Twenty-five years ago, Jon Moser was at a crossroads.
He had a new degree from Eastern Connecticut State University and it was time to get to work. But doing what?
One of his best memories from school was helping build the first website for ECSU. The internet was still taking shape. Did other schools need websites and could that be a career path?
He started knocking on doors and asking for the opportunity to help a school leap into the 21st century.
The Wallingford school district became the first public school customer. Then Cheshire Academy became the first private school customer. After that, Moser never looked back.
Today, his brainchild, Finalsite, serves more than 7,000 clients representing more than 42,000 schools in more than 120 countries. It’s now on its fourth ownership group but Moser remains CEO.
He sold the business a dozen years ago to Spectrum Capital, which sold to Bridge Growth Partners, which then sold to New York City-based Veritas Capital in late 2021. Each ownership group brought something positive to Finalsite, he said.
The constant has been a commitment to growth and willingness to acquire firms that “fit.”
In some cases, Finalsite has acquired competitors; more often, it has acquired firms that bring new capabilities that contribute to today’s integrated product:
- There’s an admission module that serves as a recruiting tool as well as a back-office system that handles the paperwork;
- A billing and payments package;
- An athletics program that manages scheduling, rosters and scores;
- An app that parents and students can download and customize;
- A notification system that can broadcast anything from emergency alerts to reminders of upcoming events;
- And even a module for selling school gear.
There’s also an extensive security component that’s been bolstered after a ransomware attack in January 2022. Finalsite took down all its school sites as a precaution and brought in investigators who concluded no data had been compromised.
It was a tense time, Moser recalls. He was concerned the incident might adversely affect renewals and mounted an aggressive communications effort to keep stakeholders informed.
In the end, retention was even higher than usual, he said.
100% remote
Finalsite is an unusual operation in some other key ways. On days when Moser drives from his home in Ellington to his office in Glastonbury, he’s likely the only one of the firm’s 500-plus employees to be in the office.
“We’re 100% remote,” he reports.
A handful of regional offices were closed during the pandemic and he has no thought of going back, he said.
There are lots of Zoom meetings and some regional gatherings. There are some competitions between the design teams located around the world. Rival schools are given unique design teams to maintain and highlight the uniqueness of each client.
Then there’s the Costa Rican retreat the company makes available to its employees, who are invited to stay one week a year, with airfare paid by the company. Finalsite books the 17-room mansion, which features an infinity pool overlooking the ocean, for six weeks a year.
Moser attributes Finalsite’s success to having the best product and best support in the marketplace.
The school sites are built to reflect the individuality of the schools and are “big on eye candy,” he said. Photos taken by students — with access to quality equipment and increasingly to drones — are blended with work by professional photographers hired in the local market.
Support is rapid and follow up is relentless.
“Every touch matters,” Moser said.
Between 80 and 100 employees live in Connecticut, and Moser said Finalsite buys many goods and professional services locally.