Todd Pedersen Vivint CEO

Rachel Lons
Nov 1 · 5 min read

Todd Pedersen has become one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time, having founded and built Vivint Inc, a multi-billion dollar tech company. Starting in the early 1990s with a team of just ten people, Pedersen now runs a company with more than 11,000 employees. From selling pest control directly to customers, one house at a time, he now oversees an enterprise with more than 1.4 million customers.

Todd Pedersen — Personal Secrets of Success

Todd Pedersen has received the Entrepreneur of the Year award from three different organizations, and has been inducted into the David Eccles School of Business Hall of Fame. And in 2017, Fast Company included Vivint in its list of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies.

How did Todd Pedersen reach these goals and become the CEO of Vivint? While solid business skills, industry knowledge, and a drive to succeed have been crucial in helping Pedersen build a great company, he also knows the importance of family and maintaining a balanced life.

Todd Pedersen, CEO of Vivint on Nasdaq

Todd Pedersen’s Early Years

Pedersen was born in Seattle, Washington and grew up in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He comes from a large family, the fourth of eleven children. At an early age he learned the value of working together with others, a necessary skill when living with so many siblings. Though his grandfather was the mayor of Idaho Falls, Pedersen was not destined for a life in politics, getting the entrepreneurial itch as a teenager. He started working when he was just 13, taking a job mowing lawns at the local cemetery, where he began learning about hard work and discipline. More lessons were soon to come.
In his late teens, Pedersen went on a two-year mission for his church, which proved to be a valuable training ground where he acquired skills he could later apply to business. Going door to door every day and meeting strangers taught him persistence and patience in the face of rejection. Needless to say, it offered Pedersen further lessons in discipline.

Todd Pedersen CEO attended Brigham Young University, but eventually realized that college was not for him. Sitting in classrooms was not going to provide him with the practical experience he needed. He had already started a business selling pest control services during the summer. So, like many successful tech entrepreneurs, Pedersen dropped out to focus on building his business.

Todd Pedersen Vivint CEO
Todd Pedersen Vivint CEO
Todd Pedersen, CEO of Vivint

How Todd Pedersen Built His First Company

Over the next few years, he and his team built up the company, but by 1999 Todd Pedersen knew he would have to expand into other areas. His new goal was to offer home security systems, so he and his friend Keith Nellesen formed APX Alarm Security Solutions.

By 2006, just seven years later, APX had grown exponentially, reaching $50 million in sales. By 2010 the company expanded into home automation and was re-branded as Vivint, spurring further growth and greater success.

Todd Pedersen receives the Entrepreneur of the Year Award for his work as Vivint CEO
Todd Pedersen receives the Entrepreneur of the Year Award for his work as Vivint CEO
Entrepreneur of the Year — Todd Pedersen

Running a Business While Finding Time for Family

Achieving this much success took a tremendous amount of hard work and long hours. Pedersen soon realized that he was so busy, he was missing out on seeing his children grow up. He quickly changed his schedule to make sure he would be around for his family, aiming for a better balance in his life so he would be able to attend his children’s activities, such as performances, practices, and sports events.

That takes a change in priorities that many business owners aren’t willing or able to make. The stereotypical high-tech entrepreneur works inhuman hours, chasing a dream with little thought for keeping a balance in life. That may be fine if you’re young and single, but not if you have a family to raise. And being with family is one of the things that has kept Pedersen grounded — and it helps him maintain the tough work habits required to run a huge company.
To this end, Todd Pedersen, CEO of Vivint maintains an unusual schedule. Rather than rise early and head straight to work, he arranged his time so he could get up with his kids in the morning and take them to school, giving him more quality time with them. He then exercises before going in to the office, then comes home in the early evening to spend time with family. Finally, he puts in a few more hours of work at home after the kids have gone to bed.

And since these days it’s too easy to be connected to work all the time, Pedersen limits the amount of time he spends on the phone while at home, even turning it off for a couple of hours to make sure his full attention is focused on his family.

Lessons Learned as Vivint CEO

Running Vivint as its founder and CEO, Todd Pedersen has gained a lot of valuable business experience. But perhaps just as important are the personal insights he has taken to heart — that life is about more than the pursuit of success and money, and that family is more important than everything else.
Pedersen also knows the benefit of maintaining good relationships with the people he has worked with. His company could not have grown so fast without the talents and efforts of dedicated employees. That’s why he makes sure to keep in touch with them as much as possible, the value of which was brought home to him from his experience going out among his employees in disguise, for an episode of the reality show Undercover Boss.

This echoes something Pedersen’s father told him when he was planning to drop out of college to focus on his business. His dad told him that, if he was going to run his own company, he had to provide the best service possible to his customers and treat his employees like gold. Everything else would follow from that.

Clearly, the success that Pedersen has attained proves the truth of his father’s wisdom. He also never forgets his humble beginnings, working out of a trailer, selling pest control door to door, and building his business one customer at a time. From a college drop-out who started a company with a few friends, to running a multi-billion dollar enterprise, Todd Pedersen can truly be said to have achieved the American dream.

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