Parsimony — About
Steve Simonson founded Parsimony because his companies needed the system first.
Parsimony builds managed ERPNext, the Automate CRM, and AI chat and voice agents for ecommerce and distribution operators. The founder ran multichannel ecommerce companies before he sold software. The tools were built to run those companies, then offered to yours.
- Parsimony LLC · est. 2018
- ERPNext · Frappe Cloud · US/EU/APAC
- Automate from $57/mo
- +1 (307) 284-5523
01 / The founder
Steve Simonson.
Steve Simonson is an operator who builds software, not a software founder who studies operators. He founded iFloor.com. His companies spent three consecutive years on the Inc. 500 list and hold multiple listings on the Internet Retailer Top 500, and he was a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. Those facts are published by the conferences and podcasts that host him, and each one is linked in the table below.
The companies came first and the systems came out of them. Every product on this site began as a tool one of Steve's businesses needed: an ERP that could close the books across entities, a CRM that a small team could actually keep up with, agents that answer the phone and the chat window when nobody is at the desk. Parsimony was founded in 2018 to run those tools for other operators.
Today he founds and runs the family of companies listed below, hosts the Parsimony Training Podcast, and publishes on YouTube. The rule he repeats in every one of them is the one this company is built on: systems run the business, people run the systems.
02 / The record
What others publish about the founder.
parsimony.com does not grade its own founder. These lines are quoted from the conferences, podcasts, and programs that have hosted Steve, and each row links to its source so you can read it there.
| Credential | As published by |
|---|---|
| Inc. 500 list, three consecutive years | amzsummits.com |
| Internet Retailer Top 500, multiple listings | amzsummits.com |
| Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, finalist | amzsummits.com |
| Founded iFloor.com | ecommercemasterplan.com |
| Founder of SymoGlobal, Parsimony, Awesomers, and Catalyst88 | catalyst88.com |
Revenue and headcount figures for the founder's companies are not published here until one sourced number is used everywhere.
03 / Family of companies
The operator stack.
Parsimony is one company in a family that shares a founder. The others are sister properties, not customers. Each name below is a real link to that company's own site. HumanityNow is a named Cloud ERP customer, not an affiliate — it is not listed here.
- 01Steve's founder community
Catalyst88
Founder room for scaling operators. Steve's coaching and community.
- 02Runs on ERPNext
Sourcing Goat
Survey the niche, sample every supplier, and land your winner.
- 03CRM on Parsimony Automate
Giddyup
Turn a listing photo into a 9:16 reel. For Amazon and ecom operators.
- 04CRM on Parsimony Automate
SymoGlobal
Sourcing, supply-chain, and M&A advisory.
- 05parsimony.work
Parsimony Email Infrastructure
The email companion to Automate.
HumanityNow is a customer, not a Parsimony affiliate or sister company. Read the case study.
04 / Build order
How Parsimony was built.
Only the founding carries a date. The rest is the order the pieces arrived, which is also the order most customers adopt them.
- 2018
Parsimony LLC is founded.
The name comes from the Law of Parsimony: the simplest solution tends to be the right one.
- then
Managed ERPNext on Frappe Cloud.
Open-source ERP the customer owns, hosted in US, EU, or APAC regions, with a 99.95% uptime target. Migration and configuration done by people who have run the month-end close themselves.
- then
HumanityNow goes live in about two weeks.
A nonprofit operating in six countries moved from QuickBooks and spreadsheets. Monthly close went from three weeks to four days and the team got 40+ hours a month back.
- then
Parsimony Automate gets public prices.
CRM, funnels, two-way text, workflows, and websites in the Automate login (Go High Level white-label). $57 / $199 / $497 a month, 30-day trial on Startup, 7-day trial on Professional and Premium, and Stripe checkout. No sales call required.
- then
AI chat and voice agents.
Chat on the website, voice on the phone line: Parsimony Chat, self-serve from $97 a month with a 15-day free trial.
- now
The Parsimony Training Podcast and the guides.
The journal side of the company: how systems, ERP, and automation actually work inside a running business.
Published outcome
- Monthly close (was 3 weeks)
- 4 days
- Country budgets in one dashboard
- 6
- Manual work eliminated per month
- 40h
HumanityNow, Cloud ERP. Figures as published on the case study.
05 / The name
Why Parsimony?
The first definition of parsimony is "an extreme frugality in the use of resources." That is somewhat true. We are a scrappy crew, cautious with money, with a strong bias for value over luxury.
The second definition is the better fit. The Law of Parsimony, also known as Occam's Razor, is the problem-solving principle that the simplest solution tends to be the right one. A single source of truth in Cloud ERP beats nine tools that disagree. Automate and Parsimony Chat are separate products, each with its own login.
Running a business is solving problems. We love solving them for marketplace sellers and operators so they can become the entrepreneurs they dream of. Our goal: create 10,000 millionaires.
The tools that run large companies, ERP, automation, and AI agents, are priced and staffed for large companies. Parsimony brings them to businesses that cannot hire a department for each one, at a price they can read on this site.
01
Single source of truth
A master database for every transaction, selling price, product cost, and customer interaction. No more "that other system says something different."
02
Data vs. information
Data becomes information: the difference that makes a difference. Run out of stock? Here's how much to buy, what you paid last time, and when to expect it.
03
Power of Parsimony
One vendor, three products, each with its own login. Cloud ERP, Automate, and Parsimony Chat do not share an app. Systems still have to agree; people still run the systems.
06 / We live by it
We believe.
- 01
We believe in fun.
- 02
We believe in winning.
- 03
We believe in the Golden Rule.
- 04
We believe that life is a team sport.
- 05
We believe in long-term relationships.
- 06
We believe Entrepreneurs are changing the world.
- 07
We believe in putting our name on everything we do.
- 08
We believe Entrepreneurs make the world a better place.
- 09
We believe a winning Strategy is a prerequisite to success.
- 10
We believe in PEOPLE: Our members. Our team. Our partners.
- 11
We believe in doing the right thing; even when nobody is looking.
- 12
We believe technology is just one way to empower Entrepreneurs.
- 13
We believe Entrepreneurs add to, not subtract from, the world we live in.
- 14
We believe systems should run the business and people run the systems.
- 15
We believe that everyone is best when they know and use their strengths.
- 16
We believe even the best strategies require excellence in tactical execution.
- 17
We believe in discipline. We're willing to do whatever it takes to achieve our goals.
Your turn
What do you believe?
Seventeen lines, written down and put on the site with our name on them. If yours overlap, we should probably work together.
07 / Questions
Common questions about Parsimony.
- 01
Who founded Parsimony?
Steve Simonson, in 2018. He ran multichannel ecommerce companies before he sold software, and Parsimony was built to run those companies first. His third-party record is in the table above, with a link to each source.
- 02
What does Parsimony sell?
Three things. Managed ERPNext on Frappe Cloud, quoted to the job. Parsimony Automate, a CRM and marketing platform with public plans at $57 / $199 / $497 a month. And Parsimony Chat, the AI chat and voice agents, self-serve at $97 / $197 / $497 a month with a 15-day free trial.
- 03
How long does an ERP go-live take?
Typically weeks, not quarters. HumanityNow went live in about two weeks, moving from QuickBooks and spreadsheets across six countries. The timeline depends on how much data you bring and how many modules you turn on.
- 04
Do I own my data on Parsimony Cloud ERP?
Yes. ERPNext is open source and the database is yours. Parsimony hosts, backs up, upgrades, and supports it on Frappe Cloud in the region you choose: US, EU, or APAC.
- 05
Where does the name come from?
The Law of Parsimony, also called Occam's Razor: the simplest solution tends to be the right one. It is also a reminder to be careful with money, which we are.
- 06
How do I reach a person?
Call +1 (307) 284-5523, send the contact form, or book a 15-minute call. You talk to an operator, not a sales development rep.
The platform
Three products. One vendor.
Chat is chat.parsimony.com. Automate is HighLevel. Cloud ERP is Frappe Cloud / admin.parsimony.com. This marketing site is a separate worker. One company — not one login.
- 01Quoted
Cloud ERP
Managed ERPNext on Frappe Cloud (admin.parsimony.com). Open source. You own the data.
- 02$57 / $199 / $497 a month
Automate
CRM, funnels, two-way text, workflows, and websites in the Automate (Go High Level) login.
- 03From $97 a month
Parsimony Chat
Website chat and inbound voice at chat.parsimony.com. Kick-Off includes 100 messages/month and 10 free voice minutes.
Read next: Customers · Implementation services · Guides · Careers
Pricing
Automate and Parsimony Chat are self-serve.
Cloud ERP is quoted.
Parsimony Chat, the AI chat and voice agents, is $97 / $197 / $497 a month with a 15-day free trial — see the Chat packages. Parsimony Automate is $57 / $199 / $497 a month with a free trial on every plan (30 days on Startup, 7 on Professional and Premium) — see the Automate plans. Cloud ERP is quoted to the job: call or send the form and we put a package together.
- 01Quoted
Cloud ERP
Managed ERPNext on Frappe Cloud. Quoted to the job; the $999 operations analysis is the fixed-price first step.
- 02$97 / $197 / $497 a month · self-serve
Parsimony Chat — AI chat and voice agents
Chat on your site, voice on your phone line, trained on what you upload. 15-day free trial. No credit card required.
- 03$57 / $199 / $497 a month · self-serve
Automate
CRM, funnels, two-way text, workflows, and websites on one login.