BrownHEN / BrownHEN.org

Interview with Louis Grossman, President of The Grossman Companies, Inc.

2008-07-07T13:58:21-07:00

BrownHEN Interviewed Louis Grossman, Brown '71, President of The Grossman Companies, Inc., Quincy, MA.

1. Most people in New England associate your family with building supplies and lumber. What are the biggest differences between that business and real estate?

Actually, my immediate family focused on real estate even though other relatives were involved in the lumber business. In my opinion, the lumber business was a retail business where the customer was always right. It’s a very people-intensive business. The real estate side, we deal with physical assets such as buildings, structures. It’s not a consumer business with repeat business; we’re locked into longer terms.

2. When did you know that you wanted to be involved in real estate?

Honestly, when I was a sophomore, I thought I was going to be in the lumber business, which was my birthright. That business was sold in 1969 and my father went into real estate with some relatives. I was very good in math and business-oriented. I worked with real estate firms after business schools. Every day was a different experience and I really enjoyed my job, dealing with tenants, vendors, and bankers. My father made me acquire real world experience before I could return and succeed in the family business.

3. How do you evaluate a property before purchasing it?

We look at income-producing opportunities—office buildings, industrial buildings, retail, and some land; we assess leasing risk, construction, permit and interest rate risks. We evaluate the risks that appear in each deal and figure out how to obtain the appropriate rewards.

We also try to diversify our asset base, by products and not geography. Long ago, I’ve decided to stay within two hours from our home office, so this is a factor in my decision-making process. We will buy office buildings, industrial, retail and all types of land.

4. Do you see business potential in New England?

In New England, we are known for technology and biotechnology growth. Indeed certain sectors are growing, but the jury is still out, given the current housing industry’s situation.

The population in New England is what drives the real estate development. I believe the growth potential is better than other parts of the U.S. It is not easy to get into markets here, so when you go through an arduous process, your investment become much more valuable.

5. In Rhode Island some people are concerned about "urban sprawl.” Do you share these worries?

I have been through that here in New England and I must admit I have mixed emotions about this. On one hand, one needs to be conscious of green environments. On the other hand, I see in an emphasis on bringing back into urban environments incentives to get residential housing projects going against urban sprawl.

A good example, we are involved in a project in Hingham, MA, where they want to bring residential housing to the center of town and allow developers to build retail space on the first floor and residential housing above, with relaxed parking requirements and fewer restrictions on parking space to accommodate both residents and shoppers.

In my lifetime, I’ve seen the families with kids move to the suburbs and the empty nesters come back to urban settings. Towns and cities do want people back and are developing 24/7 communities, with incentives to developers to provide convenient transportation and affordability for residents.

6. How can an aspiring entrepreneur interested in real estate best get started?

I believe that one needs to start from the ground up. I have two sons in real estate; they both started at the bottom. One son is learning the lingo and the industry through different perspectives, moving from one department to another, from construction to property management, from financing to brokerage and acquisitions. Another son is working on the lending side. I recommend that you learn as much as you can in a structured program within a large company.

7. What advice you would give aspiring entrepreneurs?

• Be happy in what you are doing, help others and give back to the community
• Follow your passion
• Be open and honest
• Life is too short; relationships with one’s partners, tenants, bankers, and suppliers are more important than money.
• You can be entrepreneurial within an established company. The level of entrepreneurial activity depends on that company’s leadership and environment.

8. Would you speak about fear as a motivation or hindrance toward accomplishment?

Fear is important as long as it is not excessive and incapacitating you. It is motivating to view one’s fear(s) as a challenge, to tackle it and jump over the hurdles to success.

9. As you know, the entrepreneur’s path is filled with trials and errors, and also failures. What’s a valuable insight for entrepreneurs to keep in mind when they’re experiencing setbacks?

Every challenge is an opportunity.
You don’t learn if you do not take risks and make mistakes.
All successful entrepreneurs have made mistakes and have failed at times.

10. Your father and two uncles went to Brown. Both you and three sisters went to Brown. You have had four children graduated from Brown and a daughter is a senior at Brown now. Why do you believe Brown is an attractive institution?

I am a New Englander. Brown is close to home and yet far enough away. Brown fostered inquisitiveness. I knew I was going to school with bright kids who are from socially and economically diverse backgrounds. I knew I would be academically challenged. As for my children, I knew they would be challenged and have opportunities to create their own curriculum and pursue their passions.

11. What is the latest insight (about life, work, play) that you picked up and would like to share with BrownHEN?

It is important to search one’s own soul for the right balance between work, play and family. It is important to take time out from daily life and focus on one’s spiritual side. As I mentioned before, it is important to find and follow one’s passion.

12. Your cousin Mike Grossman was well known for skiing well into his 70s and 80s. Do you ski?

I don’t ski as much as I used to even though skiing is my great family sport and we all learned how to ski in New Hampshire.

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Interview with Peter Semmelhack, CEO of Bug Labs

2008-06-18T22:08:44-07:00

BrownHEN Interviewed Peter Semmelhack, Brown '87, CEO of Bug Labs, New York, NY and San Francisco, CA.

1. Peter, can you explain what your company, Bug Labs, actually does? Please describe a typical customer.

Bug Labs develops BUG, a modular consumer electronics device that lets users build whatever type of device they want by just snapping components together like LEGOS.

2. How did an economics concentrator at Brown become a major figure, first in the software industry and now in the electronics devices industry?

First, I’m NOT a “major figure!” But, to the extent that I’m anybody, it’s the direct result of me scratching my own personal “itch” and starting businesses where I, in fact, wanted to buy what the company was making.

3. What is it like to move from a medium sized, established company, Antenna Software (of which you were a founder and CTO) to a smaller startup?

If you like starting new things, it’s a great feeling. It can be a little nerve-wracking as you go from something that’s more stable to something that’s completely new. But the thrill of starting a new company is unmatched in my experience.

4. Please comment on the effect of globalization on career opportunities in the electrical hardware and software industry. Probably much of the components used in Bug Lab devices is fabricated overseas, does such concern you?

Many labor-intensive jobs have moved overseas; it is true. But important things that the U.S. remains strong in are the core design, architecture and programming skills necessary to create a truly new and innovative product. So I don’t see any lack of demand for individuals with those types of skills. In fact, I see the opposite.

5. By any measure you have shown exceptional creativity in your career. How can a person develop her/his ability to be creative?

Don’t be afraid to learn from any source, even if it’s unrelated to your career. Read everything. Be a knowledge sponge. Sources of creative inspiration can/will come from very surprising places. For example, I found great creative inspiration for Bug Labs by reading about language.

6. Do you have concerns that a two-tier society is being created, where some people are very capable with technology and some are not able to use it significantly? Do you have recommendations about how to make technological literacy pervasive?

Yes. I am very concerned that there could become a two-tier society. If you look at my answer to #5, my interest in language led me to the history of the printing press, the advent of which became a great “leveler” because now books and the gift of reading could be had by many more people, not just the priests and other elites. Today, the technology is still way too complicated. The general population is not terribly tech literate. The tech world has their high priests too—they’re called geeks. We need to make high tech much easier to use and empowering. One of Bug Labs’ primary missions is just that.

7. What are the top five qualities you would ascribe to an entrepreneur?

• Self-confidence
• Patience
• A somewhat mad blindness to risk
• The ability to listen
• Humility

8. Would you speak about fear as a motivation or hindrance toward accomplishment? How has that played a factor in your path, if any?

Fear has its place but not if it’s uncontrollable. Panic is never good. But a fear of failure is certainly motivating. It’s not a sustainable motivation however, because it’s so debilitating. If there were a “good” type of fear I would defer to Andy Grove’s use of the word “paranoia” as a reasonable analog. Having a healthy dose of paranoia about your competitors, the economy, your market, etc. could motivate you to have a good Plan B for every important aspect of your business.

9. As you know, the entrepreneur’s path is filled with trials and errors, and also failures. What’s a valuable insight for entrepreneurs to keep in mind when they’re experiencing setbacks?

• Setbacks are rarely as bad as they seem at first. If you have a good team, their resiliency and determination in the face of adversity will surprise you.
• Never quit. Tenacity and perseverance are the keys to winning and are huge competitive advantages. There are many, many examples of this.
• Stay focused and don’t lose faith in your original vision.

10. What is the latest insight (about life, work, play) that you picked up and would like to share with BrownHEN?

Live a life that you are proud to call your own. How will your kids/friends describe you to others once you’ve passed on? It’s unlikely that “rich” will be something that you would want to come out first. It’s possible to have a hard charging, successful career without giving up what’s most important in life—love, compassion, family, and friendship.

11. Who are the three individuals who have influenced your development significantly?

• My father
• My mother
• My wife

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Anniversary Note

2008-06-18T15:03:49-07:00

Dear BrownHEN friends and members,

This June we celebrate the first anniversary of the launch of BrownHEN. As you surely recall, the inaugural interview focused on Dean Barrett Hazeltine!

The idea of creating a Hazeltine community germinated in 2006, when I crossed paths with numerous alumni who were enthusiastic about participating in Dean Hazeltine’s 75th birthday celebrations. Some friends and alumni also expressed interested in connecting with one another as well, so after some reflection and numerous conference calls and emails, I presented the idea of BrownHEN to the Dean and received his unconditional support.

For the past year, we’ve enjoyed stimulating conversations with so many Hazeltine alumni who have been generous with their time. I have been grateful for each interview—getting to know the individual alum a bit better and gaining insights into how Dean Hazeltine and Brown have played a role in his/her personal and professional successes. Each encounter has been a gratifying experience, an inspiration for excellence, and an affirmation that we each—in the Hazeltine tradition—can make a difference by sharing our gifts with our community and the world.

Thank you all for your enthusiastic participation and endorsements!

Kind regards,
My-Tien

Interview with Josh Silverman, CEO of Skype

2008-05-09T13:40:43-07:00

BrownHEN Interviewed Josh Silverman, Brown '91, CEO of Skype, London, UK.

This interviewed took place while Josh was CEO of Shopping.com in 2007. Josh was also co-founder of Evite.com.

1. Josh, please describe how you co-founded Evite.

Late 1998, I was brainstorming with my friend and colleague Javier, with whom I had worked at Netscape and came up with ToGather.com. The Internet was exploding. I was working 90 hours a week in medical imaging. I had no time left for ToGather so I had to quit my job to write the business plan. It was scary, but the great thing about it was that it forced me to succeed. If I had stayed with a cushy income, it would have been too easy to decide not to take risks.

I was doing market research while writing the business plan, and had a healthy dose of luck. I came across a company with three people: two talented engineers who had five products, including using Evite to go after the online calendaring space. I had the business expertise; they had two fantastic engineers who were Stanford grads and a Haas b-school grad. So Al Lieb, Selina Tobbacowala, John Bracken, and I got together.

The first six months, we did not raise outside capital. We focused on the business model and put our product in front of users. We lived on Rice-a-roni; by the time we raised money, we had already given the company a lot of soul and substance.

2. What were some of the lessons you learned from running a start-up?

We had to perform all the basic operational tasks that you take for granted; we had to go and prove to a landlord, a law firm, and a PR firm our potential worth, which took a lot of energy and time. We had to figure out how to create noise in the press—how to get our company to stand out amongst hundreds of new startups.

3. What advice do you have for entrepreneurs regarding raising money?

The ideal situation is never. Otherwise, take as little money as you need. If you can get to revenues quickly, that would be optimal. Figure out what the customers are willing to pay, build your company and keep operating costs low while generating customer value. Also, recognize that raising money from a top-tier VC may be perceived as a sign of success, but is not necessarily a true indicator. The hardest people to get money from are customers, not a VC.

4. Recently, you were CEO of Shopping.com. How did Shopping.com gain such as impressive market share in Europe?

We had a business model, a playbook for running an operation; it took us several years to refine that in the U.S. market and export that to Europe and Australia. Fortunately, it has translated very well from market to market. eBay acquired Shopping.com for $635M; it was publicly traded in NASDAQ and has grown quite nicely since acquisition.

5. Conventional wisdom is that eBay is an example of "winner takes all.” Do you worry that a competitor could dislodge eBay from its supremacy?

I think eBay would argue that it competes in segments such as auto dealers, apparel dealers, etc. It is more apparent in the past few years that with the onslaught of competitors, those who exclusively sell through eBay are now multi-channel e-tailers. The competition has much gotten fiercer and eBay’s roles as well as its competitors are disrupted by technology, and I imagine they will continue to evolve.

6. How can an aspiring entrepreneur gain the knowledge and experience required to work effectively outside the United States?

I think it is hard enough to be an entrepreneur in one’s home market. Going to a foreign market adds new levels of challenges and complexities. I believe it is important to show curiosity and interest in the culture. Even though the business language is English, I learned enough Dutch to facilitate my interaction with the locals.

I found wonderful talent in my Netherlands team and I had great opportunities to acquire some great startups in Europe. I noticed some common traits amongst U.S. and European entrepreneurs:
• Tenacity
• Vision and ability to sell one’s vision well
• Attention to customers
• Expertise
• Ability to attract great talent

Differences include:
• Regulations
• Market conditions
• Environments for raising capital
• Tax structure

In general, although the European economy was well structured to encourage entrepreneurship, the culture has not favored entrepreneurial efforts as Silicon Valley has. Entrepreneurs have garnered more respect that they did five or 10 years ago, but when I was in Holland, it was still harder to access capital.

7. How valid are the ideas you learned about Public Policy at Brown in the environment you work in now? How about what you learned in your MBA?

Public Policy was great training, surprisingly relevant. After Brown, I worked for a senator and this served me well in leading large organizations. I learned to articulate extremely complex ideas in two sentences or less. I also learned a lot in the classrooms during b-school at Stanford and have found value in the alumni network.

8. Would you speak about fear as a motivation or hindrance toward accomplishment? How has that played a factor in your path, if any?

When I quit my full-time job to go work for Evite, I was terrified. My biggest fear was my fear of failure. That said, I also recognized that as an entrepreneur, I had more control over my own destiny. I chose to use my fear as a motivator; I told everyone what I was doing. I was very open about what I was doing: starting a company. This forced me to commit in a public way and pushed me toward achieving success in ways that I would not have had I stayed with an established company.

What else did you learn?

I learned to manage very stressful situations and to remain calm. I also learned entrepreneurs need to stick with their vision in the face of strong adversity and yet possess enough judgment to know when to adapt or when to quit.

I thought that Evite was about saving time—a utility similar to email or a calendar. When we talked with our users, we learned that they were passionate about the sense of community that was created around the event before the event. So Evite was more about marketing a community device: we had gotten the core value proposition wrong. We were smart enough to listen, adapt, and build our service based on what our consumers wanted. As a result, Evite continues to be a great brand.

9. Did you live in The Netherlands when you were responsible for that market? What did you enjoy during your stay and what do you miss?

My wife Shirin and I enjoyed a very high quality of life in Amsterdam, which is a very nice and walkable city. We would ride our bikes home from dinner at 11PM. Our daughter Leila was born at home, in the traditional Dutch way. We enjoyed and missed being in the center of Europe; I had a wonderful opportunity to run one of the great European Internet brands—Marktplaats—a true blue Dutch brand.

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Interview with Jerome Vascellero, Vice Chancellor – Brown University; Partner and Chief Administrative Officer of TPG Capital, L.P.

2008-05-05T15:53:35-07:00

BrownHEN Interviewed Jerome C. Vascellaro, Brown '74, Vice Chancellor – Brown University; Partner and Chief Administrative Officer of TPG Capital, L.P., San Francisco, CA.

1. Jerome, people must ask you this all the time, but would you tell us why a person would leave a senior job at probably the most respected consulting firm in the world?

After 28 years at McKinsey, I’ve done everything I could do there. It was serendipity that I was offered an opportunity to move to San Francisco, which my wife Mary (Brown ’74) and I did almost two years ago.

2. You have an equally senior position on the Brown Corporation as Vice Chancellor. How do you think Brown can best prepare undergraduates for careers as entrepreneurs, managers, and consultants?

I believe strongly in the openness of our curriculum, our philosophy toward education, and the quality of the people. I am not a believer that we should design structured programs and make students adhere to them. In some ways, a Brown education is the perfect match for the breadth of experience and the quality of people that a new grad encounters at McKinsey.

3. What drives you to make such a major commitment to supporting Brown?

I am crazy. (Laugh!) Mary and I we love the school. We feel privileged that Brown has given us an opportunity to make a great difference.

4. Was being part of the Brown network important to you when you were in New York? How can a graduate / an entrepreneur make best use of the network?

I didn’t really use the Brown network so much while I lived in New York. I lived in London until I came back to the States in 1991. I was asked to serve on a committee for my 20th reunion. Then Frasier Lang asked me to join the board and run for the BAA president. This is how I got more involved with Brown.

My recommendation is to take a wide aperture. People tend to cast a very narrow net.

5. What entrepreneurial opportunities have been created by globalization?

Globalization opened up markets and networks, and create more opportunities where talents flow more easily. I think globalization has created more entrepreneurial efforts than more opportunities. More trade barriers have come down so there is more transparency and fluidity, and entrepreneurs have a larger canvas upon which they can paint.

6. You’ve worked with and advised many talented individuals, including many Brown students and alumni. What are the top five qualities you would ascribe to a business leader?

• An ability to empathize with people
• An understanding that leadership is about people’s needs and not your own.
• An understanding of how to leverage resources and talent
• An ability to paint the vision of the future
• An ability to delve into the details and make things happen

7. As you know, the entrepreneur’s path is filled with trials and errors, and also failures. What’s a valuable insight for entrepreneurs to keep in mind when they’re experiencing setbacks?

That one can learn a lot from setbacks.

8. Do you give ideas to your son, Matthew ('07), for his comic strip?

(Laugh!) No, I don’t. He moved to LA and is now involved in the TV business.

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Interview with Greg Baldwin, President of VolunteerMatch

2008-04-02T22:40:52-07:00

BrownHEN Interviewed Greg Baldwin, Brown ’90, President of Volunteer Match, San Francisco, CA.

1. Greg, please explain what VolunteerMatch.org does and share with BrownHEN your recent successes.

VolunteerMatch.org is the web's largest and most popular volunteering network. Our mission is to help everyone find a great place to volunteer by making it easier for good people and good causes to connect. We've got over 50,000 opportunities across the country; you can search by zip code and interest area to find a local organization looking for talented people to get involved. The network, which includes over 60 corporate partnerships, regularly welcomes more than 125,00 visitors a week and was recently selected by TIME magazine as one of the Top 10 Websites of 2007.

2. Why do you think VolunteerMatch has been so successful—in using the web to encourage volunteering—when compared to other organizations like the United Way and The Points of Light Foundation?

I think we saw the problem differently. Instead of focusing our energy on trying to convince people to volunteer, we focused on making it easier to find the right opportunity. Conventional wisdom presumed that people don't volunteer because they don't care enough. We started in a different place and built a tool to eliminate the communications barriers that discourage more people from getting involved. We also knew a lot more about the web and were lucky enough to attract great people to help push the idea forward.

3. So how did a Public Policy concentrator at Brown become President of this widely respected nonprofit organization? I know that you love what you do. Will you share with BrownHEN how Volunteer Match is aligned with your goals and values?

For me volunteering is more about the freedom to do something important than it is about the importance of doing something for free. What gives me the most satisfaction are the stories of people who have found an organization or a cause that gets them excited or frustrated enough to get connected and do something about it. I want to believe that there is more to life than low prices at Wal-Mart and VolunteerMatch has convinced me that I'm not alone. Besides I'm still feeling a little guilty from the disapproving look Ross Cheit (Brown Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy) gave me when I told him at graduation that I was going to work at an ad agency.

4. Last year, you stepped up as President of Volunteer Match. What are some of your challenges and what do you envision for this wonderful organization?

There are over 900,000 public charities in the U.S. and most of them still can't find the volunteers they need. We want to fix than problem. Over the next five years we are looking to double the size of the network and expand our operating revenue so that we have the internal capacity to continue pursuing our mission. We are raising $10 million dollars to fund that initiative; we hope that we are able to find the support we need from a new generation of philanthropists eager to fund ideas that are transforming the way we connect around shared interests and goals.

5. You worked for Leo Burnett for a few years. What are the important differences between being at a very large for-profit organization and being at a fairly small nonprofit? What should a person thinking of changing careers to managing a nonprofit be aware of?

Don't get too hung up on the for-profit or not-for-profit label; just don't settle for a job you are not interested in. In theory I was fascinated by the advertising industry and the power of ideas to shape our behavior, and I still draw on that experience, but in practice I've found that I'm much more interested in figuring out how to change peoples’ attitudes about service and volunteering than I ever was about changing their opinion of refrigerated dough products. In a sense, I suppose I'm still in the ad business, I've just found something to sell that I really believe in. On the downside, at Burnett I did have a better view.

6. What advice do you have for an undergraduate considering a position at a nonprofit, especially if the undergraduate also has a job offer from a respected for-profit company? (This is the same question No. 3, but focused on undergraduates.)

Most of the people at VolunteerMatch started their careers in the for-profit world and we are lucky that they did because we've got the business skill and experience we've needed to make VolunteerMatch a success. I'd focus on the people, the opportunity and the learning experience first and make a decision based on that.

7. Information technology seems to be at the core of what VolunteerMatch does. What advice do you have for a person who did not study Computer Science as an undergraduate, but is now leading an organization critically dependent on effective software?

Technology is a tool. To manage it effectively you need to understand people first and what they need the technology to do. If you understand that you'll be able to surround yourself with the technology people you need to succeed. The easiest way to mess up a technology system is to forget about the needs of the people you are expecting to use it.

8. Has being part of the network of Brown graduates been important in your professional life? How could that network be made more effective? We know that you are a part of the founding team of VolunteerMatch, who was made up of Brown grads.

For a time VolunteerMatch seemed to be an extension of my freshman dorm. I think Brown's commitment to independent thinking is a great background for people interested in new ideas. Brown gave all of us the confidence and curiosity to figure out what we didn't understand and find a way to fix it without expecting someone else to do it for us. Brown is a very special place and I've found that I've only grown to appreciate that more as time has passed. I think the Brown network needs to continue to take great pride in the diversity and accomplishments of its alumni and remember that our appreciation for our differences is what sets us apart and bonds us together.

9. What are the top five qualities you would ascribe to an entrepreneur?

• Imagination
• Hustle
• Persistence
• Focus
• Humility

10. Would you speak about fear as a motivation or hindrance toward accomplishment? How has that played a factor in your path, if any?

Fear can be paralyzing, but it can also keep you up all night to finish the things that just can't wait until tomorrow. I wouldn't say I'm motivated by fear, but for better or worse I'm always a little uncomfortable about all the things that we still haven't tackled, yet.

11. As you know, the entrepreneur’s path is filled with trials and errors, and also failures. What’s a valuable insight for entrepreneurs to keep in mind when they’re experiencing setbacks?

It's not personal and try not to repeat the same mistake twice. I heard somewhere that one of the keys to success is the willingness to fail quickly—so you don't waste too much time chasing a dead end. It is a liberating view that encourages you to separate yourself from your ideas. I had a poster in my room growing up that I always liked, it read, "If at first you don't succeed try, try again… then quit, no use being a damn fool about it."

12. What is the latest insight (about life, work, play) that you have culled and would like to share with BrownHEN?

It is a lot easier to get thing done when you are trying to be helpful, than when you are trying to be right. Nobody likes a know-it-all.

13. Who are the three individuals who have influenced your development significantly?

• Ed Beiser taught me to think critically.
• William James taught me to appreciate the power of big ideas.
• My parents taught me to trust my own imagination.

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Interview with Kevin Mundt, President of Vestar Resources & Managing Director of Vestar Capital Partners

2008-03-28T09:46:35-07:00

BrownHen interviewed Kevin Mundt, Brown ‘76, President of Vestar Resources & Managing Director of Vestar Capital Partners, Boston, MA.

1. Kevin, you were a highly respected consultant in a major firm. Do you recommend that a person interested in entrepreneurship spend some years with a consulting firm?

Not necessarily. I will say that a consulting career does provide incredibly steep learning curves. One can take advantage of the exposure one can acquire in a short time in various industries. So it’s an attractive career experience, but not a requisite for success as an entrepreneur.

2. When you were a consultant, you were well known for your writing. Do you recommend that aspiring entrepreneurs spend time writing articles or even books?

I don’t necessarily recommend that entrepreneurs write articles or books early in their careers although successful entrepreneurs usually have a long history of successes and failures, and thus have much to share in a book.

I co-authored a book, which involved three other colleagues—including one of the founders of Corporate Decisions—who possessed superior writing skills. I think I am one of the worst writers. For me, it was a way to codify our intellectual property and get our ideas to the marketplace. It turned out that book was a fairly effective marketing tool.

3. You were one of the founders of Corporate Decisions, Inc., which was acquired by Marsh and McLennan. What are some key lessons that you learned from starting a company?

I learned innumerable lessons from co-founding Corporate Decisions, building it and running it for fourteen and a half years before selling it to M&M.

One, every startup is bankrupt, even if you just got $100M in financing. You still have to build and prove your products and services.

Two, you will face difficulties and challenges that will eclipse everything else; these are the ones you didn’t predict, could not have predicted. Even with a great education and great consulting experience, our resourcefulness was continually tested.

Another challenge that we faced as a professional services firm—first as a startup and later when we have grown—was finding the right people. We thought the hardest thing was finding new clients and hiring new help would be easy. It was the reverse; hiring great people was a real challenge for us.

4. Is there a right time to be an entrepreneur?

Yes, I believe there is a right time and place in one’s life to start take the entrepreneurial path. Starting a company will consume you. It takes a tremendous amount of emotional energy, intellectual energy, and incredible perseverance to see your way through hard times.

As an entrepreneur, you can never divorce yourself from asking the question, “Is this the right time for me?” Not just the right market or the existence of a demand, or a vacancy in the consumer space, etc. I co-founded a company when I was in my late twenties and single, and I was able to devote myself to building it and running. It was an incredible experience.

5. Do you miss the excitement of starting and running your own firm?

When you are starting something new, it is very exciting because it brings forth things you have yet to accomplish. I’ve co-founded and built a successful company before selling it. It was a fabulous experience. At my age, I don’t miss starting a new company because I really enjoy what I am doing now at Vestar, where I work with portfolio management companies, head up Vestar Resources (research branch), and advise management buy-outs in specialized large to middle upper markets.

My work taps into all my skills and experiences from 24 years in management consulting and the last 15 years in consumer product and retail. I started advising Vestar in 1992 when the firm was three years old. I got to know many of the partners, including Vestar’s founder Dan O’Connell, Brown ’72, whom I met on the freshman football field; so it was an easy transition when it was time for me to leave Marsh and McLennan.

6. As you know, the entrepreneur’s path is filled with trials and errors, and also failures. What’s a valuable insight for entrepreneurs to keep in mind when they’re experiencing setbacks?

As an entrepreneur, you should not lose sight of what your ultimate goal is and why you are in the business; you should not allow setbacks to derail you. You also need to have the courage to be honest and realistic about the situation that you are in. Recognize what is going on, what is causing your challenges, and develop a plan of action.

7. Would you speak about fear as a motivation or hindrance toward accomplishment / performance? How has that played a factor in your path, if any?

In my case, fear of failure was incredibly motivating for me. I was able to channel it into a motivation; I learned that from sports. I think many former athletes may recognize that little bit of nervous feeling—that little pit in one’s stomach. This pushes me along.

8. Currently, you are Managing Director at Vestar Capital Partners. Please discuss how your office interacts with the head office in New York.

Indeed New York is our headquarters, our deal center and the heartbeat of all activities. Our Boston office focuses on the private equity market and portfolio companies in five vertical areas: financial services, media, healthcare, consumer/retail and diversified manufacturers. Today’s technology facilitates our communication process; we work closely with our NYC colleagues and I am usually in New York two days a week.

9. Where do you see the entrepreneurial opportunities of the future?

I think it is an amazing time to be alive. There is an incredible atmosphere in the technology, medical and media sectors, to name a few. I think there is plenty of opportunity to be creative in every segment of every business.

10. While at Brown, you earned varsity letters in football and track, and you were also a four-time All-Ivy selection in track. You currently serve as the Chair of the Advisory Council on Athletics at Brown. What role do you see for athletics in undergraduate education?

Through football and track, I learned how to work closely with a group of individuals, share a common goal, and achieve success. We found ourselves in tough situations and learned to turn them around. We suffered a bitter defeat, losing to a team that we should have beaten. As an athlete, I suffered a lot of setbacks, which taught me humility. I learned that hard work might make you better. To be the best you have to work even harder. There is a correlation between effort, preparation and success. While I possess a tremendous respect for what I learned as an athlete at Brown and have applied that to experiences in the real world, I would add that many successful individuals were not athletes. I really enjoy chairing the Council on Athletics; for me, it is a wonderful way to give back to the school.

11. What is the latest insight (about life, work, play) that you have culled and would like to share with BrownHEN?

• Never stop learning. I am still learning that it is a wonderful gift that one should give to oneself.
• Always take your career seriously, but never take yourself seriously.
• Never settle for anything but excellence, surround yourself with the best.
• So much about life is about attitude, with the right attitude.

12. You have a son who is in the class of 2011 at Brown. Is he also involved in track or football?

My oldest son Trevor was very involved in football and lacrosse in high school, but he decided not to pursue sports at inter-collegiate level. I am not sure which path he wants to pursue, yet.

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Interview with Katherine Cohen, CEO & Founder of IvyWise and ApplyWise

2008-03-19T10:25:53-07:00

BrownHen interviewed Katherine Cohen, ‘Brown ‘89 – CEO & Founder of IvyWise and ApplyWise, New York, NY.

1. Katherine, how did you get into writing books? Was that part of your plan from the beginning?

No, it was not. I entered the profession of college admissions and I wanted to organize my thoughts for myself and high school students. So I created a manual, which ended up as my first book, The Truth About Getting In.

2. Did you have to raise funds to start IvyWise? If so, please describe your strategy?

No, I started out in my apartment, with $5K saved. My business had the barebone basics. I am still the sole owner of IvyWise. In late 2007, Liz Hamburg (Brown ’86) and I launched a sister company, ApplyWise.com, an online college counseling and management tool, which is affordable and accessible to more families globally. We did bring outside investors into ApplyWise

3. What percentage of your time can you now spend advising individual high school students? Would you like to spend more?

In the last year and a half, due to family priorities, I have only spent half of my time on advising individuals. I have hired other counselors to work with the growing market of students coming to IvyWise and have been spending more of my time with the launch of ApplyWise.

4. Please compare working with high school juniors and seniors to working with college sophomores. How do you adjust your advising strategies?

When I was working with college sophomores at Yale, I was counseling students on course selection, personal and academic problems, and wrote recommendations for students seeking summer employment or social service experiences.

IvyWise now works with students of all ages and stages. However our core business is counseling high school students and students as young as eighth graders for the college admissions process. We help them make an impact in their classrooms, campus and community. We help them focus on the soft factors: we help them develop mature responses to setbacks, work better with their teachers, and find joy in what they are learning in school. If students are making the most of their high school experience, this makes them become better college applicants. We help them tap into their potential and empower them with skills to contribute to their school / community.

5. You have contributed strongly to the Entrepreneurship Program at Brown. What do you think can be done further to support Brown undergraduate entrepreneurs?

Brown EP is doing a great job; it is nice to see its growth. The Board members are exploring more ways to get involved and to get more mentorship.

6. What is your vision of the future of IvyWise? How can it be structured to reflect your ideals as it grows?

Our mission focuses on empowering students to achieve their academic and personal goals; we are adhering to this everyday.

We envision growing it slowly and steadily to maintain quality control. We do not want to dilute our services. I have hired and trained only a handful of new counselors, all who have great experience in admissions. Our approach reflects my vision, which is that while each student works one on one with an individual counselor (and each counselor is limited to 20 students); behind the scenes IvyWise counselors work together collaboratively as a team. This way, each student gets the entire team’s expertise and feedback and several sets of eyes on each essay and application. We interact like a real admissions committee, which sets us apart from most independent counseling services. I am very excited about the growth opportunities for ApplyWise, which can reach a broader group of families around the world.

7. What are the top qualities you would ascribe to an entrepreneur?

• Know what you know and what you don’t know.
• Do not do it all; delegate.
• Be a great leader.
• Be a great listener.
• Recognize that you are not always right; listen to clients/customers and colleagues.
• Be flexible; business changes and grows according to customer needs.
• Be a multi-tasker who can wear different hats.

8. Would you speak about fear as a motivation or hindrance toward accomplishment? How has that played a factor in your path, if any?

Fear is a underlining motivator: not being successful, not making enough money, not leaving a legacy behind. Fear may play a part in many of the things that I do, but it is certainly not the driving factor.

I also don’t think fear is necessarily all bad, but I try not to let fear overcome me. If there is one bad article written about my company, if I lost a big sale, it’s time for me to step back and look at the big picture, regroup, and find the best path forward.

10. What is the latest insight / book(s) (about life, work, play) that you picked up and would like to share with BrownHEN?

I believe you need to have passion for what you are doing; you must absolutely LOVE what you do everyday. I am lucky because I love my work. I had a baby about a year ago and it has been a challenge finding the balance between work and family. It is easy for entrepreneurs to be workaholics. Work should not be about money because in one hundred years, no one is going to know about your business or care how much you had made; this gives me perspective. I have been practicing yoga since high school; it is a constant in my life and it teaches me to focus on the present. I make time for myself, and time for reflection (in fact, that is where my greatest business ideas come from!), which is crucial to my wellbeing and growth.

11. Who are the top three individuals / sources that have influenced your development?

One is my uncle, a corporate lawyer and my life mentor. He helped me set up my business, go through work-related trials and tribulations, taught me the art of negotiation and has helped me see many business situations from different perspectives.

Second is my husband, who is my best friend and perfect mate. He is very grounded; he is a calming force who thinks before he acts. He helps me in my relationship with work, reminds me what is important in life, and brings me a lot of joy.

Third is my daughter, who teaches me that I can’t control things all the time. She showed me the infinite capacity for love. Now a new motivation for my work is to provide her with a good life.

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Interview with Danny Warshay, Managing Director at Dew Ventures, LLC

2008-02-17T22:21:12-08:00

BrownHEN interviewed Danny Warshay, Brown '87, Managing Director at Dew Ventures, LLC, Providence, RI.

1. Danny, when you were an undergraduate, you co-founded a software company that became part of Apple. Looking back on that experience, what do you believe undergraduate entrepreneurs need to know most?

I’m often asked about that experience and about whether it makes sense to start something as an undergrad or soon after or get some “experience” first. My answer is that it depends mostly on whether you have an idea that is a legitimate opportunity. If you do or think you do, in many ways, there’s no better time to pursue it than when you are young–free from other responsibilities like a family, a mortgage or something else that make you much more conservative later in life.

When we started Clearview, I had nothing to lose, and could afford to live on no salary and eat a lot of macaroni and cheese. My wife and kids these days would get sick of macaroni real fast. The other benefit to pursuing something early is that in some ways, knowing too much can be a hindrance.

When I was graduating from Harvard Business School, I began to realize that I had learned a ton of ways to find fault with businesses and ideas, and had been trained over those prior two years to be critical of the thousands of cases we had studied. One of the voices that I paid the most attention to at that time was that of my entrepreneurship professor, Jeff Timmons, who reminded us to ask, “What can go right.”

When we were starting Clearview, I had virtually no business experience and could barely turn on a Macintosh. A couple years later, I think partly because of our naiveté, we had developed a successful Macintosh applications business whose acquisition by Apple I was helping to negotiate. I hesitate to say this too strongly, especially because I am teaching entrepreneurship at Brown these days, but I sometimes do wonder whether knowing or at least thinking too much can cloud your judgment.

The bottom line about whether to start something when you’re young, though, is that the decision is not like a typical career decision and question, "Should I take a job at McKinsey or start a software company?" The alternatives, a normal job or doing a startup, are much different. If you have a passion for creating a business and a compelling idea for a product, go for it. If you don’t have both the passion and the idea, then the decision is made for you until you do.

2. Please tell us more about your website RoundOne.com and what it intends to accomplish. Will it meet some of the needs you described in Question 1?

RoundOne is a platform that empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to take a few key first steps. Its content (now well over 3000 blog articles by entrepreneurial experts and supportive RoundOne community members) covers a wide range of critical topics, in easy-to-read, practical bite-sized pieces. To avoid the information overload and analysis paralysis I referred to in the previous question, the pieces are not a dissertation on the subtle distinctions between an LLC and an S-Corp, but the practical “dummies” version.

The networking platform enables you to meet fellow aspiring entrepreneurs from all over the world. We have members from dozens of countries–even places I had never heard of—and I cannot imagine how they would have connected with each other without an online platform like this. Finally, we have a suite of collaborative project management tools that enable a newly formed team to take a few substantive steps together (e.g., develop a business plan, upload and store documents, schedule team meetings and even conduct them online). We conceived all of this functionality with a focus on aspiring entrepreneurs, people who for the first time are looking to start a business but have never done so before. According to Capital One and Consumer Action, over 54% of Americans are interested in starting their own business but “don't know where to begin.” Our mission is to help them do so.

3. Most of your professional life you have been associated, successfully, with startups. However, you did spend a few years at Procter and Gamble. Were they valuable years for your present career? Do you recommend aspiring entrepreneurs work at a large company for a time?

I learned a lot in a short time at P&G. As my wife, Deb, smartly reminds me from time to time, the most important thing I learned was that a place like P&G is not for me. And that is a valuable life lesson—to figure out what is for you by experiencing what is not. Even beyond that, I learned a lot about how to build and run consumer businesses on very large scales, and about how to sweat the details. In subtle ways, I find those lessons expressing themselves in my entrepreneurial work more often than I might have expected. So for me, P&G was valuable, and while I would not want to prescribe any one type of experience for everyone, I do think that in general, especially if you go into the experience being clear about what you want out of it, that employment at a big company can teach you a lot.

4. You were a leader in creating the magnificent new Hillel Center at Brown. What are your aspirations for that building?

That it inspires the next generations of Jewish community leaders.

5. You have taught entrepreneurship in Israel. How did the students there differ from Brown students?

In ways that surprised me. Since they were Executive MBA students, I expected them to catch on to the HBS case method quickly, and to my surprise that approach threw many of them at first. I am still not exactly sure why, but I think one reason is cultural. At the risk of generalizing too much, my Israeli students tended to be very professionally focused and tended to think black and white. Many of them initially wanted to dispense with the ambiguous process of a case discussion and cut to the chase. “Just tell us the answers” was literally what many of them said to me in the first couple of classes. I resisted and by the end of even the condensed course, most had caught on and appreciated the “no right answer” approach.

That experience made me even prouder of my Brown students who tend generally to catch on to the case approach quite well. I think one significant reason is that Brown students are used to dealing with ambiguity in a liberal arts environment. I also saw some of what I discussed in question one above (thinking about what could go wrong) although in some ways the Israelis were able to apply their years of professional experience to the cases. For many, that experience inhibited their creativity, while the inexperience of my Brown students sometimes enables them to think more freely.

6. You are well known for the effort you put into teaching at Brown. What makes teaching rewarding for you?

First of all, I owe all of this experience to Barrett who knew me better than I knew myself, and detected a latent passion for teaching. Simply put, I love everything about it. I love motivating and inspiring my students to work their tails off and grapple with challenging problems. I love using the Socratic method, which feels a little like tight rope walking without a net. Although I have a general sense for the issues I want to cover, I never know exactly how the discussion is going to flow, what issues students are going to find worthy of interest.

In their course evaluations, some of my students have referred to me more as a coach than a professor and I can see that. I work hard on their behalf to make sure their experience in the classroom is worthy of Brown, and I advocate for them far beyond the classroom (e.g., finding them internships while they are still students, finding them jobs when they graduate, helping them with startup ideas, writing them recommendations). My core, advanced COE course, “The Entrepreneurial Process: Innovation in Practice,” is demanding, rigorous, and challenging. And those students see how much effort I put into it on their behalf and they respond accordingly. By the end of the semester, we have been through a lot together, and we all feel a sense of accomplishment. Finally, I am sure I learn from the students as much as they learn from me. It’s an honor to be able to teach them.

7. What are the top five qualities you would ascribe to an entrepreneur?

Mostly I think of qualities relating to execution more than breakthrough thinking:
• Ability to prioritize
• Ability to get things done
• Persistence: not accepting setbacks or failures, and
• The classic quality from Howard Stevenson who is an entrepreneurship guru at Harvard Business School: ability to pursue an opportunity without regard to the resources one currently controls.

8. As you know, the entrepreneur’s path is filled with trials and errors, and also failures. What’s a valuable insight for entrepreneurs to keep in mind when they’re experiencing setbacks?

I guess I’ve adopted more of a Zen-like approach to success and failure, as I have gotten older. Sometimes, what at the time I thought was a supreme success later paled compared to other more important things and even seemed like a detriment. And in contrast, what at one time seemed like a horrible failure later seemed like nothing or even a valuable experience. Perhaps it’s all the yoga I’ve been doing, but I try to have a more balanced opinion of what may seem like success or failure.

9. What is the latest insight (about life, work, play) that you picked up and would like to share with BrownHEN? If not, do you have a motto that you would like to share with BrownHEN?

I think we can all learn a lot from Curly, Jack Palance’s character in City Slickers. He says that the most important thing in life is for each of us to find our "one thing"—our passion. For some that’s their family, for some that’s intellectual achievement, and for some that’s about inventing new things. I guess like Curly, what I’ve found over the course of my career is that everything else falls much more easily into place once I have figured it out and can focus on that “one thing.”

10. How did the name "Danny" come to be?

Short for Daniel. I’m definitely not a Daniel or a Dan – just Danny.

Note: Danny is currently in Cairo, teaching a condensed version of his Brown entrepreneurship course to a group of Egyptian executives, heads of NGOs and entrepreneurs.

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Interview with Naeem Zafar, Partner at Concordia Ventures

2008-01-27T13:19:45-08:00

BrownHEN interviewed Naeem Zafar, Brown '81, Faculty at Haas Business School, University of California Berkeley, and Partner at Concordia Ventures, Cupertino, CA.

1. Naeem, you have had a highly respected career as a serial entrepreneur. You were CEO of six different companies, I believe. How are you finding being CEO of a consulting company, Concordia Ventures?

I worked at six startups and I was CEO of three of them. One went public and others went through various traumas and exits. Concordia is aimed at transferring my life experiences to other entrepreneurs. I am trying to bring several accomplished entrepreneurs from various disciplines to join me at Concordia where we can advice advise other entrepreneurs who are at the early stage of their learning curves. My work at Berkeley feeds directly into what I do at Concordia. It is liberating to be running Concordia. It is much less stressful than being the CEO of a venture-backed company, yet it is even more exciting and engaging. It is a tremendous learning opportunity as I meet the best and the brightest from all new technology areas.

2. How can an entrepreneur gain the most benefit from a consultant?

Each consultant offers some area of expertise. As an entrepreneur you need to be able to listen to advice from various sources but you must have enough conviction of your own so that you can evaluate and select what works for you. All of us have our own life experiences. That is why entrepreneurship is not a cookie cutter recipe. It is our own journey but a consultant, once carefully selected, can accelerate our learning and reduce our risk in this journey.

3. The United States has a reputation for being especially entrepreneurial. Is this reputation deserved? If it is deserved, how can it be maintained? If it is not deserved, what should be done?

It is well deserved. There are four key factors that contribute to this and if we maintain these factors we will continue to have the edge and the well-deserved reputation.

a) No stigma of failure. Unlike most places in the world there is very little stigma associated with failure, In Silicon Valley there is no stigma. A failed entrepreneur is more valuable as she/he is not likely to make the same mistakes again – someone else has paid the tuition for his/her learning.

b) Access to capital. It is much easier to raise venture or angel capital in the U.S. than anyplace else. Partly because sharing risk as an investor is in the American psyche. This is how we grew this country ahead of Europe in the 20th century. There are many entrepreneurs who made it big and now are willing to invest to help see new technologies take hold. They understand technology and risk. They help with capital and advice. Our venture industry is the most evolved in the world.

c) The eco-system. The process to start a venture is much easier in America and especially in Silicon Valley. At a well-attended party any Saturday night you probably have all the people you need to start a company. From techies to experienced CEOs, to marketing experts to lawyers and accountants—all have strong networks; and within two degrees of separation one can assemble a team in no time. We take this for granted but it is very unique to us. The systems are set up to make it easy to start companies. The way we can grant stock options attracts a lot of talent.

d) Excellent Brain trust and access to markets. We are lucky that we have an excellent higher education system. Not only do we pour well-trained people into the workforce each year, we attract the best and brightest from all over the world. The U.S. also have the homogenous market of 300M people that is unlike anyplace in the world. If you can sell a product here it gives you the scale to be able to sell it anywhere in the world.

Obviously our immigration policies can put the kibosh on some of these factors. That can hamper our future growth. Changes in taxation can impact our venture capital activity and our ability to grant stock options. These stock options are the essential currency that drives millions to work 70 to 80 hours per week for years and break all the rules needed to achieve new breakthroughs.

4. I believe you arrived at Brown three days after coming to the United States. What was your biggest surprise about life in the United States?

We all grew up watching American TV and movies in Pakistan so much of what we see in the States does not shock us. Nevertheless it was surprising to see that America was not like NYC or the Wild West. People were simpler, happier, unpretentious, and welcoming. People were warm and willing to help. But perhaps the biggest surprise was to get used to people smiling and saying hello in the street for no reason at all. This was not normal to see for me. I was always trying to draw a deeper meaning into each hello and sometimes giving a more complete answer to each “hello, how are you” then was expected!

5. You teach entrepreneurship in the MBA program at Berkeley. A common piece of conventional wisdom is that entrepreneurs are born, not made. What aspects of entrepreneurship can be taught?

Many traits of what makes an entrepreneur are innate. But the method still needs to be learned. We teach about the method (the process) of starting businesses. We teach how to reduce your risk by doing your essential homework. How does an entrepreneur approach various aspects of business versus a professional in a corporation? The to-dos include a long list that starts with doing basic research on your idea, developing a scalable business model, hiring, financial planning, and thinking about exits. We arm the entrepreneur with this knowledge and our own experiences to help him/her be more successful with fewer hiccups.

6. Your companies have been in several different high technology fields and you have written scholarly articles about starting small businesses. You seem to have time to be involved in professional activities. What is your secret about learning new ideas quickly?

Asking a lot of insightful questions and listening well are essential to fast learning. You must also be very good about time management and selective consumption of information. If you are not careful you can drown in too much information. You must develop a technique to quickly compartmentalize and index information in order to be able to access the information that you gathered.

7. Do entrepreneurial opportunities still exist in electrical engineering / computer science fields?

Is this a trick question? Of course, we have not even scratched the surface yet. We are now in the field of EE and CS where we were in 1920 about automotives and aviation. You have seen nothing yet. We still think of computers as things like we looked at internal combustion engines in 1920s. Today we don’t talk much about engines but we deal with myriad things that use engines. The same thing will be true about computers. There will be hardly a discussion about computers. There will be convenience appliances, highly connected and consumers of information that will make our life easier, more connected and our work processes automated.

8. What are the top five qualities you would ascribe to an entrepreneur?

• Perseverance
• Clarity of objective
• Resourcefulness
• Strong desire to bend rules or make your own rules,
• Salesmanship at all levels.

I describe an entrepreneur as a person who is willing to pursue an opportunity with the resources that he/she does not currently control. This definition says a lot. It is about being persistent and finding ways to go around the walls that will come in front of you. Salesmanship comes in various ways. It is about selling your vision to other employees and team members, to selling your ideas to investors to selling your value proposition to customers.

9. Would you speak about fear as a motivation or hindrance toward accomplishment? How has that played a factor in your path, if any?

Fear can be a motivator or a hindrance – sometimes both, depending on your personality and the situation. My biggest fear is usually letting my investors down or the people whose livelihood depends on my decisions. The families of employees all depend on your actions and results of your decisions. But you must get over your fear, otherwise you will be paralyzed. This is when I seek out my mentors and get advice from people that I trust. You always get through it.

10. As you know, the entrepreneur’s path is filled with trials and errors, and also failures. What’s a valuable insight for entrepreneurs to keep in mind when they’re experiencing setbacks?

Analyze the situation. Post mortem is key. Figure out what did you do wrong or what you could have done differently. Talk to others and your mentors. Improve thyself. Stop feeling bad and get back in the game. Remember getting a gym membership is not enough to get fit or lose weight – you must participate in the game.

11. What is the latest insight (about life, work, play) that you picked up and would like to share with BrownHEN?

The latest insight is about getting intensely productive with your time. This is your most important asset. Constant email is a terrible thing to distract you and Instant Messaging (IM) is even worse. I want to automate things in my life and get control of my time so that I can use it to do things that excite me and are rewarding. Limiting distractions, limiting meaningless television, unnecessary meetings and conversations that are pointless must be limited and eventually eliminated. I am reading this book, Four Hour Work Week, which speaks to me and what I had been trying to do for the last couple of years.

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Interview with Jorge Casimiro, Executive Assistant to the President - Latin America Group, The Coca-Cola Company

2008-01-20T12:41:37-08:00

BrownHEN interviewed Jorge Casimiro, Brown '98, Executive Assistant to the President - Latin America Group, The Coca-Cola Company, Mexico City, Mexico.

1. Jorge, you have a senior position at Coca-Cola. Do you feel you have much opportunity to be entrepreneurial?

Absolutely! There are always opportunities to be entrepreneurial. Being entrepreneurial is a mindset, a way of being and a way of acting, regardless of the size of the enterprise or the position you occupy. The moment you allow yourself to think a certain situation won’t allow you to be entrepreneurial is the moment you start limiting yourself.

2. Your responsibilities include the entire Latin American region. What are the pitfalls a citizen of the United States faces in working internationally?

My parents were born in Cuba, so I had a pretty international upbringing that has helped me tremendously; and my time at Brown only added to that. In general terms, I wouldn’t say that there are any pitfalls for U.S. citizens working in Latin America. The pitfalls exist when one–regardless of nationality–is unwilling to understand different cultures and different mindsets, thus limiting oneself from working within those contexts to meet goals and objectives.

3. How do you learn the cultural nuances in the various countries Coca-Cola works?

Obviously language is a big plus. However, the most important thing to do is to listen and engage—whether it’s the taxi driver taking you from the airport to the hotel or the country operations manager walking you through the latest business plan. Keep an open mind, be respectful and ask questions. Allow that natural curiosity we all have to come out, without worrying about what people will think. This understanding, aside from enriching you personally, will provide you with keen business insights into that market.

4. The U.S. market seems to be moving away from carbonated drinks. Is the same true in Latin America? How do you forecast trends in people's taste?

Sparkling beverages continue to grow and represent a tremendous opportunity for The Coca-Cola Company worldwide. On top of that, the entire nonalcoholic ready-to-drink market is also growing. In fact, The Coca-Cola Company’s worldwide volume grew 6% in each of the first three quarters of 2007, and Latin America volume grew 7%, 9% and 9%, respectively, in those same three quarters.

Forecasting consumer preferences, tastes and trends is at the heart of our commitment to offer consumers the beverages they want, when they want it and how they want it, all in a responsible way. Obviously, a lot of research is involved, but we don’t limit ourselves to just research. We also take time to listen and establish a relationship with consumers; it’s this relationship that has helped us become the world’s largest beverage company that today is #1 in sparkling beverages (with four of the world's top five nonalcoholic sparkling brands, including Diet Coke/Coke Light, Fanta and Sprite), #1 in juice and juice drinks, #1 in coffees, #1 in teas, #2 in sports drinks, and #3 in bottled water.

5. You were a highly respected leader on the Brown campus. Do you feel that experience is valuable to you now?

Highly respected? Wow, thanks! I think the lessons I learned as a campus leader had to do with listening to many different opinions and taking action. And by listening, I don’t mean waiting for people to come talk to me; I mean identifying who you need to talk to and really engaging them. The other part, action, is also critical. You can’t be afraid to make decisions (just make sure they’re smart ones), and you really can’t be afraid to check yourself on past decisions and adjust as necessary.

6. You seem to be relatively young for the responsibilities you hold. Do you feel your youth is a problem in dealing with other managers?

I’ve been lucky in that The Coca-Cola Company has a firm commitment to developing its employees to their full potential and to removing barriers that get in the way. My current assignment is my fourth since I joined the company in 2001 and my second as part of the Latin America Group. At every step, I’ve had tremendous support, have worked my brains out and have learned a great deal— earning some grey hairs along the way.

7. Is most of the company business conducted in English? Do you recommend that Brown students learn a language in college?

In Latin America, most business is conducted in Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil) and English in that order. However, everyone has a working level of English in order to interact with our headquarters in Atlanta and with colleagues around the world.

I would definitely recommend learning a second (or even third) language in college, but I would also add that it’s not about learning the language per se. Learning another language opens your mind to another way of thinking, another culture and other experiences. Even though you may not master the language itself, the process will enrich you both personally and professionally.

8. What are your tips for coping with air travel?

Try not to work on the flight unless you really have to—read a book or watch a movie. Make sure to get a good night’s sleep the night before and during the trip. Drink vitaminwater and, if vitaminwater is not available, make sure to take your vitamins and keep hydrated with plenty of water. Honestly, exercise is very helpful (the few times I’ve actually exercised on travel).

Also, make sure not to spend all your time in an office or hotel room. Even if it’s just 30 minutes, go out and explore a bit.

9. What are the top five qualities you would ascribe to an entrepreneur?
• Creativity and an open mind
• Discipline and focus
• Fun
• Responsible
• Not afraid to get your hands dirty

I find many people have some of these qualities. However, when you find someone that has all of them at once, hire him or her!

10. Would you speak about fear as a motivation or hindrance toward accomplishment? How has that played a factor in your path, if any?

Hindrance. No question. However, I’d be lying if I said it’s never played a factor in my life because we’re all human. I think the key is recognizing fear when it rears its ugly head and then making sure not to make decisions or act based solely on fear.

11. As you know, the entrepreneur’s path is filled with trials and errors, and also failures. What’s a valuable insight for entrepreneurs to keep in mind when they’re experiencing setbacks?

There’s always more than one way. We all tend to get stuck in certain patterns of thought and action; but when you’re experiencing a setback, I think it’s important to step back, look at the situation from different angles and consider different alternatives and solutions.

12. What is the latest insight (about life, work, play) that you picked up and would like to share with BrownHEN?

I’ve been married for almost two years now and it’s amazing how much my life has changed (for the better). I guess the insight is that, just like marketplace dynamics are always changing and shifting, your life and your priorities are always evolving. In the same way that business should be nimble and responsive to these market forces, so should you.

Your priorities when you begin your career as a 20-something are different from when you start a family or from when your metabolism starts slowing down or from when you begin thinking about retirement I think most of us tend to get stuck trying to make these transitions from one phase of life to another.

From a business perspective, the need to identify these personal and professional changes is critical because if your priorities aren’t matching your actions (or vice versa), you’re not contributing your full potential.

13. Who are the three individuals who have influenced your development significantly?

My family, definitely. As immigrants who arrived to the US with literally nothing, they instilled in me a strong work ethic, a responsibility to family and community and a sense of self. And they haven’t just influenced (past tense) my development, they continue to do so everyday.

My wife, Elizabeth, is another. I’ve found that having a partner who offers unconditional support (and puts up with all the other “stuff”) makes all the difference in the world both inside and outside the workplace.

Collectively, I’d also say the Coca-Cola system. Whether it’s the support and advice of my friends and colleagues, the unique perspective of stewarding the world’s favorite brands in more than 200 countries, or the incredible satisfaction of working for an enterprise that is truly committed to the communities it serves, Coca-Cola has definitely influenced who I am as a professional and as a person.

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Interview with David Durfee, CEO & Chief Scientist, Bay Computer Associates, Inc.

2008-01-10T21:39:07-08:00

BrownHEN interviewed David Durfee, Brown '80, CEO & Chief Scientist, Bay Computer Associates, Inc., Cranston, RI.

1. David, why did you found your own engineering company rather than work for a large company?

My family has a retail hardware store that we all grew up working in. The environment there and the responsibility given to me allowed me to make significant change. After I graduated in engineering I went to work for a fortune 500 company. As you might guess, sometimes you felt like you were trying to turn a supertanker.

In one sense, I continue to work for large companies as my firm does contract design for large firms. While the Dilbert cartoon sometimes seem all too real in these situations, being a consultant allows us to control the aspects of the job that have been assigned to us without too many big company distractions.

Many of our other clients are startup companies and it is great to be "in on the ground floor" where you can make a significant contribution to the success of a company.

2. We read discouraging things about the future of U.S. industry. Do you believe a place will continue to exist for a company like yours?

People told us we were crazy to start a consulting firm in Rhode Island. When we started, we had to compete with larger firms that were located closer to the 128 tech loop. Now they tell us we are crazy to compete against India and China. It certainly is true that we are competing with overseas vendors.

We believe that customers will always value excellence. As with many vocations, there are large variations in productivity. What good is it to pay 1/3 the US hourly rate if it is taking you four times as long to get the job done? While our engineers may complain occasionally about the "high bar" that we have set, they are proud of our achievements.

3. You are noted for being a very successful teacher at Brown. Teaching must distract from your other work. Why do you do it?

I went to graduate school so I could be a professor. Well, I guess I spent too much time around professors and decided that the job wasn’t for me. The teaching part was always fun. Also, I think it is one way that I can “give back.” I remember sitting in engineering classes wondering, “what the hell is this guy talking about?" I work hard at giving real life engineering examples so that the students can see how important what we’re teaching will be to them.

It’s really great that I get to teach one course a year. I do have to say that I have little free time while I’m teaching but it’s only for one semester.

4. In your business, do you have to spend much time with legal or regulatory matters?

I suppose the answer is yes if the term “legal” applies to submitting and subverting patents. As far as regulatory goes, I think that is one thing that has made us successful. We have designed a number of devices that have been registered with the FDA. Our proven ability to comply with FDA (and European) regulations has been very helpful to our customers.

5. You father was well known in Rhode Island politics. Do you have thoughts of running for office?

I asked my dad a while ago why he got into politics with all the negatives about the job. His answer was very simple. He simply got angry over what he saw and decided to run for office himself. I’m certainly angry enough, I just don’t have the time between school, work, and family right now.

6. Do you worry about conflicts of interest in hiring Brown faculty members and recent graduates?

I worry about conflicts of interest all the time. Honesty and integrity are very important in addition to excellence in engineering. (It's even in the IEEE Code of Ethics!) Any dealings that my company or I have with the University are very public and usually involve me putting in extra hours “on the house.” (I’ve discovered that alumni are suckers for helping the University and I am no exception.)

7. How to you keep up with technological developments?

My wife laughs at me. When we go to the beach, I bring a book on data communications or motor control. Engineering is a craft. Like any craftsman, your vocation needs to be part of who you are and not just a 9 to 5 job for you to be successful

8. What is your vision of the future of Bay Computer Associates, Inc.?

The future vision hasn’t changed much in 17 years. We want to continue to do really interesting engineering designs and work with intelligent, hard working people. It tends to feed on itself. As you hire great people you do better engineering which results in more interesting work. Each year has brought bigger and more exciting engineering work to us.

9. What are the five qualities you would ascribe to a business leader / entrepreneur?

Work ethic, intelligence, experience, honesty, and integrity—there is no ranking. You need all of them.

10. Who are the three individuals who have influenced your development the most?

You’ve posed a very difficult question. So many people have influenced me. If I must list only three:

• My parents for my work ethic and interest in how things work.
• My wife. Without her influence I would have a tendency to treat the whole world (people included) as an engineering problem.
• Barrett Hazeltine for lessons on how to “pay it forward.”

11. Would you speak about fear as a motivation or hindrance toward accomplishment? How has that played a factor in your path, if any?

I guess fear of failure and a fear of losing customers could explain why we work so hard. I prefer to look at it as the desire to achieve excellence.

12. What is it like having a son at Brown?

My son seems to be enjoying Brown. He seldom calls (which I view as a positive thing). I never talked to him about being an engineer but that is what he decided to do. It is great to be able to relate directly to his experiences. In fact, he told me about this really great professor that runs up the aisle to shake the hand of students who give the right answer! (I’m told that Barrett now says, “Am I making sense?” instead of the, “Is everybody ok?” that I used to hear.)

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