In 2007, when the economy took a nose dive, TempWorks started offering payroll funding alongside the software that was our meat-and-potatoes. Our CEO, David Dourgarian, has said this decision “kept the lights on during the recession.”

Up until 2015, we were following the same basic script as other payroll funding companies. Startups seeking financial assistance would sign a strict contract with us, and we’d cross our fingers that they’d stick around and become software customers afterward.

More often than not, it didn’t work out that way.

Even though TempWorks was making money off the arrangements, David Dourgarian realized it wasn’t good for the long-term health of our company because we weren’t building lasting relationships. It wasn’t 2007 or 2008 anymore, and we could exercise more discretion with whom we chose to work. So we scrapped the old script and re-envisioned funding services as startup development services, complete with business mentoring. We did away with contracts and upped our application standards, too.

Recruiter.com writer Matthew Kosinski describes this shift in depth after a recent interview with Dourgarian. It’s a perfect example of how Dourgarian, besides being undeterred by challenges, is committed to helping TempWorks and the industry evolve. The same can be said of our software.