In his sophomore year at Duke University, Zach Maurides was assigned a class project: Conceptualize a web-based software system that would benefit his life. As an offensive guard on the Duke football team, Zach had to manage his schedule as both an athlete and a student, and so he came up with the idea to create a shared, online calendar to assist athletics staff in better managing their student-athletes’ time. “It’s kind of a typical startup story,” Zach says. “I had a problem in my life that I wanted to solve, and I solved it. Then my father said to me, ‘You know, if Duke has this problem, then other people have this problem, [and] they would probably pay for you to solve that problem.’” Zach was introduced to software developer Shaun Powell a short while later, and the pair created Teamworks, a mobile software platform designed to streamline communication, operations and information for coaches, administrators, athletic trainers, academic advisors and student-athletes.
Why did you choose Durham as your headquarters?
“In terms of starting a business, it’s a great environment; you have a lot of really talented people. You’ve got a ton of universities, the Division I schools – N.C. State, UNC, Duke, Wake Forest, N.C. Central … just a pool of smart people, and then you have RTP, where you’ve got a lot of folks who work in various IT sectors, medical fields. … You’ve got, really, I think, low cost of operation, low cost of living and a lot of very smart people, and so it’s a very good environment for a startup company to be in. And honestly, we’re recruiting, and we’re trying to recruit great talent, and – flat-out – Durham is a cool, interesting place to be, and people want to work and live here.”
What has been Teamworks’ biggest accomplishment?
“I really don’t feel like we’ve had our greatest accomplishment yet. I don’t know if I’ll ever feel that way – I think that what people involved with startups like about it is that every day is more challenging than the last, and so, as long as that continues in perpetuity and we’re building a great company, that’s what makes me happy. The minute you put a finish line on it, then you put a limit on what you can achieve. It’s like, ‘Oh, we’ve made it, there’s nothing more we can do,’ and there’s always more to do. Some people look at that and go, ‘Well, how are you ever satisfied?’ It’s about being satisfied in the moment, every day, and being challenged. If anything, to me, a finish line is kind of depressing, because that means it’s over. If we’re doing it right, we never get to the finish line.”
Describe your mentors and the important roles they’ve played in helping you develop your business.
“I think probably what’s more important is humility, just understanding that there is a lot that you don’t know. The first thing that has to go in order to be successful is your pride. Even at this point, I talk to my father probably every day; I probably talk to Steve [Wiehe, CEO of SciQuest, where I worked both in and out of college] about once a week. When you think about it, every day I’m running a larger company than I’ve ever run before, so I’m in this perpetual state of being an amateur. And so, if I can talk to people who have been there before me, it’s going to get me to the right answers that much quicker, and that’s what matters.”
What’s your No. 1 piece of advice for someone looking to launch their own company?
“Commit and don’t quit. Since the inception of this idea, this is the 11th year, and it didn’t start working until it was the only thing. I had to put myself in a position where I was obsessed with the success of this business to the detriment of almost everything else in my life at one point. That was the only way – with that focus – that we were able to get good enough to break out. Don’t give up.”
