And we got into that, my business partner, Michael Hughes and I set the company up. And back then, this isn't what we do now, by the way, I'll come on to that. But back then, we thought conference calling was so awful.

You know, you went on these calls, you had to dial numbers and put codes in, you haven't got a clue what was going on, you couldn't see anyone. You know, the words who just joined were probably the most frequently said words of all time on conference calls, because nobody had a clue what was going on or who was on the meeting. And it was a nightmare of visibility, security and control, really.

So, we got in to make that world better. And we built a company that brought a really simple approach to remote meetings. Our software was almost Fisher Price, like in its design, it was like you, you know, really, really obvious.

And the whole goal in those days where it's all changed since the pandemic, but those days where people were a bit scared of sort of going on online meetings, you know, we were trying to take the fear out of it so that we could improve the experience. And that got us on the stock market. We've since come off, actually, that's another story, maybe we'll come on to, we got it on the stock market.

But the pandemic changed that world. And so now we're in a very different world. And today, we're in the world of next generation business telecommunications, cloud telephony, if you want to call it that.

And I think I'm right in the bold claim that we are the world's most global telecommunications service provider, we offer service in more countries than anybody else. And we're all about helping large multinational enterprises consolidate how they buy and manage their telecoms around the world.

Host: Amazing. Moving forward, as a co-CEO, you've played a key role in LoopApp's growth. So how would you describe your leadership style?

And like, what's the most important lesson you've learned while guiding the company through this global expansion?

Steve: Oh, that's an interesting one. I think, you know, in a situation like this, which has been a roller coaster ride, you know, we got ourselves, we were a startup, we got ourselves growing, we got ourselves on the stock market, the pandemic hurt us, you know, we started to shrink. So we quickly found a new product, we got ourselves off the stock market, now we're growing again.

In that sort of roller coaster world, I think the leadership style of both Michael and I really is to try and be to lead by example, you know, we don't sort of hide in the background, we'd like to get stuck into the business itself. And, you know, as open a style with our team as we can, because when you're going through big changes like that, you know, communication and honesty and openness, I think are a big, big part of getting everyone through. And now we're out the other side and growing really strongly again with our second product.

Host: So LoopUp is known for its innovative cloud solutions, particularly for Microsoft Teams. So what excites you about the future of cloud communications? And how do you see LoopUp shaping the industry over the years?

Steve: I like it. So, you know, I think it's a bit of an unusual situation that you can get excited by a decades old industry, right? I mean, telecoms is decades old. And yet, amazingly, it's going through this really exciting phase. It's a huge, like tens of 30 billion dollar industry. And it's rare to find an industry of that size that is so fundamentally restructuring over such a short period. It's restructuring in two ways as well. The first is that all service, all services, service provision is very quickly migrating from on-premises equipment, which is the old way with switches in buildings and circuits into buildings and things like that. It's moving from on-premises into the cloud.

That's restructuring mode number one, so that people can make and receive their calls wherever they may be, which in the post-pandemic world is critical. It also means companies can get rid of all that equipment that they have on site that they no longer have to look after and maintain and replace. It makes sense all around.

The second big restructuring is that there are these products called unified communications products. So we're arguably on one now called Zoom. There's another one that we work with very closely called Microsoft Teams.

And it's probably the world's leading UC product, unified communications product. Out of the box, Microsoft Teams has a big hole. There is no telephony integrated into Microsoft Teams.

You can speak to your colleagues, Teams to Teams, you can do meetings, you can do video, you can do chat, you can do all sorts of things, but you can't make phone calls. So what we do and what the second big restructuring of the industry is, is to integrate telecoms into these unified communications products so that they really are unified as opposed to nearly. How we're trying to take a leadership role in that industry, we have a very clear strategy, which is all about multinational service provision.

Telecoms has traditionally been very country or region specific. You might buy off BT or Gamma in the UK. You might buy off Verizon in the US, Deutsche Telekom in Germany, PCCW in Hong Kong.

You have your companies that are well known for the part of the world that they serve, but that's not necessary anymore. With those industry restructurings, all telecoms is today, next generation, is one other form of data over the internet. The wires into buildings are now broadband, they're not telecoms.

The wires into buildings are fiber network. And then telecoms is now just another data app that happens to be voice data as opposed to any other sort of data. And it can be served globally.

So, the way we're trying to lead the industry or take a leadership segment like role in the industry, it's a niche segment, which is we want to be the leader in multinational service provision of next generation business telecoms. And we have the world's biggest coverage. And we're growing really strongly because of that differentiated proposition.

Host: So speaking of Microsoft Teams, how are operator connect and direct routing services managed? And like, why is it so important for businesses like Microsoft Teams?

Steve: So yeah, so what those two programs are, just for anyone who's not familiar with them, is they're Microsoft's programs to enable telecommunications companies, you know, like loop up, but also like all the telcos that you would have heard of around the world to integrate into Microsoft Teams so that they can provide their telecom services in a sort of unified integrated way with teams. And there are two programs, the original one was called direct routing. And the more recent one is called operator connect.

They're similar in their intent. It's so that specialist service providers can come and provide their services. And so that Microsoft don't have to worry about doing that themselves, because they're a software security cloud company, they're not a telco.

And telecoms is regulated, it's a different world. So they created those programs to allow service providers like us to come and provide our services into teams. Direct routing, you know, they each have their strengths.

I mean, just at a very, very high level, direct routing is arguably a more capable program, but is less restricted. And arguably, you know, if you don't know what you're doing, is more prone to poor implementations, whereas operator connect is a little bit more locked down, but harder to get it wrong. We provide both.

And we know we use the appropriate horses for courses program.

Host: As we're aware, loop up has reached major milestones, like from key partnerships to international expansions. So are there any recent successes, collaborations or awards that you're especially proud of?

Steve: Yeah, you know, this is a new product for us. And, you know, we're reaching revenue milestones in sort of almost record time. I mean, we're private now.

So, we don't sort of share those numbers publicly. But I think we're in the top 0.5 percentile for how quickly we're reaching this sort of revenue target from a product launch. And I think it's just because the value proposition is so obvious, really.

I mean, what big company wouldn't want to bring 25 vendors down to one and do everything in a sort of consistent global way? You know, they manage teams globally. Why don't they want to manage their telco globally?

And, you know, we provide a software portal that for the first time ever, you know, allows. And that was one of the big milestones, actually, the launch of that portal, that software portal, which for the first time ever gives these big companies somewhere where they can see the full global extent of their telecoms. It's no longer managed in 25 different places and 25 different systems, if there's even a system at all.

It's now all in one place. They can see all their phone numbers around the world. They have analytics of all the usage.

They can provision users all in one system. And also, you know, you perhaps don't think of AI in the world of telecoms, but by this integration into Microsoft Teams, your telecoms content, I mean, it's configurable, so you don't have to do this, but your telecoms content can form part of your enterprise AI dataset, which is a very rich source of information to include in your AI sort of workings and operations. So there is even an AI element to this.

Host: Very interesting. That's almost a new evolution in the telecom industry.

Steve: Yeah, which is unusual, right? It's decades old and you've got this huge thing that's fundamentally restructuring. It's a great place to be.

Host: Absolutely. Now, on a more strategic note, running a global business requires balancing long-term goals with day-to-day challenges. So how do you stay focused on the big picture while managing the short-term obstacles?

Steve: I think we're lucky in that one. I really do. There are lots of companies that have portfolios of products and portfolios of products often demand, you know, compromise strategies.

We do one thing, right? We are super focused. We have one strategy, which is multinational differentiation, and it allows us to look after that bigger picture piece succinctly and consistently.

There's one meeting we have actually in our senior management team, and it's like a monthly meeting or something. And one of the agenda items is strategy update, which is one of the ones I do. And there's never anything to say.

There's no change to our strategy. So, you know, I think to your question, we're very, very lucky that as a super focused company, you know, we keep an eye on our strategy, of course, but we haven't had to change it over the last four years. So we're able to focus more on the day-to-day operations and growth and delighting our customers because that strategy is so firm.

Host: Steve, beyond your work at Luba, you've had an impressive career from consulting to leading international teams. So, if you hadn't become a tech entrepreneur, what other career paths do you think you might have pursued and why?

Steve: I definitely would have liked to have been a professional tennis player, but unfortunately, I'm absolutely useless.

Host: Okay. So, speaking of inspiration, many aspiring entrepreneurs look up to you as a role model. So, what advice would you give to someone starting their journey in cloud communications and tech?

Steve: Well, you know, I think you don't want to go in blind, but at the same time, you can't over plan, right? You know, I think this is something you see a lot more in the States than you see over here, but you've got to be willing to have a crack, right? Have a thought through an educated crack, for sure.

Don't just go crazily into something blindly. But once you've got a view that you might be onto something, don't try and chase down the nth detail to prove it up front. You know, just have a go, get the sort of most minimally viable variant of it out, start getting feedback and see what happens.

And if you're onto something, I mean, it's very rare that you've got it perfect, but start to iterate. Or if it ain't working, just do something else, right? Just try and fail quickly, I think.

And by that, you reach a success faster as well.

Host: So, as we wrap up, I know we've spoken about this earlier, but the nature of work has changed dramatically with remote and hybrid models becoming the normal norm. So how do you see tools like LoopUp evolving to support this shift in the workplace?

Steve: Well, yeah, I think we've been on the, hopefully, on the front end of that. You know, there was a pandemic in that, you know, the pandemic led to the decline of our original conference calling product because it was superseded by broader unified communications platforms. But the irony is that emergence, that domination now of platforms like Microsoft Teams facilitated our new business.

And it meant we were on the front end coming out of the pandemic with something new. So I think, you know, the change in working practice, you know, to a more remote or hybrid model is the very essence of what has led to cloud communications, you know, because it makes the service provision ubiquitous and flexible. Without that cloud implementation, the global service provision and our multinational strategy wouldn't have been possible.

So, you know, it's not so much how it's going to influence in the future, it's at the very essence of why we're doing what we're doing.

Host: Thank you so much, Steve. This has been an incredibly insightful conversation. Like your expertise and experiences have given us and our audience so much to think about, like how the telecom industry is evolving every year, every decade.

Thank you so much for joining us today.

Steve: It's been a pleasure. Thanks for having me. Very good to speak to you.

Host: Thank you. Thank you, everyone, for tuning in to ExtraMile by WisdomPlexus. I am your host, Sayali, signing off for today.

Stay tuned for more informative interviews with industry leaders sharing their wisdom on the latest technologies and trends. Until then, stay curious and keep seeking knowledge.