Wave Accounting’s Kirk Simpson on giving customers what they want

Kirk Simpson is president and CEO of Wave Accounting, a free online accounting service for small businesses. Kirk started Wave after 13 years in digital media.

Wave, which launched in Nov. 2010, is Kirk’s third start-up and the company is on a roll. Wave nabbed a $1.5 million seed round in June 2011, led by OMERS through INKEF Capital. A $5 million Series A round followed in October 2011 led by Charles River Ventures (CRV), with OMERS Ventures. (This came after $750,000 in funding from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario in September.) We recently interviewed Kirk about Wave.

DigitalPuck.ca:  Can you tell us a little bit about what Wave provides customers?

Kirk Simpson: Wave is a ridiculously easy and 100% free online accounting tool for small business owners.  We know that the majority of small business owners hate doing this stuff. They’re using spreadsheets and shoe boxes to manage their income and expenses until tax time.  We use smart technology to cut down on the time they spend on accounting and bookkeeping, while giving them better control of their business.

Wave then becomes a procurement department for our small business owners.  (We NEVER, EVER sell personally identifiable information to anyone.) By leveraging group buying we can give our business owners savings opportunities that they couldn’t get on their own.  For instance, we have offers that include 10% off Dell purchases, 15% off Grand & Toy purchases of $100 or more, an appealing welcome bonus from American Express, and many more.

DigitalPuck.ca: What is the market opportunity for the company?

Kirk Simpson: There are approximately 28.5 million small businesses in North America and hundreds of millions more around the world – and 67,000 new small businesses start every month in North America. Outside research says that almost 60% of small businesses are still using spreadsheets and shoeboxes. That means NO accounting program has met their needs properly — until now. This market is enormous.

DigitalPuck.ca: Do you have any interesting partnerships/key customers?

Kirk Simpson: Wave has signed up 80,000+ small business owners in 198 countries around the world in just 11 months.  One of our key integrations has been with the Google Chrome store and the Google Apps Marketplace.  These two channels are driving huge numbers of users to our app.

DigitalPuck.ca: Any advice for entrepreneurs trying to get their first company off the ground?

Kirk Simpson: Be persistent yet open-minded.  Knock down barriers by hustling but be open-minded to the idea of pivoting if the evidence points to the product/market fit not being exactly right. This is an interesting balance.

DigitalPuck.ca:  Any lessons learned while getting the company to the next level?

Kirk Simpson: Finding, hiring and retaining the right people is often one of the most difficult elements. Working in a start-up is often not very glamorous. You have to be willing to take on tasks that would be beneath you in a big company.  The right type of person accepts that fact since the upside is that you get to move huge projects forward very quickly.  But its a hard trait to interview for.