R. Wayne Steiger, entrepreneur at Innovatrs and founder of TME, talks about his experiences working with several successful start-ups and how he developed his latest venture.

His new start-up, the wireless company TME, provides mobile payment solutions, along with other remote payment applications. TME utilizes Cloud Management Technology to solve some pretty complex issues.

Innovatrs: What made you do it? Why did you take the plunge, give up that cosy corporate job and become an entrepreneur?

Wayne: When I started my career I remember seeing colleagues some 25 years my senior that were miserable and I witnessed soul less back stabbings just for a possible promotion or raise and I thought is this where I want to be in 25 years.  At the same time the culture here in the US began to change as the LBO era began – there was no such thing as job security.

Then one day, at the company I was working for, we were all summoned to a last minute meeting.  We sat in this conference room asking each other what was going on, why the meeting, who called the meeting, those thousand questions that nobody had answers too then in walked the CFO and without making any eye contact he stated the company had been bought and that our services were no longer required. Each of us were handed an envelope which contained a termination notice and a one way ticket back to our respected destinations.

That was my wake up call so the next day I started my first company and have never looked back. It’s been 18 years and I have never regretted the decision.

Innovatrs: What was the original @ha Idea and how has it evolved?

Wayne: In 2004 I was recruited to head up a new venture dealing with remote payment applications using 802.11b or Wi-Fi integrating into enterprise POS systems.  We did some amazing things making breakthroughs in new applications that so called experts said could not be done.  From that experience I trip’d across a secret that most people were completely unaware of even though they used the product everyday.  I was sitting at an airport and had lots of time before my flight. I had a legal pad lying on the table in front of me and was thinking about market verticals that had been over looked and under-served concerning electronic and remote payment applications and in a flash the thought hit me and I wrote down a name.  That was almost 3 years ago and everything that I dreamed of on that day sitting in that airport has since come to pass.

Innovatrs: What were your first steps after you fleshed out your @ha idea ? What was your first crisis or hurdle?

Wayne: The biggest hurdle I had to overcome was validating the market since there was little data and no single source one could go too to validate the numbers etc.  On top of all that this vertical was one that if you did not have a connection to as part of your life style it could make you uncomfortable regardless of the potential.  I knew the subject matter, had a good handle on what the solution needed to be, but because the market was so fragmented and with a myriad different spokes feeding off the main core it was a tough challenge. Also, since no one had done this type of R&D before (alongside there being so little known about the vertical) I figured I was going to have to self fund the project.   The prize that was waiting was to grow the company within 60 months to be able to achieve over a billion dollars in gross revenue tied to a recurring revenue model connected to long term contracts.

Innovatrs: Is this your first business? Did any past experiences or good advice help you navigate the entrepreneur’s road to masochism?

Wayne: No I have been fortunate enough to have led several successful start-ups and some great people, the kind that form lasting friendships and you cherish for a lifetime.  If I had not had those past experiences I seriously doubt I would be as well equipped. In addition along the path of my life I have had the honor to have been mentored by some wonderful, bright, stellar people who took the time to take me under their wing to coach me, correct me, push me, test me and to encourage me along the way.

Innovatrs: Have you experienced any great failures in the past and if so, how have they helped you get to where you are today?

Wayne: Oh yes in fact I think my failures are the primary cause of my success.  I once heard a famous athlete speak and he said that in his career he failed more times than he succeeded in fact he said he had let his team down almost 70% of the time.  If you had read this from a book or newspaper you’d come to the conclusion that this person was a complete failure but you would be wrong it’s one of the greatest players of the game – Michael Jordan.

Every failure I encountered served as a stepping stone that paved the path to my success. Without them I dare say I would still be stuck somewhere way back in my life. Every great leader regardless of what they are leading, whether it be an entrepreneur who is one of the biggest risk takers there is, a mother, a father, a teacher, whatever it may be each of their successes are moulded by past failures. Winners learn to embrace failures and not let them beat them or keep them down. You overcome them. That’s why people invest in serial entrepreneurs because they’re the ones who create wealth and have learned that: YOU NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR VISIONS OR DREAMS YOU JUST PUSH THROUGH REGARDLESS OF WHAT LIES IN FRONT!