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Interview with Bob Stearns, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Sternhill Partners

BrownHEN interviewed Bob Stearns, Brown '71, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Sternhill Partners, Houston, TX

1. Bob, you must have read many proposals in your life, what advice do you have for entrepreneurs writing a document asking for money?

Entrepreneurs need to know that venture capitalists are interested in reviewing proposals that are expressed succinctly, without spurious details. We are not interested in lengthy documents with five-year projections that are speculative. We usually focus on three things: the quality of the individuals who are starting the venture, the nature of the products or services, and the market opportunity.

2. What were you doing at Compaq and how did you end up at Sternhill Partners?

I was CSO, CTO and Senior VP at Compaq. Part of my responsibilities as Senior VP included running a VC fund for Compaq, where I really enjoyed working with young companies. Compaq reached a point where its direction diverged from mine, so I left. I co-founded Sternhill Partners with Marc Geller in 1999. Sternhill was a VC startup; it faced all the issues related to starting a business: raising money for a limited partnership, establishing our geography and niche.

What was your biggest challenge?

Our biggest challenge was raising money from high net worth individuals and institutions. That said, we were able to raise our initial funding quickly.

3. What advice do you have for a person leaving a large corporation for a venture of her/his own?

Entrepreneurs who are striking out on their own need to be pragmatic and optimistic, and have high energy. They need to correct their mistakes rapidly and move on. They also need to surround themselves with people who possess relevant skills and seek help from their advisors.

4. Why was your venture fund at Compaq so successful?

Partially, it was the right timing. In the mid-1990s, venture capitalists generated tremendous returns in general. Second, Compaq invested in companies with products that could be incorporated and sold through its distribution system. There were a lot of opportunities for Compaq to benefit from these investments. The venture fund enriched Compaq’s shareholders. The best of the best technologists would come to Compaq. We were very successful; the fund’s return was 20 times the investments.

5. Your formal education was science-based. Did you feel you had a lot of catching up to do when you went into management?

I studied chemistry and physics at Brown. I felt the need to supplement my education with business skills so I went to graduate school at MIT and took additional courses at the Sloan School.

6. Do you think entrepreneurial opportunities still exist in the computer industry? Has the industry reached maturity so large organizations have an insurmountable advantage?

Absolutely! The industry has reached maturity some areas, but not in others. Entry levels to IN semiconductors, computer hardware manufacturing, and storage hardware are difficult. IBM dominated in the 1960s, and then came the personal computers. Opportunities still exist, but less so in computer hardware.

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

• Has a passion for whatever and for getting things done.
• Possesses honesty with oneself and with others; accepts what one can and cannot do.
• Is bright.
• Possesses people skills with at all levels; is able to attracts money and customers.
• Does not fear failure.

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

Life is what happens to you while you are planning. Allow it to take you where you want to go rather than where you think you want to go to please somebody else. Enjoy every day and don’t take yourself too seriously; don’t chase after money or title. People succeed because they enjoy what they do.

9. How long did it take to understand the Texas accent?

Very quickly. I’ve been in Texas for 15 years and I love living here.

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Copyright 2007 – BrownHEN.org

Interview with Kevin Hazel, Vice President, Strategic Purchasing, Siemens Power Generation

BrownHEN interviewed Kevin Hazel, Brown '77, Vice President, Strategic Purchasing, Siemens Power Generation, Orlando, FL (USA) and Erlangen, Germany

1. Kevin, how did a civil engineer become a leader in the electric power industry?

The path to any leadership position is often indirect, including experiences in multiple business areas.  For me, that path included engineering, technical management, project and program management, quality system design, organizational development, strategic marketing, and supply management.  At the end of the day, I have always felt that if you are trained to think well ("Thank you, Brown University!") and freely apply yourself with energy and passion, opportunity finds you.

2. You know a great deal about electric power generation. Please predict what it will be like in 10 years.

Centrally-based power generation using fossil fuels will remain the primary source of satisfying a continuing growing market globally. In this segment, efficiency of energy conversion will both improve output and address environmental concerns. Fuel gasification (i.e., coal-to-gas) will also rise in response to cleaner emissions demands. Renewables will play an increasing role, as in segments of Europe where commitments are to generate 10% of the total electric power demand in the next few years. Nuclear energy, already on the rise in many regions, will also make a return in the USA.      

3. How can a person be entrepreneurial within a large corporation?

Entrepreneurial opportunities frequently present themselves in the corporate world. One has to be open to seeing and capitalizing on them. In my career, most often the change opportunities came from recognition that a person is multi-dimensional and can create value by increasing the “sum of the parts.”

4. You worked at least one summer making sugar in a factory on the East River. Do you recommend that an engineer gain experience working on the shop floor?

The experience at the Domino Sugar factory was, as they say in the commercials, "priceless." Technically, I learned the importance of the man/machine interface and of training after getting a 440V shock while resetting a circuit breaker. Organizationally, I learned that unions play an important role in the labor/management relationship, but that all roles need membership-driven balance. I saw that first line management, in this case the shop foreman, has a tremendously difficult role and that good performers here can make or break an organization. Practically, I learned the value of hard work. Loading a rail car with 100-pound bags of sugar by hand or scraping an industrial filter after the initial processing of raw sugar inside a four-story boiler are constant reminders of respect for true labor. 

5. Please comment on working for an enterprise that has been purchased by a European company.

In 1998, Siemens AG purchased the power generation segment of Westinghouse. We were blessed with two factors that made the integration of two companies with long legacies (over 110 years each) possible: good leadership and a robust market. The leadership philosophy, backed by action, was that we would not make Westinghouse a German company nor Siemens an American one. The goal was to take the best elements of each company into a globally-managed, regional-acting enterprise. The market boom in the US from 1999 to 2001 then gave us a great platform to implement the philosophy. Fulfilling customer orders distracted us from the inertia preventing change; perhaps this is why some other multinational integrations failed.

6. How is your German?

Thankfully, the official language of Siemens PG is English. Early in the integration, I tried to learn German. This was as unsuccessful as my learning French in high school. At this point, I can manage in a restaurant but little else. 
   
7. As you move into management, do you worry about losing technical expertise?

It is important in this context to decide what career path you desire. Personally, I always looked at career progression as gaining expertise.

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

• Intellectual curiosity
• High energy and passion
• Ability to inspire others
• Determination
• Business-minded sensibility

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

Some years ago there was a movie called "Defending Your Life". While a comedy, the premise was that fear prevented us from using the full potential of our minds and prevented us from going to heaven. This makes sense to me. In a personal context, when running track in high school it was wanting to win that drove me rather than fear of failure. I still subscribe to that philosophy today.   

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?

You have already given the answer in the question.  Entrepreneurs inherently accept that failure is part of—and not the end of—the process. 

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

The Asian concept of yin and yang—of balance in all things—has always been attractive to me. Doing is far different from knowing, however. Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits" and his 'roles and goals' exercise in the book is a good tool to organize your behaviors with your intentions. From that exercise, my faith in God has taken a more important position in my life balance. And interestingly, my career accelerated with this improved balance.

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

Jesus Christ, my parents and my wife have had the greatest impact on my development as a human being. Professionally, it would be Dean Hazeltine (for giving me an opportunity to grow); my first manager at Westinghouse, Don Akey (for giving a fellow civil engineer a job in mechanical engineering); and Brother Vanard, a teacher in high school (for assuring that intellectual curiosity would be a part of my DNA).    

13. Senior year at Brown you lived among farms in Seekonk. Do you live in a rural area now?

For a person who grew up in Brooklyn, NY, nearly everywhere is a rural area. But seriously, we now live in Oviedo, FL, which is a suburban area northeast of Orlando. My job requires me to spend roughly 140 days per year in Erlangen, Germany, where I maintain an apartment in a rural area—very much like Seekonk. Again, an example of the balance objective.   

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© BrownHEN.org – 2007