What do you like about working in tech? Every business has accounting and every business uses technology, and Accounting Seed brings together the best of both worlds. I love exploring endless boundaries of what can be used Tony Zorc for customers, the customer Justin Mongroo Chief Executive Officer, Accounting Seed experiences it can create, the VP of Sales Excellence, Conga savings it can create on the back-end, and the scaling What does Accounting Seed The company went under, but options. It's very exciting to What does Conga composer which owns QuickBooks, among I’d probably be a photographer, do? Accounting Seed is a because I was the numbers guy, see how you can really scale do? Conga Composer brings other technologies. and not worry about the end full accounting solution that I saw it coming. operations through technology. efficiency to the document product. I would travel and manages your entire back office process whether it be revenue- When I went into the software take photos in different places, — from your general ledger At that point, I had an epiphany. What are the biggest generating or internal documents. industry, I thought it was mostly of waterfalls. and billing/cash collections to I’d done everything I had challenges you face in Composer removes roadblocks important to start where I vendors, payments, and bank wanted to do as an accountant. tech? to connect all parts of your started in real estate: If you don't What do you like about Keeping current with reconciliation. In addition to our Now I was trying to figure out the technology, balancing business, allowing businesses know how to sell the product, working in tech? core accounting, we also have what was exciting to me, what the learnings about new and reps to focus on what's how can you coach other As soon as we create a process, project accounting and orders challenged me. I decided what important — the context of the people to sell the product? I’m somebody that wants technologies, and finding and inventory. I loved most about my job as time for those in addition to document and the document's How can you teach them to to analyze it and figure out an accountant was engineering my regular responsibilities of end result. To me, that’s what understand how to ask the right ways to improve it. Just like What do you do at it and automating it through managing Accounting Seed. Composer does: It puts the right questions to ascertain needs when I build something at Accounting Seed? software technology. It was In a nutshell, it's all about time. data in the right place at the and wants of customers? So my house, I want to figure out I’m the founder and Chief then that I truly discovered right time for a business. I started as a software sales another project and continually It’s hard to find time to do those Executive Officer. my passion for tech and three things. rep and worked my way up to innovate. To me, software is decided to do it in a way that What do you do at Conga? management, and that's where not a thing, it is continuous How did you get into tech? would change the landscape Any advice for those looking I’m VP of Sales Excellence, I am today. innovation, and that’s exciting. My first tech job was as a of accounting. I wanted to to get into tech? responsible for helping the What we have today is not what consultant in the Microsoft ERP create more than a software sales team remove barriers to What did you wanT to be when we’ll have tomorrow; it will be Don't give it another thought. space, implementing Microsoft application; I wanted to find Go for it! All the jobs in the its success, and helping them you were a kid? I wanted to the improved version of that. mid-market ERP systems in a true solution. That’s how future in this country are achieve what they ultimately be a photographer for travel 2005. I started my career as a Accounting Seed came into going to be heavily related to want, which is great service to magazines. Back then there CPA. From there, I took jobs as existence. information technology and their customers and growth. were these travel books like a controller, then a CFO working software — especially if you're Lonely Planet where people How did you get into tech? would read them while traveling for different companies, helping What did you want to be when a knowledge worker. them manage their accounting you were a kid? Two things — I started in real estate during in Europe. At one point I and their back-office. Then I an astronaut and a doctor. Think about it: Computers, the refi boom. I owned a dreamed of traveling and taking decided to get into technology. Being an astronaut would be technology, and software will be business and ran it when the photographs and making my super cool. I still would love to ingrained in whatever you do. market crashed. Then it was own travel guidebook. I went to work for a startup in do that, by the way! But being So I wouldn’t waste another day time to make a decision. the biotech and pharmaceutical a doctor, I found out early in thinking about it. Just start. I started investing in real estate What would you do space in the early 2000s. college that it wasn’t really my You cannot go wrong. There and building an investment if you didn’t work I thought I was going to retire passion. I had such a passion are so many tech jobs available portfolio. I was in San Francisco in tech? early with stock options but it for business; I loved studying it, that if you're even remotely at the time, and went to work just didn't pan out. and I loved technology. interested, give it a shot. with a company called Intuit, 20 THE EXCHANGE WINTER 2019 WINTER 2019 THE EXCHANGE 21