How'd this party get started?
Staring deeply into your future's eyes can do strange things. Try it for a minute, then keep reading. With graduation rapidly approaching, the spring of '08 was like many that had preceded it: great Carolina weather, a mostly satisfying season of UNC basketball, and the promise of steam bath humidity just around the corner. Except this time, instead of the usual educational institution farewell of "See you next fall" an exciting "Enjoy the degree that you may or may not use and good luck in life!" was offered. After considering job options - a career in the mortgage industry for a freshly minted Economics major is looking peachy right now - Matt shot Sam an email. Throughout college, they had collaborated to develop websites for people on the side and hadn't given serious thought to the idea of making a career of it. With gray cubicles and color copied org charts solidly in their futures, going out on a limb and doing work they were passionate about didn't seem so much like going out on a limb.
Meet the guys
Sam Wong
Sam is the one who sits down with the huge whiteboard and figures out how he’s going to subdue technology to make our clients' websites sing. In other words, he’s our programming and IT maniac. Maniac really is the best word to describe it - he’s incredibly focused on making sure everything works...perfectly. A little exasperating at times, but his dedication shines through in the end product and each client's website is a testament to that. Now, after countless long nights and having to deal with the “Can we do XYZ cool thing with the website?” and then “Actually, that doesn’t really fit with the concept, can you change it back?” moments, Sam is still here making sure everything is running smoothly. When he's not at work Sam enjoys - ah, who are we kidding, he's always coding. On the rare occassion he takes a break, he enjoys all things BMW (especially driving his 3 series and X3) and laid back dinners with friends.
Matt Winslow
While Sam is busy writing code, Matt can usually be found either writing proposals and communicating with clients or working on the website copy, layout, or design aspects of a project while listening to Pandora. He's another fan of whiteboards and frequently uses them to visualize how all the content on a site will tie together. A relatively recent convert to ExpressionEngine, he's eager to point out it's number two on his list of favorite things, behind North Carolina BBQ and ahead of Rock Band. Matt's first ecommerce experience came at the ripe old age of 17 when he launched an online paintball store with his savings from mowing neighborhood lawns. A little more than a year later the store was on track to gross over $100k for the year, had become the largest volume dealer for one its manufacturer's products, and even signed on as an event and team sponsor for the largest paintball tournament series in the Southeast. His passion for ecommerce was fully ignited and since then he's turned his attention to helping others connect with buyers online.
Our Values
Good Enough is Never Good Enough
Aristotle was onto something when he famously noted, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." When it comes to our clients, we make sure we have great habits.
Positivity or the Plank
Around here, great attitudes are highly valued. If you have a positive outlook on life, there's a good chance we'll be great friends. We're happy guys and think each day is better than yesterday. Even if a client calls after somehow nuking their site, it's still a great day; hey, they didn't manage to take ours down too. We love working with upbeat folks, so if you're the positive sort send us a message and we'll have a great time tackling your project together. If you're not even sure the glass is half full - it's been looking like someone sipped it down to 1/3 - you can still contact us. We're more than happy to put a little Excite in your life. Please note, however, we draw the line at incorrigible sourpusses. Bad attitudes can wreck a good party, and this one isn't stopping any time soon.
Rigor Mortis is for the Dead
Inappropriate? Perhaps, but we're not ones for strict formalities. We prefer to be personable and get to know each of our clients. We've got plenty of time to be stiff once we're dead. The guys at Excite Enterprises won't make you decipher corporate or geek speak. Unless our client is a large corporation, in which case they'll find we are exceptionally leveraged to maximize our internal and external communication efficiencies to strategically deliver messages to corporate stakeholders. Sure thing. Since most people speak plain English (although we'll discuss work in Spanish as well if that's more your cup of tea), we have a funny habit of avoiding industry jargon. We don't expect you to know all the wacky acronyms and we're pretty sure that at least half the folks in the industry don't know them either. When we work with you we'd much rather have clear, thoughtful communication than try to impress you with gobbledygook.
Talk is cheap and our aversion to rigor mortis affects more than just how we interact with clients. Flexibility is a key ingredient to (y)our success. Making changes on the fly to address unexpected challenges is just part of the job we love. There is more than one way to skin a cat, and there are a multitude of ways to manage content or sell products online. We should know, we have experience with a majority of them (cats, that is). If your project calls for a change of direction to reach the desired outcome, you can rest assured our team is agile enough to turn on a dime and still deliver the goods in record time...and yes, even rhyme.
How we work (and get the job done on time and on budget)
First and foremost, we feel like we need to tell the sun to step aside, because around here, it really is all about you. Our focus is on consistently delivering outstanding quality, communication, and customer satisfaction that exceeds your expectations.
You're probably wondering how we do what we do. It's a gift, really. But we do follow a straightforward work flow process that helps us produce outstanding work and gives you that warm feeling of extreme satisfaction.