ipHouse was founded by three of the Twin Cities' most experienced Internet Service Provider veterans -- Mike Horwath, Bil MacLeslie, and Bill Lyon.
Our Mission Statement:
This we believe.
We believe service has been swallowed whole and replaced by automated disappointment. We want to bring service back, make it new again. Technology has distanced us, not connected us. We want to make it the invisible catalyst for bringing people together. We want to make it always work, always be there. We want to connect, communicate and deliver the best Internet service possible.
Is that so wrong?
Bil and Mike have been providing Internet services to Minnesotans since the early 1990s. They have been a part of the evolution of the Internet from the widespread adoption of email, the exponential growth of the World Wide Web and the migration to the Internet for social networks. They have witnessed the Internet revolution from inside the industry. They understand the industry, they know the technology, and they have weathered everything from non-redundant redundant lines to the dot-com bust.
Bil, Bill and Mike together grew VISI.com into Minnesota's largest and most respected ISP, the position it held in the first part of this century. They are still in the industry for three basic reasons. They know what they are doing, they love the potential of the 'net to bring people together, and they believe that, just like in the beginning, there is a need for an ISP that is truly customer focused. ipHouse is privately held, locally headquartered, locally owned and locally managed. This gives us the ability to focus on our customers, not our stock price.
Bil MacLeslie, CEO
Bil started his online experience in 1984 with a Citadel BBS and now has over 25 years of online experience, 9 of them at VISI.com developing their reputation that still survives today. Prior to VISI.com, Bil spent 2 years at the University of Minnesota operating networks for the Biochemistry Department and 10 years running his BBS, paving the way for online social networking.
In his early career, Bil spent a decade mastering the technical challenges of theatre and live & recorded performance. As a stage and sound technician, he spent three years with the Guthrie Theater and toured nationally with such acts as The Replacements, REM, X, The Jets, Rod Stewart and The Nylons. He's worked his backstage magic with Graham Chapman, Bruce Willis, Harry Anderson, Theatre de le Jeune Lune, Emo Phillips, Todd Rundgren, Louie Andersen, The Minnesota Opera, Judy Collins, NRBQ, The Pixies, Tina Turner and countless others.
In 2002 Bil earned the coveted 40 under 40 award from The Business Journal, placing him as one of the top business people under 40 in Minnesota. Bil is also a former president of the Minnesota Internet Services Trade Association and has served on the board of the Minnesota High Tech Association. He actively monitors public affairs and regulatory issues relating to telecom and Internet.
Mike Horwath, CTO
Mike is one of the top network and server engineers in Minnesota. He has been designing and operating Internet servers and networks for over 18 years. He knows what works and why and frequently consults with ipHouse colocation and managed server customers to help them optimize their Internet server performance. He and his team work hard to make sure that our networks and systems are always online and available.
Prior to starting ipHouse with Bil and Bill, Mike spent 8 years at VISI.com as the lead tech/director of network engineering where he helped grow VISI.com to over $8 million per year in revenue.
Before he joined VISI.com, Mr. Horwath founded and operated Winternet. Winternet, with over 4000 customers, was the largest ISP in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area in the mid 1990's. In the 1980's and early 1990's Mike spent several years as a BBS operator, database author and administrator, and general systems builder and consultant dealing with a variety of different hardware, operating systems and databases.
Bill Lyon, CFO
Bill helped shepherd the growth of VISI.com in the 1990's and early part of the 21st century. Under Bill's guidance VISI.com remained profitable during the dot-com bust as the network continued to expand to serve the customer base. He left VISI.com in 2004 with Bil and Mike to found ipHouse.
Bill is our number cruncher extraordinaire, helping guide and manage the growth of ipHouse. Our focus on performance and reliability means that we don't buy the cheapest equipment or bandwidth available. Bill works closely with Mike to make sure our network meets our high standards for performance and ipHouse remains profitable.