By Jonathan Kersting, Editor, TEQ magazine

One look at Suzy Teele’s Linked-In profile and it’s readily apparent that she is one of the Pittsburgh region’s most prolific technology and business leaders. Teele just joined Matrix Solutions in 2009 as the company’s President and Chief Operating Officer, bringing more than two decades of experience in software product management, strategy, marketing and development, with an expertise in customer relationship management. She also serves on the boards of directors at Touchtown and PowerLink and is the President of the IUP Alumni Association. Teele got her start working for technology companies at Legent (now CA), then moved to ServiceWare as SVP of Marketing and started her own consultancy, Aceda, before taking on her new gig at Matrix. TEQ caught up with Teele to see how everything’s going at Matrix and get her perspective on Pittsburgh’s tech scene.

Tell us all about your new role at Matrix Solutions and what made the opportunity so attractive?
I joined Matrix Solutions as the President and COO in December 2009. I’m responsible for running the operations of the company and developing the strategy for our continued growth, working closely with our CEO DJ Cavanaugh and our Founder Gary Diven, as well as my management team.

I had been consulting with Matrix since February 2009, and during this time I recognized tremendous potential for additional growth even though we have been a successful, profitable company for almost 18 years. One of the key aspects to our success has been our approach to customer service. Our customers truly love us and many have been with us for 10+ years because we invest so much in keeping them happy and productive. So a company with great people and a strong, customer-oriented culture was tremendously attractive to me.

The second reason is the market opportunity itself. We provide sales management solutions to companies who sell advertising. Our customers are primarily TV and cable companies, radio stations and newspapers, like WPXI, WTAE and Clear Channel locally and TimeWarner Cable, Cox Television, and Univision on a national level. This is a multi-billion dollar industry that has been around for a very long time and will continue to be around for the foreseeable future. Obviously there have been many discussions about how advertising will be delivered in the future and some changes have already occurred, but advertising will still be sold by these companies, and we’ll be there to help them better manage and analyze their advertising sales activity.

What’s it been like transitioning from running your own management consulting firm to leading a sales management software firm?
I started Aceda over 10 years ago for two reasons – the first was to increase my own personal skills and experience in what was then considered “new” areas of technology like ecommerce, web marketing, and hosted software solutions. The second was to have a flexible work schedule so that I could still spend time with my 6 children while they were growing up. But I always knew that I wanted to run a company at some point in my career. In late 2009, the timing was perfect to make a full-time commitment to a great company like Matrix Solutions because my husband, Ted, and I have one child in grad school, three away at college, one in high school and one in third grade. So with only two children at home and no more babies, I was ready for this challenge!

What do you see as your biggest challenge in 2010?
Our biggest challenge in 2010 is ensuring that we continue to deliver a solution that helps our customers as their world changes. 2009 was a difficult year for advertising, with many budget cuts, and this forced our customers to become more strategic in how they find and keep customers. 2010 looks better, but this need to be more strategic has continued to grow as a key theme in advertising sales. So we are in the process of developing a product roadmap and introducing new functionality to meet these needs.

What’s been the secret sauce to your success and Matrix’s success over the years?
I’ve been lucky to have a long career in the technology sector in Pittsburgh with the opportunity to develop many friendships. I’d say that my “secret” sauce has four ingredients:

1. Ability to listen and observe. We’ve all heard how important it is to listen and ask questions, but just as important is the ability to observe how people answer your questions and interact with others. By taking the time to listen and observe, I’ve been able to make better recommendations and provide better direction to my customers and my company.

2. Ability to balance long and short term initiatives. Making sure you do the right things to close the next deal while ensuring that you are not compromising the long term strategic direction of your products is a tough balancing act, and I’ve had the benefit of learning how to do this over 20 years working in product strategy and sales growth. Once a company gets this right, it can really take off.

3. Ability to continue to learn and grow. Yes, I’m not a newbie when it comes to this industry, but there are new, exciting technologies and techniques to learn about every day. I try really hard not to be one of those people who are not open to new ways of doing things. I plan on learning for as long as possible!

4. Relationships. I’ve had the opportunity to create great friendships in the Pittsburgh technology sector over the past twenty years and the end result is that we all help each other get ahead and brainstorm ideas for continued success.

Matrix Solutions is entering its 18th year as a profitable privately owned and self-funded software company and is really unique in Pittsburgh for this fact alone. As stated earlier, the number one reason for this success is our fierce commitment to an awesome customer experience. Another top reason for success is that we’ve been able to build a team that balances media industry expertise with software and technology expertise to provide a solution that’s the best of both worlds. And being a locally owned company has allowed us to hire and retain great people right here in Pittsburgh.

How can Pittsburgh become a better place for tech companies to grow?
Pittsburgh has many wonderful assets that TEQ highlights in every issue – our great universities, strong work ethic, beautiful city, cost of living, etc. I personally would like to see more emphasis on ways to grow and KEEP companies in Pittsburgh. Because many of our new companies receive venture capital, there is a 5 year “grow and sell” mentality that permeates our tech community. This is a fine strategy for those who deliberately choose this path, but I would love to see our region filled with more technology companies who want to create something of value for the long term right here in Pittsburgh. This means that we need more access to non-venture-backed capital, specific tax breaks to encourage keeping a company in Pittsburgh, and more mentors.