Dynetech

Business//Success: Dynetech

words by > Jackie Larson

Providing the Process

*After experiencing success as a litigation attorney and founder of a one-product empire in the 1990s, Larry Pino, CEO of Orlando-based Dynetech, had a breakthrough when he realized that his business could be bigger than he was.

No matter how much you plan for the future, career paths oft en seem to take unexpected turns. A graduate of Notre Dame with a J.D. from New York University’s School of Law, Larry Pino started as a full-time commercial litigator. He gradually became a part-time businessman, then a full-time, on-the-move entrepreneur in 1992. But the two roads really diverged when, in 1998, he made the decision to spend more time with his family. Pino recalls the moment he chose to make a massive shift in his business model.

“What does change things is kids. By 1998, I was at the point where I said ‘OK, it’s time for me to reconfigure what I do so that I can do that from behind a desk at home.’ Th at led to a re-evaluation.

“I was selling one product throughout the 1990s, and that product taught me skills in marketing, sales and fulfillment. I started thinking about what would allow me to separate the business out from me. In 2000, aft er doing it for 10 years, I converted it into a ’scalable’ model, and the business exploded as a process provider, not a product provider. I could off er that process to those out there to market and sell their product.”

Th e process provider is Florida-based Dynetech Corporation, which partners with individuals and companies to provide a complementary infrastructure needed to develop, market and fulfill world-class products and services profitably.

“I think the first conversation an entrepreneur has to have is whether the intention is to create a business model larger than the entrepreneur himself. If you create a business model where you don’t have to be the primary delivery mechanism for your business, you have an opportunity to put in place a business that can be scalable,” Pino says.

Th e decision was a sound one—within five years, Dynetech went from $8 million in annual revenues to over $200 million. Th e company’s 102 percent annual growth rate has led to consistent rankings among America’s fastest growing companies over the past five years, providing direct-to-market distribution channels for strategic partners in the areas of soft ware, web applications and training programs. Dynetech puts up money as an outsourcing partner in marketing, sales and distribution to promote and sell proven products. It takes in the revenues, subtracts hard expenses and shares profits 50-50 with its partners. Since 2000, Dynetech has gone from 52 to 600 employees.

Pino cites Jerry D. Berger as a major influence on his scalability model. An entrepreneur who started Topsy’s popcorn company in 1949, Berger first sold popcorn machines aft er World War II, then decided to develop retail multiflavor popcorn stores. “Th e whole concept of replication comes from Jerry Berger—create the formula, develop the formula and start replicating it. He told me the most fun you have in business is when you start replicating like crazy. It creates a profitable, very scalable business,” Pino says. “He took a liking to me … he was the closest to a mentor I’ve ever had.”

Pino’s specific vision of what business is about meshes with his decisions to stay close to home, not work weekends, drive his kids to school and be home each night by 6pm. Fridays are held sacred as family night at the Pino home.

“My concept of enterprise is the opportunity to create a rewarding and enriching experience for yourself and your associates by creating a rewarding and enriching experience for your customers,” Pino says. “As long as you focus on that, you’ll have happy associates, happy customers and happy shareholders. It’s not as if, as an entrepreneur, you have to be a 24/7 hard driver. You can balance a lifestyle that is enriching on the business as well as the personal side.”

At 54, Larry Pino finds it rewarding enough that he has no plans to retire, period. “I can’t imagine retiring—how many artists retire? How many painters retire? Enterprise is really a very creative outlet. It’s the closest an unartistic guy will get to being a sculptor. I can create it, I can sculpt it, I can modify it,” he says.

He serves on the board of myregion.org, a seven-county initiative of business, government and nonprofit leaders seeking to make central Florida globally competitive in the 21st century. He’s also on the board of the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission and the governors of the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce—time investments that are well worth it.

“When you increase the opportunity for economic development, economic development increases the standard of living,” Pino says. “Th is is my opportunity to contribute to the community by doing what I can do to increase the overall standard of living and quality of life in our region.”

Heads Up

As author of The Desktop Lawyer and Finding Your E-Niche, Dynetech founder and CEO Larry Pino has adopted some life lessons along the way. Among them:

> Speak clearly, directly and honestly.
> Own what you do and say.
> Never make a commitment you can’t keep.
> A good idea, effectively executed, will beat a brilliant idea poorly executed every time.
> Don’t pick a fight with time— you’ll always lose.
> You are the only brand you truly own; be vigilant in protecting it.
> Calm down. Often people hyperventilate over things and get all caught up in the drama. Breathe through your nose, relax and sit back.