OPINION: High-tech wiz says media taking low road against Gianforte

As I read the Oct. 3 Billings Gazette editorial entitled “Gianforte’s jobs pitch may be a curveball,” I instantly recognized it was a planted story by Bullock’s campaign. The subsequent advertising campaign by Bullock confirmed my assumption. Further, the deluge of recent Wikileaks releases lay bare the widespread collaboration between American media and the Clinton campaign. This is how the media and campaigns operate.

I am not surprised that the Bullock’s principal campaign tactic is to distort and smear Gianforte’s successful career and the creation of an outstanding company. It’s an amazing story against all odds.

I am surprised the Billings Gazette editors would publish such a ridiculous and easily refuted smear.

I am hopeful I can shed some perspective based on the facts. I have worked in the technology field for over 25 years. I have been very fortunate to be in a position to know the stories of thousands of technology companies through multiple technology cycles. I have also been closely involved in many media-related efforts and know well how that industry operates.

I know the RightNow story. Gianforte started a company in 1997 in Bozeman with zero employees and little initial capital. When acquired by Oracle 15 years later, RightNow had grown to about 1,100 employees with over 500 in Montana. They also had several thousand customers all over the world in every imaginable industry. An amazing outcome against long odds. What was difficult?

— A miniscule percentage of technology startups exit for more than $1 billion. Those that achieve this incredible wealth creation milestone are called unicorns. A $1 billion plus exit for a Montana-based company needs a new name because it is even more rare than a unicorn sighting.

— RightNow competed in the customer management space. There were and are dozens and dozens of companies worldwide competing in this space. It is quite large and there have been a wide range of successful outcomes. Only RightNow was built in a rural and lower-income state where almost 100 percent of the customers were out of state.

— Montana has very few computer-science graduates or experienced software engineers. Montana had almost no experienced software sales, marketing and business development talent before RightNow. RightNow is the only company that created this at any scale in Montana. Bozeman is now the main Montana location for a nascent but growing technology industry built around the RightNow ecosystem of talent and experience.

— I am a proud Montanan. I have deep roots. I own property in both Custer and Flathead counties. My family is in love with Montana. We never get enough days in the year in that magical place. However, Montana is remote and very cold in the winter. Do a simple Google search of flying to and from Bozeman on direct flights from any major city. Then compare that to San Jose, San Francisco or Seattle. It’s daunting to think of the challenge the RightNow team faced in simple air travel to sell and support customers.

Google the average daily temperatures in winter months in Bozeman compared to the leading software cities in America. Google the number of available job openings in software companies in Bozeman versus the leading software cities.

It’s extremely difficult to recruit talent and build software companies in the leading software cities of America. This management team did it in Bozeman — against all odds.

Americans see clearly that government is failing at the state and federal level. Montana is one of America’s lower income states. Further, Montana is heavily dependent on federal government revenue — nearly 40 percent of the state’s revenue is federal money. As we all know, the federal debt situation is not sustainable — which means Montana’s dependence is also not sustainable.

Montana and the nation are in desperate need of a change in direction. We need strong growth after the last decade of the worst growth rate in America’s history. The incumbent politiciams have no answers or solutions — it’s why they distract voters with smear campaigns.

Montana and the nation also need a change in the media. It can’t be trusted to be honest and objective on issues of vital importance to all Americans regardless of party affiliation.

Connors, of Medina, Washington, is a Miles City native and 1984 graduate of the University of Montana. He has worked for over 25 years in the technology industry including a 16 year career at Microsoft where he held a wide variety of executive positions including controller, chief information officer and chief financial officer. He is a principal in Ignition Partners — a venture capital firm with offices in Bellevue, Washington and Silicon Valley.