Todd Kaufman, a 1993 Marysville High School graduate, founded Test Double in 2011. The consulting firm quickly grew to 60 employees and recently Kaufman and his partner sold to company back to its employees. (Photo submitted)
When Todd Kaufman graduated college, he entered the world of software development with no particular plan. Twenty years later, his software company is thriving and setting standards for how companies can operate.
Kaufman, a Marysville High School graduate, is the president and CEO of Test Double, a software development consulting firm based in Westerville. He formed the company with his friend and business partner, Justin Searls in 2011. Since then, the business has grown to more than 60 employees who now own the company thanks to Kaufman and Searls deciding to sell the company to them earlier this April.
“We just thought it was the right thing to do to share the company with the people who make it work,” Kaufman said. “I still manage the business stuff day to day so in that regard, not much has changed. But we wanted to give it back to the employees.”
The consulting firm works with other software companies in various capacities, ranging from building software and apps to advising on existing frameworks.
– Tech savvy
“Ever since I was a kid, I played video games and was always interested in computers,” Kaufman said. “In Marysville, even back in the 90s, I was able to take computer courses and get familiar with them. That became helpful in deciding what I wanted to do with college.”
Kaufman grew up in Marysville in a house across from the Ohio Reformatory for Women on Collins Avenue. He graduated from MHS in 1993 and then attended the Ohio State University where he majored in computer programming.
After college, Kaufman entered the IT world where he stayed for almost six years before moving into leadership positions at other companies, something Kaufman said just kind of stuck around.
“I’d say that just set in maybe in the last 10-15 years,” he said. “After my first job out of school, I found myself in management and leadership positions and found out what I was doing was a good fit for me.”
– Experience in the field
While working at Quick Solutions, a software development company, Kaufman not only developed his leadership skills and experience, he also found an interest in consulting.
“I found that I just like to look at the needs of the industry I’m in; what works and what needs fixed,” he said. Kaufman moved through the ranks of the company, quickly finding himself in the position of having 60 people report to him.
“Around that time I started to see more issues with the industry and how companies were responding to the economic recession in 2008,” Kaufman said. “There was too much of a focus on dollars and cents and not on people.”
He left the company and went to Pillar Technology, a job Kaufman said was very educational.
“I learned a lot about money and managing people,” he said.
It was also at this time Kaufman met Searls while doing some public speaking engagements at leadership conferences.
“We started talking and it turned into that scene from Jaws where they start comparing scars. We just talked about our experiences in the industry and what we thought could be done differently,” said Kaufman.
– Making a change
“In 2011, we deposited a check for $3,000 to get (Test Double) off the ground.,” Kaufman said. “Our head was barely above water that first year.”
He added it wasn’t really until the following year that the company really took off.
“Once we settled into what types of clients we would have, things got moving,” he said. “We started to see 20-25% growth every year after that.”
Kaufman said he developed a love for consulting because he encountered many of the issues clients had over the years in his own work and knew how to solve them.
“I think that’s one thing that makes us really work is that we’ve been there. We know the issues companies are going through and we know how to fix them,” he said.
Changes implemented by Test Double didn’t go unnoticed and the company quickly climbed the ranks of the Inc. 5000 list which tracks the fastest growing companies in America. Test Double has appeared on the list for the last four years.
Also for Kaufman, innovation doesn’t just come in the form of company output, it is also built into the way the company operates.
“We’re a remote company and have been that way for several years now,” he said. “We don’t have office spaces, we just work out of our homes.”
Although the pandemic has been tough on many businesses, including Kaufman and his clients, the large-scale shifts to online operations wasn’t a challenge for Test Double.
“I don’t necessarily think it’s something that works for every company but we’ve been very fortunate,” Kaufman added. “And it’s not always easy. You do miss those interactions you would normally have in the office if you went for a cup of coffee or a water.”
To combat this, Test Double has implemented weekly “coffee time” where employees are randomly paired with other employees for 30 minutes and are encouraged to talk about topics outside of work.
“It’s not mandatory or anything, just an opportunity for people to get to know one another better or talk like you would in any other setting,” said Kaufman. “We’ve had to build and maintain that communication with our employees. We’re a very open company.”
Test Double broadcasts their finances every month to let the employees know what it is going on and how money is being spent. Because of the company’s remote model, it can also hire employees from all over the country.
“We just wanted to be able to do things for the industry that we saw it needed and I think we’ve been able to do that,” Kaufman said. “We went into this because we’re in the business of making it better and retaining jobs in the industry.”