From Z. Kelly Queijo:

In a Twitter message posted at approximately 1:00 AM, EST, 5/20/09, Pat Matthews, founder of Webmail.us -  which, following acquisition by Texas-based Rackspace Hosting in 2007, became Mailtrust, a division of Rackspace - officially announced his division's adoption of the Rackspace name, now known as the Email & Apps division of Rackspace Hosting. Pat Matthews acquires the mantle of General Manager for the division.

In a letter to customers posted on the company's web site, Pat Matthews writes, “You haven't lost Mailtrust. You've gained Rackspace.” Along with the announcement comes the release of Rackspace Email 7.0 and new, reduced pricing for Rackspace Email customers, $1 per mailbox, per month.

According to Cameron Nouri, evangelist for Rackspace Email & Apps division, “With 7.0, you get all the features that Microsoft Exchange offers for a fraction of the cost. The value for a hosted solution is really coming into play. Based on headcount, we can tell your company how much they are going to spend on email per month."

Headcount isn't the only number Rackspace tracks. In April 2009 alone, the company served 2 billion emails for a customer base that includes 15,000 direct customers, with 200,000 email domains, and over 1 million paid mailboxes representing every continent in the world.

Known as “Rackers,” the 2500 employees of Rackspace can be found at one of the company's nine locations worldwide: In Texas: San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas; in Virginia: Chantilly and Blacksburg; in  Atlanta, Georgia, and in London, Amsterdam and Hong Kong. The Email & Apps division employs 200 Rackers, half of which are located in the San Antonio office and the other half at the Blacksburg location. The Rackspace Email and Apps division is on Twitter @RackApps.

***

A note from Handshake 2.0: 

Since Pat Matthews led Blacksburg, Virginia-based Webmail.us/Mailtrust to a #217 ranking on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing companies in America in 2007, in a time of unsettling corporate change, we are very excited to learn that the latest news from the company is still one of greeting, not farewell.  Welcome to Blacksburg, Rackspace.

Added 5/20/09, 1:30 PM EST:  Here's a link to a press release on Rackspace Email 7.0.

Added 6/2/09, 7:55 PM EST:  From the blog of Pat Matthews on 5/22/09:  Our Rebrand to Rackspace and Our History of Company Names.

***

Z. Kelly Queijo writes about business and technology, people and their passions.  She is a frequent contributor to Handshake 2.0.

From Z. Kelly Queijo:

Not long after writing: From “Follow” to “Follow-Up” - Using Twitter in Business, I had the opportunity to chat with Cameron Nouri, Online Customer Experience Manager at Mailtrust.  Here's what he had to say about Mailtrust's use of Twitter.

ZKQ: How does Twitter fit the mission of Mailtrust?

Nouri:  A month and a half ago, we started using Twitter, but we aren't trying to use it as a selling tool.

It's not the greatest medium to use to actively go push sales. We use it to demonstrate to the world we are more than just an email hosting company. We want to be the leader in the software-as-a-service solution in the industry. So with our Twitter account and our blog, we're trying to promote our company and point to what we see in the industry as important.

ZKQ: How do you use Twitter on a daily basis?

Nouri: Support. Twitter is one of those great tools where, instead of leading a customer to frustration, we can actually stop customer frustration. Literally, within 20 minutes of a customer having an issue, we are able to get a team support lead on the phone and solve the problem.

ZKQ: Which Twitter functions help you do that?

Nouri: Search.twitter.com. You can follow anything – a phrase, a company, or you can use programs like TweetDeck. It's our essential application. We're able follow anytime anyone is talking about Mailtrust, or other topics in the industry, like Cloud computing and email hosting. We are able to build our base of followers because we can reach out to them. Anytime someone says something about Mailtrust, we're able to monitor that and respond.

ZKQ: How do your customers use Twitter?

Nouri: Our customers are using Twitter and they're talking about Mailtrust. So, if we're not in there and talking with them, you know what? We're not controlling that conversation and they're not getting the help that they need. If a customer comes to us saying they are having a problem, or they are saying “I had a great experience with Mailtrust.” We want to acknowledge them. Then, they are actually going to go out and actively tell others that they had a great experience. We don't want to be seen as a faceless company. We want to engage with customers on many different levels; Twitter is just one of the ways we do that.

ZKQ: What do you like best about Twitter?

Nouri: I think Twitter is one of the greatest mediums that has come across in the past year and has taken the world by storm. It really pushes the envelope on transparency, and the best thing about Twitter is that it can be whatever you want it to be.

***

Z. Kelly Queijo writes about business and technology, people and their passions.  She is a frequent contributor to Handshake 2.0.

From Jim Flowers:

“Success or failure of a new venture is determined very early, on the strength or weakness of only a few fundamental factors, four, to be exact.  Those four factors are Market, Magic, Mentors, and Moxie.  If these are not "right,” nothing else really matters.  It's not that a business with some weaknesses in these areas can't survive; but it's highly unlikely that it will flourish.”

Excerpted from MOXIE and other fundamental entrepreneurial concepts.

Pat Matthews and two partners started a dot-com business in 2000.  It failed.

The Market at that time was crazy.  Everybody thought they had the Magic.  Since the Internet world was new, effective Mentors were scarce.  But Pat and his partners had the most important factor in abundant supply.  They had Moxie.  And they kept on trucking.

In the midst of failure, Pat met Matt Khan.  “Matt taught me how to handle failure and rejection, how to deal with people more effectively, and how to appreciate the knowledge you can gain from self-help and business books.” 

Meanwhile, a compelling marketplace need became apparent.  Corporate email was becoming a vital part of the commercial world’s basic structure; and it was hard to manage.  There was little defense against spammers or viruses or downtime.  Bingo.  They had found their Market.

But what could differentiate Pat and company from any other email provider?  Simple.  Mailtrust delivered something more than email.  They delivered personal, passionate concern for their clients.  And the word got around.  The Magic was working.

Later on, Howard Kossak came into the picture.  Again, in Pat’s words, “Howard was a local consultant that worked with many entrepreneurs.  Howard and I formed a unique relationship.  Howard was in his 60s and I was in my early 20s.  We developed a real friendship and worked together for two years before I ever hired him.  Howard saw something in me and I could just feel that he truly believed in my potential.  This gave me confidence enough to go out and raise half a million dollars from outside investors to help grow our business.  It didn't matter how many times we failed, Howard believed we'd make it happen.  And we did.”

There’s a name for Matt and Howard and all those books - Mentors.

Moxie.  Market.  Magic.  Mentors.  Well, what do you know?

So how does the story end?  Actually, it hasn’t ended; but there was a great big exclamation point after the most recent chapter.  In 2007, after four straight years of 100% growth, Pat and his team at Mailtrust joined forces with Rackspace, a very, very successful hosting company, led by people as passionate as Pat.  A quick look at Rackspace, by the way, reveals the same conjunction of Market, Magic, Mentors, and Moxie.  They’re clearly a good match.

Pat, I’m proud to shake your hand.

Rackspace was listed on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to work for in 2009.

Jim Flowers is the architect and Director of the VT KnowledgeWorks business acceleration center in Blacksburg, Virginia.  He is the author of MOXIE and other fundamental entrepreneurial concepts.

From Z. Kelly Queijo:

Want to know how to grow your own talented, technical workforce? Get 'em while they're young.

According to Operations Manager, Marisa Keegan, that's exactly what they do at Mailtrust, a division of Rackspace.

The program started three years ago. “We have worked with local high school teachers as well as guidance counselors to recruit the next generation of young Geeks (a.k.a.: anyone who loves and is great with technology). A couple of times a year we try to send programmers to the high schools to talk to students about what opportunities are out there for Computer Science majors and people with a love for technology. If there is an especially talented student that we'd like to bring on board, we work with the guidance counselors to set up an internship for that student.”

Not only do these interns gain the benefit of learning the ins and outs of working for a high-tech company that Fortune has ranked as 32nd Best Place To Work in the US, they are paid, part-time employees of Mailtrust.

“This is a win-win for everyone,” says Keegan, “because we attain students who are eager to gain experience and are ready to work hard, our less experienced managers get a taste of managing, and the students learn a lot and make a huge impact.”

And the best thing?

“We've gained some brilliant employees.”

Z. Kelly Queijo writes about people and their passions for business and technology.

From Cory Donovan, Executive Director of The NewVa Corridor Technology Council via BlackBerry at 1:55 PM EST:

"The parent company of Blacksburg-based Mailtrust will make its IPO on Friday, 8/8/08. This is an entrepreneurial success story, great news for the local economy, and an indicator of the budding technology community in this part of Virginia."

Read more from WHIR, Web Host Industry Review, 7/25/08