What started as a two-person office 10 years ago has expanded to a nearly 70-person operation in Columbus and a second, new location in Austin, TX. Celebrating a decade of success, data, design and technology company Dynamit recently announced its new office, and the naming of two new partners.
CEO & Co-Founder Matt Dopkiss names several factors that have led to the company’s success.
“I think our dedication to understanding our clients’ businesses has been a key part of that,” he says. Another huge factor? The people.
Dopkiss and other co-founders Nick Seguin and Bobby Whitman grew up together before forming the business. From there he says they have found the right people at the right times. People they have enjoyed working with and people that contributed to the tradition and culture of the business.
As for the expansion, “Again it’s about people,” Dopkiss says. One person in particular.
Gordon McKinney hired Dynamit for what Dopkiss calls their first very big contract. After working with McKinney on the project for about a year, he turned to Dynamit and asked to join the team. The answer was yes.
“He taught us a lot in the five years he was with us,” Dopkiss says. McKinney, always located in Austin, decided to venture away from Dynamit because he missed working with a team. However, about six months ago, he approached Dopkiss again, saying he missed the Dynamit team and asked what they thought about trying it again, only with a team behind him in Austin.
“We decided to put an office in Austin not based around a client but based around a person,” Dopkiss says. Dynamit plans to build out the Austin team in the next 12 to 18 months, taking a special focus on Java enterprise development.
Back in Columbus, the firm shows no signs of slowing down and plans to continue their growth in their home city.
“Columbus has been tremendously good to us,” Dopkiss says. “[It] is our home base, always will be.” He calls it the ideal place to build a team.
Recently two of those team members were named partners in the growing business – Senior Director of Accounts Jamie Timm and Director of Design Phil Franks.
“Jamie has helped to give us that broader systemic approach to building our early business,” Dopkiss says. Passionate and dedicated, the co-founder says everyone that has crossed Timm’s path calls her a keeper.
“Phil has been a real cornerstone of the team,” Timm adds about her fellow new partner. He’s helped build the culture, and “We need to be people that people want to work with,” she says. He finds a way to understand a client’s business and marry their expertise with those needs.
“Without these two we’d still be in a shoebox on Sawmill Road,” Dopkiss says.
For more information, visit dynamit.com.