This story was originally published in July 2024 and released at ChannelCon in Atlanta where John Harden was announced Member of the Year. Read his story to learn what it means to be GTIA Member of the Year. Applications are open through April 18 for the 2024-25 Member of the Year.
There are two types of people in this world: People who sit back and wait for things to happen and
people who make things happen. In the business world, we call these people disruptors. They challenge the status quo, seek new ways to level up and aren't afraid of failure. By all accounts, John Harden is a disruptor. Although, he probably would never admit to such a descriptor as he frequently references his Midwestern humility as proof otherwise. It's that unusual combination of entrepreneurial drive and unassuming success that helped a panel of judges select Harden as the CompTIA Community, now GTIA, Member of the Year for 2023-24.
Recently though, Harden has found himself at an inflection point.
"It's my goal to become unimportant, so to speak. I want to empower others to be more important and seize more opportunities," he said. That's not a humble brag for someone who's under the age of 35. It's actually been a goal of his and it comes at the perfect time as Harden and his wife, Lauren, are expecting their first child this fall. "It's hard to take my eye off anything else right now other than becoming a father," he said, noting that he's looking forward to taking paternity leave as director of product - Saas at Auvik and coming out on the other side ready to take on some new challenges. But before we share his success, let's talk about how he got here.
Taking The Road Less Followed
Harden is a self-taught software engineer, building code in his early teenage years. A self-described "gamer and big nerd," he enjoyed pushing the boundaries, trying to "break" the game. He became involved in the Business Professionals of America (BPA) at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis and found an outlet to channel that passion.
In fact, he placed second in the nation in a BPA web app development contest in his junior year. That success drew the attention of a local tech company and at the age of 16 he started building custom solutions to help scale the company—all while finishing high school.
The natural next step was college. But being a disruptor, Harden faced some challenges.
"I'm an alternative pathway kid," he said. "Education comes in a million different formats. We have this traditional pathway in elementary school, junior high and high school where we have to go through this very structured learning. I was horrible in high school and college, but you put me in the real world and I figured it out."
Indeed, he did.
Harden started a business degree program at Indiana University in Bloomington but would eventually drop out to build and launch a UCaaS software business with the founders at the MSP that employed him at the time. However, this entrepreneurial journey was just the beginning and eventually led to him becoming the founder of his own company—Saaslio in 2020. Acquired by Auvik in 2022, Saaslio is a software solution that helps secure businesses increase their security posture. The business was recognized as Startup of the Year by the Indiana Small Business Development Center (SBDC).
But even with that part of his story behind him, Harden wants to shine a light on the pitfalls of a traditional educational pathway for some students.
"I don't really love how education is set up in this world," he said. "For 80% of students it's probably right, but it misses the 20% like me. I'm invested in making an impact here because there are a lot of people with amazing capabilities that don't do structure well."
And that's one of his big motivators—he believes success in the private sector will give him the financial means to eventually have a bigger impact in the world of non-profit, higher education.
"There's a lot to disrupt to make sure students don't get left behind," he said.
Setting Goals and Achieving Them
The secret to Harden's success is quite simple actually, he sets goals and then he works until he meets them.
"Fundamentally, I do not sit with inaction. Inaction kills me," he said. "I meet so many ‘want-reprenuers.’ These are people who have a great idea but haven't done anything to make it happen. Nothing drives me crazier."
He believes that inaction is the result of people getting in their own way.
"I have a wickedly dangerous lack of fear when it comes to failure," he said. "I embrace failure and I openly share my failures. If it happens, it happens and I move on. So many people are worried about what others think. You have to let that go and focus on what you want to achieve."
As an example, he tells a story about something he did when he was 21 that changed his trajectory.
"At 21 I was your stereotypical software engineer. I was socially awkward, I walked with my head down, I couldn't have conversations with people I didn't know," he said. He realized that to get to the next level in his career, he couldn't be just a software engineer—he had to be a part of the business world too.
"I knew I didn't have any social skills and I knew I had to build them," he said. "I decided that every week for the next year I was going to have coffee with three new people. I had to get comfortable with discomfort."
Harden said he spent that year attending every social networking, engineering meetup and product event he could find, talking to anyone who would listen to him.
"I met a lot of people that year, and I drank a lot of coffee. But I met my mentors along the way and I got something valuable out of every person I met," he said. "There's something to learn from everybody."
Leaning on the GTIA Community
Harden's company Saaslio was a GTIA member and it was acquired by Auvik, another member, proving the importance of connections in the channel.
"Juan Fernandez introduced me to the [GTIA] community while I was running Saaslio and he was incessant in not leaving me alone until I got involved," Harden said. I started going to events and getting connected and all of a sudden I was in it. I’ve been involved in just about every way they will let me since."
One example of that involvement is serving as vice chair of the SaaS Ecosystem Advisory Council, a role that Harden says has been valuable to him. "There are amazing people on the council. I have learned so much from these people," he said.
For example, Harden said the council is developing a five-phase guide that will help MSPs better navigate through all the tools and solutions in the market to better identify and select the ones that make the most sense for their business.
Editor’s Note: This guide is complete and currently being re-branded for GTIA. Check our Resources page often to find newly re-branded guidebooks, white papers, infographics and more!
"Our overall marching mission is to help the [GTIA] community understand the challenges that exist out there and try to produce content to guide them," he said.
He also believes the IT industry as a whole can be an overwhelming environment for even the most seasoned businesses.
"There are new attack vectors coming in left and right in cyberspace, we have brand new and innovative SaaS solutions that can solve just about any business problem and we have a growing complexity in a hybrid workforce that we must support. Being able to prioritize the right actions—and not just the shiny objects—continues to be a very complex matter professionals must solve," he said. "I believe this is a key area that the [GTIA] community can help solve."
But amidst the challenges, Harden says it's the people that keep him going.
"What's really interesting about the MSP community is that there's a tremendous amount of real people that really care about everyone else," he said. "These people care to make everybody better and that's fun to be a part of."
Bringing People with You
While Harden is laser focused on setting goals and putting in the work, he understands the importance other people have had on his journey.
"Having a stable mentoring network is probably a number one contributor for me," he said. "I’m fortunate to have had amazing mentors of all different walks of life. What you learn from mentors you can't learn in a book."
Harden names Mark Caswell as one of those mentors.
"John is one of the most exceptional people I've ever met," Caswell, founder of Caswell Group, a management consulting firm focused on enterprise value creation, and former CEO of Resultant, a tech and data analytics consulting firm, said. "He’s just a great guy and you can't talk to him for more than about 30 seconds without realizing that. It's definitely a cliché, but the value of
being a mentor is that you also get mentored. I think a lot of times when John and I would get together, you probably couldn't tell who is the mentor and who is the mentee."
Eventually, Harden would love to take that spirit of mentorship and extend it to startup companies.
"I’d love to continue to hone my skills in the IT space and become a startup coach and consultant for SaaS technology companies, one day," he said. "I love the opportunity to help growth-stage companies with their businesses. I very much believe that many organizations are just a little bit of experience away from being able to execute greatly, and I would love to provide my experience to help them get there."
And because inaction isn't in his vocabulary, he's already set himself a goal.
"By the time I’m 40 I want to have 100 seeds planted. I want to invest, help and consult with companies. That’s my new goal for 40," he said.
Making a Difference
While Harden is certainly capable of achieving that goal, it's the impact that really matters to him.
"What's great about John is what he's capable of, but more importantly, who he is," Caswell said. "Of course he's smart, of course he has all of these amazing skills, but what's great about John is why he does all the things he does. He deeply cares about people. He deeply cares about making an impact on the world. He wants the work that he does every day to mean something."
In fact, when asked how he felt about being honored as the 2023-2024 Member of the Year, Harden says he was initially taken aback since he was also recognized as the 2024 North America Future Leader Spotlight Award winner.
"The Midwestern in me felt bad for being recognized twice," he laughed. "Then I took a step back to look at it a different way. I'm proud and appreciative. But I want to find a way this award can help me raise awareness of programs that I really care about and about educating the people that don't usually get that opportunity. If I can make more people aware of these programs, then I’m happy to use this award to make an impact."
Nominate or Apply for the GTIA Member of the Year
Are you the next GTIA Member of the Year? Applying for an award—or nominating a deserving colleague or fellow member—is a great way to be recognized by the GTIA community and the IT industry for your hard work and dedication. Bookmark this page to keep tabs on when nominations open.
