Why Life is more than Just a Pitstop
PC Pitstop CEO Rob Cheng was featured in this profile by Regina Ciardiello at smbnation.com
The Evolution of an Executive who has Successfully Weathered the IT Storm
If you met Rob Cheng, Founder and CEO of PC Pitstop on the street one afternoon, you would probably expect him to say that he has every kind of the latest techno gadget in his home, car, and while he’s on the move. However, Cheng, who divides his time between his homes in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, usually doesn’t even carry a cell phone with him when leaving the house, and when he does, it’s usually one of those “flip” style phones. Totally unassuming that he is, you’d never guess that Cheng founded PC Pitstop more than 10 years ago, with the basis of diagnosing common computer problems.
If you regularly tune into 24-hour news stations such as Fox News, CNN and CNBC, then you have probably seen the commercials for Cheng’s company’s signature product, PC Matic. In fact, the company announced in 2009 that the PC Matic product would also include the collection of all of PC Pitstop’s technologies under one hood and one integrated architecture. Traditionally labeled as strictly a consumer product, Cheng and his company are poised to enter into the B2B (SMB) world with its PC Matic product, which will be unveiled at the SMB Nation Spring Conference in May in Redmond, WA.
Since launching PC Pitstop in 1999, and creating the company’s Web site in 2000, Cheng now has more than 17 virtual employees located throughout the world. What is unique about PC Pitstop he says, is not only the fact that the company is 100% virtual, this business model has served them well since opening their doors as many virtual-based offices, according to Cheng, often don’t last too long. While PC Pitstop has enjoyed its share of success in the last 14 years, it didn’t come from Cheng being able to just sit back and enjoy the fruits of his labor. It took hard work, dedication, tough decisions, and major life changes to get to his current status.
