Business Dreams & Nightmares with Marc @ DPLWireless.com - Escape Velocity Show #12

About this video

Dan Martell interviews his friend Marc Albert at Martell’s home in Moncton, New Brunswick, about DPL, a technology company founded in 1974 that Albert joined as an employee in 1997 and later co-led. Albert says DPL now has 1,300 customers and almost 40,000 ATMs using its gear on a recurring-revenue model: wireless connectivity and management for white-label ATMs, priced at a $9.99 ‘sweet spot’ (down from almost $30 a month, versus competitors around $5 for modems), positioned as premium. He recounts entering the market in 2006 almost by accident after an ATM owner complained about phone-line fees, hockey-stick growth from 2006 to 2012, then a flatline for four to five years because the company was, in his words, ‘half a company’ — strong engineering, no sales team, relying on trade shows and word of mouth. Burnt out and unhappy despite strong profits, the partners signed a letter of intent to sell to their main US competitor, spent about $200,000 on US and Canadian accountants and lawyers, and were two weeks from signing before backing out; the partners then gave Albert carte blanche and he became CEO. He rebuilt culture first to be happy at work: at least half the now-25-person team transitioned out, and he says delaying exits for years out of fear was the mistake — ‘pull the Band-Aid.’ He then built the missing sales/marketing half: defining the ideal customer as operators who have already felt pain (e.g. driving to reboot a machine), experimenting with one salesperson on existing customers, and offering a first device free for life, justified by customers paying for hardware and service for seven to nine years across 50-500 devices. He credits three record months since Christmas and recommends Ryan Holiday’s Ego Is the Enemy and The Obstacle Is the Way.

Key takeaways

• DPL: 1,300 customers, ~40,000 ATMs, $9.99/month premium wireless connectivity, per Albert
• Growth 2006-2012 then flatlined ~5 years: great product, no sales team
• Partners backed out two weeks before selling after ~$200K in deal costs
• At least half of the 25-person team transitioned during the culture rebuild
• Free first device for life works because lifetime value spans 7-9 years and many devices

Episode details: published October 10, 2019 · 45:07 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dan Martell’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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