

Thank you so much for having me. You guys are awesome. Keep it up.

Yeah, great to see you again.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.