Joe Colopy and Chaz Felix have been inseparable for well over a decade, and Bronto meant Colopy-Felix. No longer.

One last time … Joe Colopy roars about his experiences at building Bronto into an email marketing powerhouse that he and co-founder Chaz Felix sold a year ago for $200 million to NetSuite. Why did he leave the company? What’s next? Will he work with Chaz again?

In an exclusive Q&A, Colopy talks about his recent decision to leave Bronto, what may be next for him as an entrepreneur, lessons learned, advice for other entrepreneurs, and whether he will team up with Felix again in the future. He had emailed The Skinny about his decision to “retire” last week. (Read the Felix side of the story in link with this post.

  • Why did you decide to “retire”? Did you not like being the boss (along with Chaz) any more or was the thrill gone and time to cash out?

NetSuite was great to work with. My intention from the initial conversations of selling the company was to eventually transition out. I had been working on Bronto for over 14 years so I was ready for a change.

One of the appealing aspects of selling to NetSuite was that I wouldn’t have a time obligation and I could stay or go based on what I thought was adequate.

There is never a perfect time to leave a company you found. But, I felt that a year after announcing the acquisition was the right amount time to transition the business responsibly to NetSuite.

  • What are the most important POSITIVE lessons you learned from your Bronto experience?

I learned many lessons from Bronto. Here are some of them.

1. People are everything. Take care of people and good things happen. That’s the story of Bronto.
2. Persistence trumps brilliance. Bronto is a fourteen year overnight success story. You don’t have to be brilliant to be successful. Just really stubborn!
3. Leadership is not about titles but about commitment to people and vision. It is learned through experience, doing the wrong things and trying harder next time.
4. Culture is determined by its leaders — by their actions, not their words. If company leaders want a better culture, they should start by changing themselves.
5. People will follow something that they believe in — even if it is an extinct, mislabeled, vegetarian dinosaur with a brain the size of a pea.

  • What are the lessons you learned NOT to repeat in the future?

Bronto was a very positive story. Knowing what I know now, we could have accelerated our growth in the early years and saved more time.

Time was the price for the experience!

  • What are the three most important points you can offer other entrepreneurs?

1. Focus! Focus! Focus! Indigestion is worse than starvation.
2. Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast (Thank you Peter Drucker for that quote.) People are everything.
3. Hits more than home runs! Consistent day-to-day execution makes for a great company.

  • Do you plan to become an investor and if so is this a way to give back to the Triangle?

My plan is to not even think about having a plan until later this year. I enjoy the local tech scene so I would expect to return as a repeat entrepreneur or investor in some capacity.

  • You and Chaz must have had a great relationship. What makes for a great partner – how did you help each other? Would you work with him and if so, why? Or is the Chaz-Joe duo done?

Chaz and I had great balance. Obviously we worked well together because we did so for 14 years. We could speak the same language while having strengths in different areas.

A rare combination!

As for the next step, I’m not thinking too hard about the future. Also, Chaz and I are not actively cooking up any future projects.

Right now, I’m focused on spending more time with my family and rekindling old hobbies.