Alex Fielding
The Story Behind Founding Ripcord
Many entrepreneurial stories -- especially high-tech startups -- begin with the pursuit of wealth and renown as the core element driving everything that follows. Alex Fielding's story is unique: the existence of his revolutionary company was a result of trying to help a friend.
Alex Fielding received a call one day from a friend who was in desperate need of business advice. His friend's tech company was being pre-IPO audited by an accounting firm and the firm was asking to see accurate financial records. The problem was the friend could only find one-third of the boxes that contained the financial records. The remainder had been lost by a company that had been paid to secure them.
This incident was a serious threat to the tech company, as Fielding's friend would have to delay the IPO and hire a new firm to audit the restated records. Not only that, but this could potentially cost his friend millions.
This caught Fielding off-guard. He couldn't believe that this tech company hadn't taken the time to digitize all of its financial records. So Fielding asked his friend why he hadn't been following the paperless trend. He wanted to know why had he instead chosen to stuff his files in a warehouse. His friend replied that scanning was time-consuming, very expensive and that they would never know if everything had actually been scanned.
Fielding wondered aloud if there were companies that could handle the digitization process for them. Surely, there were businesses that offered automated scanning so as to avoid human error. His friend assured him that to his knowledge this type of company didn't exist. But Fielding was so sure that this type of company existed that he told his friend that he could treat him to lunch once he had found one for him.
Fielding lost the bet. His friend was right; there seemed to be no such company in existence. However, Fielding's curiosity about the scanning process and how it affects other businesses would set off a chain of events. And it would lead to the creation of the world’s first robotic digitization business that's exclusively dedicated to creating a paperless workplace.
The Process
Not only is this technology revolutionary, but Ripcord has made the process very simple and straight-forward. It all begins with sending your paper records over to Ripcord. The shipping process is handled by FedEx.
Once Ripcord receives the records, its staffers take over from there. Instead of ripping the staples out of your records by hand, the staffers simply prepare them for processing. “They remove any dead rats, trophies, or chewing gum, and fit the paper into the loader,” says Fielding. Specifically, the staffers feed the papers into box-shaped units that are about the size of a walk-in closet. There's no limit to what this automated system can process -- from legal-sized paper and business cards to card stock and pages that are as thin as rice paper.
After the papers have been scanned, you can keep the digital records under the management of Ripcord. This means that you'll have access to their search tools. Linkages to other software will be available as well.
One of the most convenient things about Ripcord is the way in which it charges for its services. You see, Fielding defines Ripcord as a company that provides software-as-a-service. So instead of forcing you to pay for each part of the process such as the shipping, digitization, and shredding, Ripcord instead charges monthly fees. These fees range from $0.04 to $0.08 per page. Those who have the largest volumes tend to receive the lowest rates. Some companies even elect to sign up for long-term contacts.
Rapid Progress
Alex Fielding established Ripcord in 2014 and ever since that time the company has been making significant strides. Since its initial development, Ripcord has worked on a host of trial projects and has managed to process over a million records.
In its infancy, the company was able to raise over $60 million dollars in funding from Silicon Valley heavy hitters such as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Legend Star, and Steve Wozniak, Apple's co-founder. According to Ripcord.com, this funding has been invested in the company's commercial operation.
Ripcord has also improved its technology. In February of 2019, the Hayward, California company unveiled its next-generation digital imaging machines. These new robots have increased quality and performance. They're able to do imaging at 1000 DPI and at speeds that are considered to be record-breaking. The new robots are half the size of the older models which means that they're easier to move around. Each of these qualities will contribute to the company's expansion plans.
The press release section of Ripcord.com shows that the company continues to enhance its team with world-class experts such as Barmak Heshmat, a research scientist from MIT. The company is interested in using Heshmat’s work in Terahertz imaging in order to enhance its robotic systems and Canopy software. Its most recent addition to the team is CEO and co-founder of Dishcraft Robotics, Linda Pouliot. The company is interested in using Pouliot's experience and network within the robotics community in order to enhance its technical resources.
Despite all of the progress that Ripcord is making within the robotics industry, there's still the matter of future technology and what advancements it will bring. How long will businesses need services like the one that this company is currently offering? Admittedly, Alex Fielding has wondered about the longevity of his company. He imagines that as technology progresses there will be a decline in paper use.
However, until that time he continues to search for answers. You see, although some paper use is in decline such as that in magazine printing, others continue to rise. This is especially the case when it comes to office environments and their use of computer paper. In this instance, Alex predicts that there will be an increase in the need for the services that his company is currently offering.
Alex Fielding estimates that the records management industry is currently worth $25 billion. Iron Mountain, a Boston-based records management company managed to increase revenue from $3.01 billion in 2015 to $3.51 billion in 2016. And in Fielding's opinion, this is a good indication that his company and others like maybe around for quite some time. In his own words, “That tells you, boy, this market is not getting smaller.”
The Future
What We Can Learn From Fielding's Story
Sure, people have been talking about paperless offices for years. However, if you visit any modern office building today you are certain to find unlimited mounds of documents piled up on desks, shelves, and even on the floors. This in spite of the fact that paper makes very little sense in today's fast-paced, digital world. And to make things even more interesting, everyone understands that this massive volume of paperwork can be extremely bad for our planet, negatively impact efficiency, and stress out teams of people who are expected to translate these records onto spreadsheets. However, no one has taken the time to do anything about it - that is, until now.
Ripcord’s ultimate goal is to solve our paper problems. Through the use of a high-tech machine, you can now have your documents scanned at record-breaking speeds.
Not only can these robots ensure that your documents are scanned quickly,but they can help to eliminate the risks of human error. The machine automatically finds and removes staples and can adjust to documents of various sizes and thicknesses.
One of the best and most convenient things about Ripcord is that you can interact with your documents once they've been scanned. Thanks to the meta-tagging feature, you can easily and instantly use keywords to search through them, unlocking you to read your data on a variety of business systems.
With over $65 million in funding, it should be interesting to find out where this robotics company will take us. If you want to know more about Ripcord, you can visit their website at Ripcord.com.
