Guest faculty
Mike Muhney
Co-Creator of ACT! · “Godfather of CRM” · Contatta
Forty years spent proving one idea: technology doesn't build relationships — people do. It just has to stop getting in the way.
Co-Creator of ACT! · “Godfather of CRM” · Contatta
Forty years spent proving one idea: technology doesn't build relationships — people do. It just has to stop getting in the way.
When Mike Muhney and Pat Sullivan created ACT!, they didn't just build a product — they created an entire software category and changed how individuals managed their worlds. Four decades later, the industry still calls them the “Godfathers of CRM.”
They call us the “Godfathers of CRM,” a title I wear with pride because it represents a 40-year commitment to the power of human connection.
Mike's view on the category he helped invent is unusually honest. He has long struggled with the term relationship management, because none of us can truly manage the person on the other side of a relationship. What we can do is capture meaningful information, keep scheduled commitments, and follow through to deliver as promised. In effect, we can manage our reputation with others.
Today the world is more connected yet more distracted than ever, and the tools have drifted — overpriced, bloated enterprise software on one side, lacklustre personal apps on the other, each addressing parts of our lives while fumbling the rest. Contatta is his answer to the question: “What would the Godfathers of CRM create if they were starting from scratch?”
Contatta goes beyond contacts, calendars and conversations, minimising distraction so you can connect, construct and cultivate genuinely meaningful relationships — which is exactly why Mike's perspective belongs in a community built on relationship capital.
Topics & ExpertiseMike teaches the discipline behind relationship capital — capturing what matters, keeping commitments and following through, at scale.
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