MoneyINC Logo
25+
Years of
Trust
13,000+
Articles
Written 
10M+
Annual 
Readers
300+
Global
Mentions

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Guy Nirpaz

Guy Nirpaz

If you follow business news, you may have heard that on September 29, 2021, Totango announced it had raised $100 million in Series D funding. The company, which prides itself as the leading customer success solution platform, was founded in 2010. The series D funding brings the total funding to $132 million, having raised $$3.8 million in Series A, $15.5 million in Series B, and $8 million in Series C. Guy Nirpaz, the co-founder and CEO of Totango, said that the past year has been super busy. You can acknowledge that he eats, sleeps, and breathes his company from the fact listed below.

1. He Wrote His Book from HanaHaus

HanaHaus is a co-working space, and Nirpaz confessed that the atmosphere is what he needed when writing the book “Farm Don’t Hunt.” He said he is a creative person who needed inspiration; hence the scent, color, mindset, and pace offered by HanaHaus were enough to keep his creative juices flowing. Since the workspace also provides hourly bookings, the entrepreneur worked on his book on weekends.

2. His Ideal Profile for a Customer Success (CS) Manager

In a Totango Press Release, Nirpaz explained the five drivers of ideal corporate success management. According to the entrepreneur, a CS manager must be good at onboarding, nurturing, renewal, upgrading, and escalation. He added that a manager must also be well-equipped in project management and have exceptional organizational skills. He, however, clarified that in a small company, the CS manager must handle five drivers, but once the firm grows, more CS managers can be recruited, each handling a particular driver.

3. He Believes Companies Should Invest in CS Software Earliest Possible

Nirpaz enlightened other entrepreneurs that the general rule for investing in CS software is as soon as the company has at least 20 customers. Since the business is still young and probably cannot afford a CS manager at such a stage, the CEO should be in charge of the five drivers. Nirpaz further informs us that waiting until much later could be overwhelming, as managing the five drivers becomes challenging. He added that even if there is the general rule of waiting for at least 20 customers, CEOs should consider investing in CS software as soon as they can afford it.

4. His Work Background Before Becoming an Entrepreneur

Cleverism interviewed Nirpaz, who revealed that before he went on his entrepreneurship journey, he was an employee in various startups. He was the Vice President of GigaSpaces Technologies, which he described as a big data company that focuses mainly on data distribution. He also worked at IBM as the Chief Software Systems Architect; he led the implementation of enterprises systems in several industries. Nirpaz late got a job at Mercury Interactive in the load testing product division as the Chief Systems Architect.

5. He Was in the Army for Six Years

For six years, Nirpaz was in the Israeli Defense Forces, climbing the ranks to be a tank commander. Joining the army was not voluntary because the state requires every Israeli above 18 years to join the Israeli Defense Forces. The requirement is only exempt for Arab Israelis and any other person on religious, physical, or physiological grounds. There have been changes regarding the minimum period one is supposed to serve. For instance, in 2015, they reduced the mandatory military service from 36 to 32 months. In 2020, the law was revised further to reduce the period to 30 months for males; women serve for a compulsory period of 24 months.

6. What Motivated Him To Be an Entrepreneur?

In his previous positions in the different companies he worked for, Nirpaz loved technological challenges. He admitted that he has always been a technical person and his colleagues looked up to him to solve whatever challenged them. However, with time, he realized that the mountains he was trying hard to climb were not his to climb in the first place. Nirpaz, therefore, decided to be his own boss, defining his mountains.

7. The Inspiration Behind His Company’s Name, Totango

Totango is derived from “it takes two to tango,” showing that even when he began his company, Nirpaz was focused on an ideal relationship between customers and vendors. He clarified that nowadays, customers have high expectations which vendors must meet for them to remain in business. By understanding customers’ needs, companies can develop products and offer services that meet customer expectations and add value.

8. He Admires How Amazon Prioritizes the Customer Experience

Nirpaz does not hide his enthusiasm for customer satisfaction, and it is no wonder he chose to pursue a business facilitating customer success. One of the companies that he appears to draw inspiration from is Amazon. He detailed how he watched an HD movie on Amazon Prime, and the next day, he received an email from Amazon informing him they would refund his money because he did not get the 100% HD experience. Of course, the entrepreneur was surprised because he had not even noticed a couple of minutes was not 100% HD but was very impressed by Amazon’s automated service to detect such glitches.

9. He Dislikes the 360-Degree Customer View Concept

Nirpaz said that he has never been a fan of the 360-degree customer view. He argued that it implies one is in the middle of the circle and does not know which direction to look first, yet he prefers considering customer knowledge. A 360-degree view of the customer refers to the entire customer’s journey and experience with a company. It is created through aggregating hard and soft data across multiple channels. Although Nirpaz dislikes it, Method outlines a few benefits of this strategic approach. For instance, it enhances customer intelligence and facilitates seamless customer service.

10. He Prefers Taking One Step at a Time

They say the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Therefore Nirpaz believes that since the customer success model can take a couple of years to implement, the best way is to do it in stages. According to Customer Think, the entrepreneur advises that people should implement a block of work and measure its success before moving on to the next block of work.

Allen Lee

Written by Allen Lee

Allen Lee is a Toronto-based freelance writer who studied business in school but has since turned to other pursuits. He spends more time than is perhaps wise with his eyes fixed on a screen either reading history books, keeping up with international news, or playing the latest releases on the Steam platform, which serve as the subject matter for much of his writing output. Currently, Lee is practicing the smidgen of Chinese that he picked up while visiting the Chinese mainland in hopes of someday being able to read certain historical texts in their original language.

Read more posts by Allen Lee

Related Articles

Stay ahead of the curve with our most recent guides and articles on , freshly curated by our diligent editorial team for your immediate perusal.
As featured on:

Wealth Insight!
Subscribe to our Exclusive Newsletter

Dive into the world of wealth and extravagance with Money Inc! Discover stock tips, businesses, luxury items, and travel experiences curated for the affluent observer.
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram