Meet Gav Winter, CEO and co-founder of RapidSpike

Gav Winter is CEO of next-generation website testing company RapidSpike – working with brands including William Hill, Kurt Geiger and Sofology to ensure their digital real estate is quick, reliable and secure.

His lucky break came after working on Yorkshire Water’s IT support desk, which saw him helping with a data collection solution – which made operations 60% faster, and the project finishing three months early. After that, he was headhunted and got a software testing automation job – from there, he’s gone from strength to strength.

Tell us about your experience prior to launching your business?

I’ve always loved computing, and ended up studying it at GCSE, A-level, and later as my degree. This ultimately led me to the role at Yorkshire Water. I worked for the likes of Accenture and William Hill before founding and launching The Test People – the UK’s leading software testing consultancy – because I’d always wanted to start my own business, having seen my dad being happiest when he was doing his own thing.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as an entrepreneur?

Trust and values. My ability to give trust vs. make people earn it is both a skill and a problem – as it empowers those around me, but also leaves me vulnerable and has therefore taught me to be a little more cautious. Shared values are also key for me – at all levels.

What are your thoughts on failure?

I tell my children and the team I train in football: “We never lose. We win or we learn.” It sounds clichéd, but you can apply that to business too, because ‘failure’ can be a great teacher.

There’s little point in being obsessed with how good you might be at something, and benchmarking others against that because it will only create division within a team – particularly if others in management roles have differing views on what constitutes ‘failure’.

What keeps you motivated as an entrepreneur when you hit bumps in the road?

Purpose. I’ve had an incredibly tough 18 months both personally and professionally as I’ve dealt with the death of my father while driving forward a significant round of investment for RapidSpike.

I’ve found that it’s easy to say “I want to be happy,” or “I want £1m in the bank,” but that’s an outcome. I want to provide my family with life experiences and be present in those moments, as well as to leave a legacy of having achieved something that matters.

How well-versed were you in the planning and strategic growth of your business? Did this come easy to you?

I have a D in GCSE business studies and apparently I’m too nice to be in business, so not a great start! However, I’m good at pattern recognition and taking a longer view on things, which is a real benefit in terms of strategic purpose.

It helps when you’re clear on what you should be doing – as it’s all too easy to chase business which will provide short-term revenue but not long-term value. Building for the future is key. 

What’s the most common problem your customers approach you with?

Usually, they are looking for help with the overall reliability of their website – particularly around third-party integrations. This is largely because of people starting to make the link between website performance and conversions, usability, and loyalty, as well as security and reputation. In today’s transactional world, conversions, reputation, and loyalty is core to success, as users better understand the link between the three.

When did you decide that the DIY approach to building your business wasn’t enough to boost growth?

When we went through the first round of investment – and every subsequent round of funding, since. With a product like RapidSpike, you can’t sell something that doesn’t exist, therefore, you need the right people in place to build a solution of which to sell.

How important is company culture and what is your top tip to get it right?

Massively important – we foster a culture that wants to use tech for good, because it’s integral to business success.

Interestingly, someone once told me: “I don’t think you’ll be very good at this, because you’re too nice,” as if being nice is somehow a limiting factor. Yes, people who are cut-throat can do very well in some instances, but that’s not the ultimate measure of success – can you look in the mirror at the end of the day? If you stick to your values, you can.

Do you prioritise self-care as an entrepreneur?

I wish I did. The older I get, the harder it seems to achieve – although I have pretty much stopped drinking, because I know that always makes me feel better. I’m a firm believer that we shouldn’t punish ourselves for what we do/don’t do though – so eat the fish and chips!

Entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey. How are you combating that feeling whilst pushing forward?

I have a great network of friends and peers within the Leeds business community who listen well and can empathise with most situations. Of course, I put pressure on myself to succeed, but it’s also driven by business partners, investors, and line managers – dealing with that, when you have your own life challenges but are still expected to show up every day being the best version of you is hard.

Why do you think now is the right time for the world to begin exploring and adopting technology that aids sustainability?

The time was many years ago – we need to act now. You’d be surprised how significant websites are for sustainability, and the more complex they are, the worse they can be for our planet. The internet is enormous for power consumption.

Today, the average website costs 6 grams of CO2 – the equivalent of driving a car 12,000 miles – with sites like the BBC around 2 grams. Reducing every site by 25% would save thousands of tonnes of CO2 in our atmosphere, so if every website owner committed to marginal gains – we’d see a huge difference.