My guest today is Bob Pritchett, and I’m really excited to be sharing this episode with you. Bob first came on my radar when I read his book titled “Fire Someone Today”, which was published in 2006. Right before I purchased my first software company, one of my investors and mentors purchased the book for me as a gift, and promised me that, in spite of the fact that I had likely never heard of the book, it was full of countless gems for entrepreneurs and CEOs running SMBs. And he was right: Fire Someone today remains one of my favorite all-time business books, partially because of how it was written: Usefulness, practicality, and tactical/actionable advice take the place of the theory and anecdotes that unfortunately populate many other business books that often feel like they were written inside of an ivory tower.

Bob is not just an author: He’s also a Founder, lifetime entrepreneur and CEO: Bob founded Logos Research Systems (later Logos Bible Software and now Faithlife) in 1992, and acted as its CEO for 30 years, until recently assuming the role of Executive Chairman. During Bob's tenure, Faithlife has grown both organically and inorganically from two employees to over 500, with the company now serving thousands of customers across 170 countries worldwide. Bob was a also recipient of E& Y's Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2005.

In our conversation today, we discuss how one falls into the bible software business, the merits and risks of pursuing an entrepreneurial venture with a partner, why many business partnerships fail, how much you should actually listen to your customers, what functions to inhouse versus outsource, and the practices and routines that he’s implemented to help him sustain 30 years as an entrepreneur.

Enjoy!