Sid Payne
CEO / Founder, ViaTek
Employee Spotlight
What’s your name and official title (even if it’s something like “Chief Chaos Coordinator”)?
Officially, my title is CEO. Of course, I like CEO/Founder. Everyone wants to be a "Founder" these days because it sounds cool, even (or especially) if you are the founder of an utter failure. Essentially, my job is to help my team help our clients. However, in the end, I still do a lot of the day-to-day, nuts-and-bolts work in the company. Ultimately, the buck stops with me at the end of the day. I am responsible and accountable for everything we do.
Tell us the short version of how you started the company. What made you think, “Hey, I can do this better”?
I have been entrepreneurial since I started mowing lawns for neighbors as an early teenager. Even when I had full-time jobs, I typically always had a side hustle, long before that term became as common as it is now. Not all of them were legal at the time, but that's not the point.
I developed an affinity for computers in my late teens and early 20s. I was no tech genius, and I wasn't into soldering boards together or anything, but I liked basic upgrades, messing around with really simple programming, and mostly playing games. I got my first tech job because a friend that I traded floppy disks with thought I was decent at tech and got me in. I advanced in that job because I thought of going into the office in the middle of the night and pressing a key that kept the database indexing progress going all night. It was silly, but it showed out-of-the-box thinking and reduced the time the project took by several hours.
Fast forward a few years, and I had founded a one-man IT shop. It was great, but also very hard due to the limit being only 24 hours in a day. I ended up shuttering that business for a great opportunity with one of my clients.
ViaTek started when it was obvious that the company was spiraling towards oblivion, but still needed IT support for a while.
What’s one moment in your company’s history that still makes you proud (or makes you laugh)?
This may be strange, but the thing that makes me the proudest is how we recovered from a ransomware attack through the software we use that took down all of our clients. While we were the victim of a truly vicious attack, we did what we had to do to recover our clients' data, and in the end, we did not lose any important data. Some workstations had to be wiped, but all server data was recovered. We paid about $25,000 in ransom, and it took days, if not weeks, to make our clients whole, but we did what had to be done. It was not our fault we were attacked; the flaw they exploited was not ours, but we still took responsibility.
If your company had a motto (serious or silly), what would it be?
"People don't hate us."
“People don’t hate us” is peak humble-tech-guy energy, but tell me—what’s behind that line? Is it a reflection of how your team handles relationships? A commentary on how low the bar is in IT support? Or maybe both?
One of our core values is "Kindness." Back when ViaTek was started, the IT industry had a serious problem with technicians, especially male technicians, being condescending and extremely hard to work with. I think that has changed somewhat in the last few years because the field has become so much more competitive, at least in the MSP space. So, I created ViaTek with the expressed intention of being nice. It is very hard to find a competitive advantage in this field. A lot of people can do tech work; it is not that hard (even though we like to present it like it is). To me, kindness means not just being nice but also having the client's best interest at heart, as well as seeing things from their perspective.
How would your team describe you in three words?
Gruff, but fair.
What I would love for them to say is, "world's greatest boss" but that is just not realistic. I am winging it half the time, so there is no way. But I am doing the best I can.
What’s one value or principle you refuse to compromise on? You’ve already talked about kindness being foundational. Is that the core value? Or is there another hill you’d die on, either for how your team operates or how you serve your clients
Well, the kindness goes both ways. While I understand that folks dealing with technical issues are often frustrated, I won't put up with someone being rude or mean to my staff. I have fired clients over it. Luckily, they were small, and we were better off without them. If someone is angry and needs to take it out on someone, that person needs to be me. My team is what makes this company run. Without them, there is no company. Fortunately, because we come from a place of kindness, this virtually never happens. I have been extremely fortunate that the vast majority of my business relationships have been extremely respectful, professional, and even friendly.
If you weren’t running an MSP, what job do you think you’d be doing?
I would definitely be running some sort of company or helping someone run a company. I am not good at doing the same thing day in and day out. I am better at starting things and having others see them through. I am not good at "creative" jobs such as design or coding. I am better at the slower problem-solving that running a business requires. Sales is another area in which I excel, but I am spoiled at this point. Hard quotas would be difficult for me now. Maybe product promotion or something like that would be a good fit.
Bonus Q: What are a few hobbies, interests, or weird obsessions that clients might be surprised to learn about?
I have a few hobbies/interests (my wife would say obsessions) that keep me off a keyboard. I exercise to the point of being overworked. Rest and recovery are critical, but I have been pretty bad at incorporating them. My wife and I live on some land between Longmont and Berthoud. We have built a venue for weddings and other events. It is called Sparrow Hawk Ranch (www.sparrowhawkranch.com), and that takes a lot of work. I'm also into hiking, snowboarding, and doing lots of other outdoor workouts. I am building an outdoor course on our property that includes all kinds of functional fitness activities. But the thing people would be most surprised about is that my wife and I are "celebrity handlers" for celebrities who attend comic cons. We have been doing it for about 12 years, and it is truly a bizarre and unique experience. It is a ton of work, but extremely rewarding at the same time.
Follow-up: That’s an awesome mix—fitness junkie, outdoor builder, ranch owner, and celebrity handler?
First off:
- What inspired you and your wife to build Sparrow Hawk Ranch?
- And on the comic con side… you have to give me one story (without breaking NDAs) that captures just how weird or wonderful that world can be. What's one moment that made you stop and go, "Well, this is my life now."?
The view. We have a straight-shot view of Longs Peak, the closest 14er on the Front Range. It is awesome.
Looking over and seeing Jeffry Dean Morgan give a woman in a wheelchair a lap dance during a photo op was pretty fantastic. Her smile was off the charts.
Bonus Q: What’s one lesson you’ve learned from comic cons or running a venue that has surprisingly helped you in the MSP world?
All of these activities are high-pressure, high-stakes, and never, ever boring. You have to be on your toes constantly, but in the end, kindness and phenomenal service make you successful. All three have multiple constituents. With the MSP, you have to have great relationships with your staff, vendors, and customers. With the venue, it is the other vendors and attendees. With the comic cons, you have to work well with the promoter and other handlers/staff at the show, help the guest (the talent/celebrity), but most importantly, also take great care of the fans.
Final Thought
ViaTek isn't just about fixing things when they break. It’s about building trust before they do.
If that sounds like the kind of MSP you want in your corner—well, we’d love to hear from you.
