In 2020, I stepped into the CEO role at Docupace and inherited a company with decades of experience leading the financial services industry.
This year, we celebrate 20 incredible years of Docupace, a milestone that marks the start of a new chapter.
Over the past 20 years, our industry has seen tremendous change. I’m proud to say that Docupace has helped lead those changes and provided impactful technology and earnest services to our clients. When Michael Pinsker created Docupace 20 years ago, he set the foundation for our company to lead and empower businesses to embrace the digital revolution – which was barely just beginning. Our community of employees, customers, and partners have been riding that transformational wave ever since..
A company’s 20th-anniversary is a significant milestone only the fortunate get the chance to celebrate. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data shows that roughly 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years, nearly half (45%) shudder during the first five years, and only one out of four make it to year 15.
This celebration is a perfect time to reflect on how far we’ve come and tip our hat to all those employees and customers past and present who have contributed to our journey. Importantly, it’s also critical to focus our eyes on the future and where we can go.
The world and the industry is changing at an increasingly fast pace. And Docupace will be there every step of the way, continuing to deliver top-tier technology to our clients and supporting our employees.
Taking Operational Excellence to the Next Level
Terms like AI and machine learning weren’t part of most people’s vocabulary when Michael started us out in 2002. Now, we’ve moved past the digital transformation era and entering the age of digital optimization. Throughout huge technological advancements, Docupace has always been a leader. And that will undoubtedly continue in the future.
As investors demand more personalized service and financial advice, the need for integrated and automated systems to streamline operations is greater than ever. Going forward, Docupace technology will do much of the routine elements of work, freeing RIAs and employees to serve investors better and grow their firms. With recent acquisitions of jaccomo and PreciseFP, we’re stronger than ever. We’re completely re-envisioning the reporting capabilities of our platform to leverage new technology and create exceptional capabilities and results.
No matter the developments in machine learning, blockchain, and AI, Docupace will be a market leader and inspire others to keep up. Our goal will always be to turn financial planning into financial planning well executed.
Making Back Office Heroes Bigger, Badder, Faster, and Stronger
For the past two decades, Docupace has been dedicated to serving our clients and building amazing technology and products to meet their needs. Moving forward, we’re taking that to the next level.
One of the biggest professional compliments I receive is when someone thanks me for giving them what they need — not what they asked for. That’s the ultimate goal of Docupace: it’s to take our 20 years of experience and direct it to the market to make our clients bigger, badder, faster, and stronger.
Financial services competition is shifting to the back office. We’ve always considered operations and back office professionals the heroes of the industry, and now it’s time for the world to see that as well. By proactively meeting their needs and providing them with the best software possible, we can showcase back office skills and enable them to deliver outstanding results.
And ultimately, as back office heroes shine, it’s the investors these firms serve that see the biggest benefits with streamlined operations, digital solutions, and financial confidence.
Our Ace Card Isn’t Technology, It’s Our People
Over the past 20 years, the Docupace team has grown from just a few employees to 150 of the most talented people in the world. Everything Docupace has accomplished is a result of the dedication and care of its people. Technology doesn’t build itself. All of our success comes from the humans at Docupace who care deeply about each other, our clients, and the marketplace. Each person plays a crucial role in our success, and that’s not something I take for granted.
Docupace employees have been gathering knowledge and experiences for years. We’ll continue to create an environment to unleash that talent for the good of each other and the good of our clients. Docupace will always be a company with cool tech and cool people.
Docupace has seen tremendous growth and success in the past 20 years, and this is only our first chapter. The future is bright as we continue to lead with fantastic technology and people to support our clients.
David Knoch is CEO of Docupace a solutions provider focused on digitizing and automating operations in the financial advice and investment industry. David currently serves as the Immediate Past Chair of the Financial Services Institute (FSI) Board of Directors and has been voted one of the 25 most influential people in the Investment Advisory industry two years in a row – 2018 and 2019.
