Reflections on GTM over the years

Mike@GTM

Unfortunately, there is no GTM without Sam. Sam is the type that would go down with the ship and keep fighting the whole way. He doesn't give up easily and would never sell the company that in his mind, he built. While it is true that it is his company, he didn't design or build any of the parts: his employees did.

I will say that getting a company to the level that GTM was at was a huge undertaking, but at some point you cannot single handedly manage such a beast. Sam simply did not want to let go and let someone with more experience running a successful business do it properly. The most frustrating and frightening time I had at GTM was when Sam had to have brain surgery. He simply was not going to be physically able to run the business. If he died, the company would have been toast. I offered to help run things while he was out for surgery and recovery, but he just wouldn't let go and the company suffered as a result. But the rabbit hole is much, much deeper than that and the seeds of GTM's self destruction had been sown much, much earlier. Credit can be a useful tool, but it can sink a company really quick as well. Sam, just isn't very good at managing money and meeting obligations.

It's funny, I'm just reminded of a conversation Sam and I had. He claimed that everyone misses a car payment, right? I looked him dead in the eye and said I have never missed a car payment in my life and I have an 811 credit score. I guess that right there says everything that is wrong with GTM and why it is in bankruptcy.