Fueled by Entrepreneurial Zeal

Onvia.com
September 2000

What key aspect of how you run your business helped win you the award? One was our rapid growth. But, although I think that growth is a fair barometer of revenues, I think it is overdone as a way of determining how well a business is run. The other key is the culture we practice here. Although this is predominantly an old-economy, blue-collar, non-technical and non-glamour business, we have developed a culture where people are rewarded with things like stock options and other assistance programs that are more commonly found in the high-tech world.

What value is most important to you in running your business? Personal enjoyment and satisfaction. I think to a large extent entrepreneurial ventures are an extension of the principal's entrepreneurial needs. In running my own business I can engage in doing what I love and in creating benefits for other shareholders, team members, customers and the community.

Why did you decide to start a business? I have always fancied myself as an entrepreneur, even as a little kid. When I was graduating from business school, I knew I wanted to do something entrepreneurial, I looked at drivers making industries successful, and decided I wanted to be in this business. I think this business has some awesome and very powerful characteristics.

How did you finance your business? Initially, I funded it out of my pocket. I started with $5,000. After several years of self-finance, we now are growing the business with a traditional leverage model; we have a venture capital relationship with Houstanic Partners. They are giving us a pretty nice slug of capital. I still find amazing the amount of capital that people have entrusted me with.

What was your worst year and why? I don't know if I have had a bad year, although I have had bad periods. During my nine-year stint as an owner, I don't think there ever has been a year when something significant has not occurred, such as buying another company, adding staff or key customers.

What has been your best year and why? The first year or two. It was really fun. I was young, 24, and everything was fresh and really exciting. I was living week to week and I remember being totally jazzed when I sold an account. That was cool and a lot of fun. Then we went through a phase when we got bigger and better, yet that was not as much fun.

What obstacles stood in your way as your business grew? A lack of vision at times and a lack of willingness to take a risk. Also, thinking too small and getting caught up with the details.

If you had to do it again, what would you do differently? I would hire better people earlier rather than try to do it all myself. I would try to think more broadly, and I would have started running a corporation earlier rather than running a shop. I would also have included other geographic areas.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a small business? I would say to be a successful entrepreneur you need to have a maniacal focus, energy and vision about whatever it is you are doing. You have to be monk-like in the early years. I feel lucky that I did it when I was 24. All I did was work and sleep. To be really successful at anything you have to go through a phase of that. I have no clue how you can do it when you are married with kids.

You have to have extreme endurance. That is more important than skill or opportunity. Most people cannot get over the sheer number of obstacles and rejection you face. You just have to keep going. It is a marathon.

Who influenced you most in the running of your business? I have two pictures hanging in my office that represent the two people who influenced me most. One is of the Brooklyn Bridge and one is of Colgate University in New York. The Brooklyn Bridge picture was given to me by my father who is a dentist and who is a well-educated person who said that I should never forget to be street smart when running my own business. He says he went to Brooklyn Business School, which of course doesn't exist. He taught me to be street smart.

The university picture reflects the egghead or idealistic side and reflects the influence of Tom Bird, who went to Dartmouth and Stanford, and his partner Ken Saxon, who went to Princeton and Stanford. They ran a company in California that did an awesome job in the way they treated people, customers and staff: Their whole philosophy was successful. The company was like mine; that's how we met. Now they are on my board.