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Interview with Barrett Hazeltine, PhD.

BrownHEN interviewed Barrett Hazeltine, PhD – June 25, 2007

1. Dean Hazeltine, for thousands of Brown grads, you are known as the father of entrepreneurship who has advised and helped countless of former students start their own companies and guided them to success. What many people don't know is that you yourself have had your own entrepreneurial success. I kept hearing from different alumni vague stories about your patent way back when. Would you speak to this and share some of your experience with us?

I am really afraid to disappoint you because the actuality is much less exciting than the rumor. About 25 years ago, a Brown graduate named Dick Simon came up and said he owned a company, U.S. Billiards, which made coin-operated pool tables. In these kind of tables one gets the cue ball back if it goes down a pocket. He needed some way of distinguishing the all-white cue ball from the other balls. His competitors either made the cue ball slightly smaller or heavier but both approaches had faults.

Another Brown professor and I designed and built a device using small lights and light-sensitive detectors that recognized the cue ball. Not to bore you with the details, the hardest ball to detect was the one with a yellow and white strip but it turned out that the three detectors would work. The device worked and was deployed but the market for coin-operated cue ball dried up.

I have a vague memory of getting my name on a patent when I was working at Raytheon in 1965, but the group of people working on the project was large, and I do not remember the details.

Matt Paknis, whom you know, another Brown alumnus Ray Steele and I formed a company to do management consulting. We mostly worked on work force motivation and team building—Matt’s specialty. The company did fine, but I did not want to give up my day job (Brown) so I did not spend as much time with it as it needed. After a few years, I went off to Africa and the company got reorganized with Matt as the sole proprietor. I still collaborate with Matt on various projects.

Another entrepreneurial venture is a new charter school in Providence—called the Paul Cuffee School. I was on the original board and still am. We had our first 8th graduation last Saturday (6.23.07).

2. Time and again, I have heard from fellow Brown alumni of your creative input in helping them solve their entrepreneurial and professional challenges. When did this entrepreneurial instinct surface in your life?
You ask hard questions! One quality of an entrepreneur, I think, is curiosity about many different things and I think that came out early. A related characteristic is wanting to try new ways of doing things—which is not an endearing trait for parents and colleagues trying to get a short-term goal accomplished. But I did not think of staring a business until much later in life—did not realize how exciting, challenging, and exciting it would be. Like many aspects of a persona, the entrepreneurial spirit is present in many people, but needs to be allowed to flourish.

Did you receive support from friends and family to nurture it?
Not much. I think I got the most support later in life by watching students succeed with their own ventures. My impression is that many successful entrepreneurs start out as a lonely gladiator with perhaps a single partner; only after achieving some success will they have credibility to attract a team, or a mentor. Being strongly involved with a group early dilutes the passions and slows the process.

3. How do you advise young entrepreneurs to cultivate this entrepreneurial DNA?
In early stages inspiration is probably most important and one place to get that is reading about the efforts and successes of other entrepreneurs. I like FAST COMPANY magazine because the articles are suitable and have a nice combination of insight and brevity. I am sure there are other magazines or even books that are equally exciting. After one has read a few articles, my advice is to go out and do it—be an entrepreneur, walk the talk. The rest of what you need to know, you learn as you go.

4. What are the three common factors that you have noted among your former students, which contributed to their successes?
Persistence, desire to learn about many things, appropriate blend of wanting to be independent and a willingness to listen to others. This is turning into about five common factors. Persistence has two aspects: 1) sufficient confidence in one’s self and one’s idea to continue despite discouragements and 2) willingness to work very hard.

The entrepreneur has to make a whole lot of things work together; unless she or he really enjoys learning about each of these things a project will not come to fruition. On the other hand, an entrepreneur must be relentless in pursuing the core of her/his vision—else why work so hard? On the other hand, most of the entrepreneurs I know about seem to have benefited significantly from advice originating from outside the enterprise.

5. What advise do you have for this next generation of entrepreneur hopefuls? How has the landscape changed since 20 or 30 years ago?
Seems to me entrepreneurship is much more generally accepted now than it was even a decade ago. My impression is that it used to be the case if a college graduate went home and told her/his parents that s/he wanted to be an entrepreneur, the reaction would be horror and disbelief. I think that has changed. People recognize much more than in the past the need for this country to have new ventures and the overall social value of entrepreneurship. Loneliness used to be a big pain for an entrepreneur, “Am I the only one facing these problems?” More support and resources are now available: nonprofit groups, state agencies, as mentioned earlier, magazines, etc. There seems to be more venture capital around and more angels—certainly there are more investment firms than in the past and most states have agencies to encourage entrepreneurs.

6. You’ve given so much of yourself to your students. What do you hope that they in turn can pass on to their students and protégés?
I hope young entrepreneurs—successful or not—will encourage the next set of entrepreneurs. Not all can give advice or funds, but all can spend a few minutes listening and offering some kind and helpful words. An appropriate mixture of praise and realism is needed. The confidence of young entrepreneurs is often fragile, even if hidden by bravado; an advisor should not damage that confidence. I hope senior people will also pass on to others a need to consider the implications of what is being proposed—will it make people kinder and more generous? Will it protect the environment? And so on.

Copyright 2007 - BrownHEN.org

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Interview with Randy Haykin, Managing Director of Outlook Ventures

BrownHEN interviewed Randy Haykin, Brown '85 and Managing Director of Outlook Ventures, San Francisco.

1. Randy, although you always wanted to be an entrepreneur, you took a job at Apple early in your career, right after business school. Looking back, do you think that was a good decision?

Yes, it was a good decision and a very deliberate one. While at HBS, I learned that I wasn’t quite ready to go out there and start a business. As a future CEO, I knew that I needed finance skills, sales skills, etc. I knew that Apple attracted entrepreneurs and would give me the functional experience that I needed. I purposely took a sales job, which was uncommon for an MBA grad.

What did you learn from your sales job?
There is no substitute for one-on-one contact. I managed several channels and learned much from working with my Apple customers. My sales experience made me valuable internally later on as a product manager. I was responsible for key products and I could reach out to contacts in the field to learn what features interested them. My field experience served me well.

Did you hold other positions at Apple?
I moved on to head worldwide multimedia developer programs for Apple. I started from scratch, created content, training and multimedia programs for developers. I was a senior editor of Demystifying Multimedia, which was published by Random House. I went on to work on the content side in Paramount’s Media Kitchen and created digital startups for two years. This got my career going in the direction of the internet.

One of the startups was Yahoo. I joined the founding team as VP of sales and marketing. When it was time for Yahoo to talk with venture capitalist, I observed how Sequoia VCs operated and got interested in the venture side.

2) How do you advise an aspiring entrepreneur to decide between several job opportunities, one of which may be starting a new business? How can an aspiring entrepreneur decide when it is time to be a real entrepreneur?

I believe you know when you possess enough confidence to create a start-up on your own. You will know when the time is right. If you are not quite sure, it’s a good idea to obtain experience as a part of a start-up team.

3) What process do you use to assess the non-tangible aspects--artistic, social benefit, etc.--of an investment opportunity?  How do you use that assessment in making the final decision to invest?

As an angel investor, I look for opportunities for social benefit and returns. I’ve invested my own money in Alzheimer research, cancer research and colon diseases. I serve on the board of the American Cancer Society in the California State Division.

How did you get involved with that?
My mother passed away eight years ago because of cancer. My three young daughters got involved in fund-raising for cancer research and they presented a check to the American Cancer Society. We met the executive director who learned that I am involved in finance, so the board offered me a position. So my daughters were delighted that they found me a job.

On the social side, I’ve done pro-bono work with Opportunity International, which provides highly leveraged assistance to impoverished families around the world. We give an impoverished family a loan to help them get set up. They would pay back the loan and it goes to the next needy family. We have a 98% retainment rate, globally.

4) What advice do you have for an entrepreneur who is looking for a partner?

You should look for partners with complementary functional skills. If you are not strong in technical skills, look for someone with technical skills. If you are not good in sales, look for someone who is great in sales.

5) How do you deal with situations where your clients or your superior in an organization expect you to act in a way which conflict with your values?

Every person is different. In my case, I have tried to guide my career so that my values are in alignment with what I am doing. In the VC world, it is a bit tricky. Some VCs are known for their ruthlessness, which doesn’t match my values. Although I do not have a boss, I find that I need to be sensitive at times with venture boards, and let people know where I stand on issues. It’s very easy to get to the slippery slope. Often entrepreneurs and VCs are faced with strong leadership and ethical issues. One must draw very sharp lines because if one isn’t clear about it, things can get a bit sticky.

6) How can entrepreneurs ensure that they continue to learn?

One, entrepreneurs should surround themselves with great advisors on their board because they constantly learn from the masters. Two, entrepreneurs should collaborate as often as they can, and learn and listen from their customers.

7) Will you speak a bit about your involvement with fellow Hazeltine alumni?

I have been involved in Brown’s Entrepreneur Program for 10 years now. I have enjoyed being a part of the EP, advising Hazeltine alumni and connecting with various Hazeltine entrepreneurs.

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Copyright 2007 – BrownHEN.org

Interview with Tom Scott, Chairman, CEO and Founder of Plum

BrownHEN interviewed Tom Scott, Brown '89, Chairman, CEO and Founder of Plum, New York.

1. Tom, how important is it to have a detailed plan before you start an enterprise?

It is only important in thinking about it. Most likely you won’t follow it. Flexibility is a huge factor. There are so many nuances to developing a product or a service. You will find that a lot of it is trial and error, especially if you are breaking new grounds.

2. On the face of it Nantucket Nectars seems far removed from your undergraduate concentration. What recommendations do you have for an aspiring entrepreneur about choosing a concentration?

I recommend that you study what interests you. I focused on American Civilization at Brown. Tom First and I started out operating a floating boat because we loved being on a boat. Juice was one of the things we sold. One thing led to another and we ran with Nantucket Nectars.

3. The folklore about Nantucket Nectars has much about basketball and you were an athlete at Brown. Do you think sports experience is significantly beneficial for an entrepreneur?

It is somewhat beneficial. Commitment and teamwork are critical to an entrepreneur’s success. In addition to athletics, there are other ways one can learn to develop these skills.

4. How did you learn all the intricacies of the juice business—where to source fruit, where to get bottles, how to get the product fresh, how to structure an investment?

It was all trial and error. We put one foot in front of the other. We had passion, it was what we loved. We did not take no for an answer. If we had known how hard it was going to be, we might not have ventured forth.

5. What advice do you have for an entrepreneur selling the business?

I believe you run a business to run a business; you shouldn’t run a business with an exit strategy. You will know when the time is right to sell.

6. Recently, as President/CEO of Plum TV, you were named among the 27 most innovative thinkers in the worlds of media, entertainment, politics, and technology by Details magazine in their second annual “Mavericks” issue. What do you do to keep yourself growing creatively as a person, as a business leader?

Thanks! Those awards are flattering. I just pursue what I like, what interests me. If you are passionate about your work (your products / your services), you are going to spend a lot of time thinking about it, working on it, and improving it. If growth has slowed, you should take actions to mix it up. 

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

• Passion.
• Perseverance.
• Survival instinct.
• Faith in yourself, in your vision. A belief in the unknown. You may be dreaming of what didn’t exist, what seemed unlikely to exist.
• Trust. Before we got into juice, Tom First and I started a painting business with four people. Our business evolved and it ended with us two. Trust is a rare thing—trust and the ability to have an open dialogue, which is essential.

8. Who has the dog now?

Well, we had two dogs. Tom has one and I had Becky, and she passed away in 1990.



Copyright 2007 - BrownHEN.org

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Interview with Elias Roman, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Amie Street

BrownHEN interviewed Elias Roman, Brown '06, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Amie Street, Long Island City, New York.

1. Eliot, please explain the model used by Amie Street. Why is it different from other sites where one can download music?

Amie Street uses word of mouth as the dominant filter to provide users with music recommendations deemed relevant by their social network. We use dynamic pricing (with all songs starting at zero) to both allow price to serve a quality metric and to encourage people to experiment with music they may never have heard of. We also forbid DRM on our songs. Digital Rights Management in some ways causes consumers to only lease what they thought they had purchased.

2. Amie Street has had really remarkable growth, even before the recent investment by Amazon. Please analyze the reasons for the growth. Is it sustainable? (We know, of course, that one reason is that you and your co-founders, Josh Boltuch and Elliot Breece, are very smart.)

I certainly believe it is sustainable. We have been focused on building a product that markets itself. We continually upgrade the product to be a good and fun experience so people will share it their friends.

3. So what kind of music do you prefer?

Thanks to Amie Street, I'm loving a lot of music I didn't think I liked before: country, folk and indie rock in particular. I've always been a fan of blues, rock and hip-hop.

4. Does Eliot (and/or the rest of you) contribute songs to the Amie Street list?

I do  have music on the site for sale, but under a nickname, since I'm too embarrassed to have it under my name. (I don't think my singing is quite there, yet).

5. You must be using some sophisticated computer algorithms. How did you get these written?

We had months and months of free time during college to think them through.

6. Are the offices for Amie Street in one of your parents' home—the stereotype basement or garage?

Our offices started in Brown University housing. Next, we moved to two other houses in Providence, then to a house in Hicksville, New York, and finally to offices in Long Island City. At this point, the founders have been living together 24/7 for 16 months straight.

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

It certainly has been a good motivating factor, in that I left an offer for what I thought was my dream job to stay with Amie Street. That being said, since I love getting up every morning and working on Amie Street, the only real fear is letting our supporters down.

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

I have found that taking the extra few seconds to make decisions, and then going with what seems to be the dominant move at the time, saves me a lot stress later on. I can look back and know I did my best. That's all you can really ask of someone.

9. The music business is rumored to be very competitive—cutthroat and lacking trust. How are three nice young Brown graduates doing so well?

We have received a lot of positive feedback for doing business so honestly. We have also dealt with some true sharks. In particular, saving the "I'm walking away if you can't agree to this" threat for only when you truly mean it, and only late in the negotiations, gets you a lot of mileage, too.

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Copyright 2007 – BrownHEN.org

Interview with Sheeraz Haji, President of Convio, Inc.

BrownHEN interviewed Sheeraz Haji, Brown '94, President of Convio, Inc., Austin, TX – Offices in Berkely, CA and Washington, D.C.

1.  Sheeraz, you have done many interesting things in your career. Do you believe a new college graduate should plan out the succession of jobs to be sought or do you recommend that s/he simply be open to new opportunities?

I believe new grads should stay open to opportunities as they arise. When you are fresh out of school, it can be difficult for an individual to recognize his or her shortcomings. My advice is to seek out individuals who motivate you, and from whom you can learn. Avoid pigeon-holing yourself into a certain profession simply because you think it’s where you belong. Keep an open mind and explore new opportunities as they present themselves. It may take a while to find the ideal one, but it can be worth the wait. I speak from experience—I studied civil environmental engineering at Brown and ended up in an exciting career in software.

2.  What is GetActive and how did you start this software-as-a-service company for nonprofits?

GetActive provided software to help nonprofits raise money and run advocacy and marketing campaigns. While I was working at Digital Impact—a provider of online direct marketing solutions for enterprises—I noticed that nonprofits weren't taking full advantage of the internet to interact with their constituents. I had the good fortune to connect with a number of talented technologists who were struggling with the same issues from within a nonprofit (Environmental Defense Fund). To address this gap in the market, we co-founded GetActive in 2002.

3. Please share with us the analysis process you went through in deciding to merge GetActive with Convio.

At GetActive, we took pride in looking after our clients and focusing on their long-term interests; we also wanted to be forward thinking in terms of the company’s strategy. We were committed to delivering as much value as we could to our clients, so we decided to marry what we were best at—advocacy and content management—with what Convio is best at—fundraising.

4. You began your career as an engineer for a medium-sized company. You then worked with a respected consulting firm before co-founding a startup. Would you share a bit more about your background and compare the learning experiences at these respective companies?

I started out working for an environmental engineering company because I was, and still am, passionate about the environment. I wanted to solve environmental problems. When I was at the engineering firm, I realized I also needed business skills to complement my engineering skills. I was advised that McKinsey would be a good place to learn about business, so I contacted them, participated in a rigorous interview process, and was offered a position. McKinsey provided lots of resources and useful training; their consultants know how to solve business problems. My time at McKinsey was a fabulous learning opportunity and provided me with great exposure to how large companies operate.

At McKinsey everything was very structured, whereas in a startup environment like GetActive, I was required to wear different hats: operations, strategy, marketing, to name a few. GetActive offered plenty of opportunities for development and growth. I quickly learned that startups were a perfect fit for me. I also discovered that I was more effective in a startup because of the time I had spent in established companies.

5.  Much software creation is being outsourced to Asia these days. Do you see opportunities for entrepreneurs in managing outsourcing?

Yes, I do, but it is not as easy as people once thought it was. In some ways, outsourcing to Asia has come full circle, and we are now seeing a rise in outsourcing to Eastern Europe and Africa. While it may be cheaper to outsource, there is no shortage of communication and operational challenges in trying to coordinate a development team that’s on the other side of the world.  Unquestionably, the opportunities exist, but so do the headaches that accompany them.

6.  Are you presently involved with a not-for-profit organization working for social good? If you are, describe the organization and why you are involved.

Yes, I am. The organization, Direct Change, builds grassroots financial support for community-based African projects that are directly helping children. I am involved for a number of reasons. First, I know the founder (Ken Deutsch) and think the world of him. Second, Africa needs our help; and third, Direct Change focuses on children’s health and community building, both of which I believe are critical to long-term change in Africa.

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

• Passion - it should be evident to everyone you interact with.
• Positive attitude – an optimist’s perspective, especially when everyone tells your venture is not going to work out.
• Leadership – the ability to convince people to follow you when you have no cash, no product, and no clients.
• Ability to notice trends that are not well understood.
• Strong work ethic.

8. And how does one learn to spot trends?

For me, I learn by talking to clients and spending time to understand their needs and how those are changing. Talking to industry experts can be helpful, but the analysts don’t always understand what customers really want—in the short and long term. If I spend a day with customers, I always come away with a better appreciation for their needs, what’s working and what’s not working.

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

For me, definitely a motivation. There were times during GetActive's early days when I was concerned about running out of cash and not making payroll. When you hire people to work on your team, you feel responsible for them and you want to make sure you take care of them. The fear of disappointing colleagues and clients was highly motivating!

10. What advice do you have for entrepreneurs who possess some of the qualities you mentioned above, yet at times get stuck because they haven’t been able to figure out how to adjust their product line, meet their revenue goals, etc.?

My advice is to think big and dream big. Envision your success and then understand what you need to accomplish in the short term to make progress towards your goals. Work hard until your dream becomes a reality.

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

Events happen. It’s up to us to decide how we interpret them. For example, if a large enterprise decides to compete with your company, you probably had no control over that. You could interpret this as a negative event, stress out and worry about potential revenue loss. Or you could focus your team's time and energy on finding a creative way to make this development work to your company’s advantage.

12. So the outcome depends on how you choose to respond and on your decision to focus on the positive.

Exactly!

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Copyright 2007 – BrownHEN.org

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 Chad Billmyer, Director, Nelnet, Inc.

BrownHEN interviewed Chad Billmyer, Brown '01, Director of Peterson’s High School Solutions, Nelnet, Inc., Lincoln, NE

1. Chad, your startup Foresite Solutions has merged with a much larger organization, Nelnet. Do you feel you can still be entrepreneurial in the context of a larger organization, and if so, how?

Absolutely. Part of the attraction to Nelnet—the company that acquired our startup—was their entrepreneurial culture. In fact, we were merged into a division that has a charge to develop new products and businesses. Not all companies embrace entrepreneurial spirit or have the risk tolerance to innovate from within as Nelnet does. For every business opportunity, we analyze whether to build, buy, or align. I have had ample opportunities to pitch new business from within the walls of our new parent company.

2. What advice would you like to share with aspiring entrepreneurs?

You will need partners to support you. Daily obligations and needs grow quickly. A good set of partners can balance the enviable tensions that exist in every decision that the start-up will need to make. For some decisions, emotional influences may lead to a non-optimal decision. A good partner can offer objective decision-making when one partner gets too emotionally invested in a particular decision.

You should also sign a founders’ agreement early. From the first date of inception, each day that passes the company will inevitably get more and more successful and more dollars will be involved. With each day that passes, it will become harder and harder to agree to and sign a founders’ agreement. A simple founders’ agreement can cover basics such as whether inventions belong to the company and when and how a founder may exit the company. The agreement can always be amended, but far too often, the absence of an agreement does more harm than good.

3. When you were at Brown you were a leader in campus activities. How did that experience relate to your entrepreneurial success? Do you recommend people wishing to be entrepreneurs be active on campus?

I highly recommend active campus activity involvement for prospective entrepreneurs. I would argue that there isn’t a class at Brown that can teach you how to get the people around you to perform at their highest potential. In many ways, this is what leadership is about: setting up your peers for success. Leadership skills grow from experience, and a campus activity—the Brown Daily Herald in my case—is a great laboratory to develop leadership skills that will be critical for the business to succeed.

4. What areas of software look promising for entrepreneurial ventures now?

I like to read the blog techcrunch.com on a daily basis to track some of the newest and most innovative Web-based software ventures. I am often inspired by start-ups I read about and try to find ways to apply bits and pieces of their business models to a business issue I might be working on. I also get a daily Venturewire.com e-mail each morning to track what is getting funded.

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

I can’t help but reference a few of the qualities found in a great document on this topic authored by Fred Beste at Mid-Atlantic Venture Funds. The document is titled, “The Twelve (Almost) Sure-Fire Secrets to Entrepreneurial Success.” Fred includes qualities like: “they have a sound knowledge of their marketplace, they’ve got fire in their bellies, they hire smart, and they have a sound knowledge of the financial dynamic of their companies.” I’ll add one of my own: they know when not to reinvent the wheel. 

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

In general I see fear as more of a hindrance than a motivator with one exception. I sometimes find that I am motivated by the fear of failure. I am not coming up with an example of how fear has played a factor in my path. I presume that means that fear doesn’t play a major motivating or hindering role for me.

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

A recent boss would often say, “I see it as my role to set you up for success.” To date I have led a few teams of a decent size. I find this motto to be a wonderfully concise way to describe how to make choices as a people leader. 

8. What are the biggest differences between life on the East Coast and the West coast?

I grew up and obviously went to Brown on the east coast. I moved to the west coast three years ago. In a business sense, it feels like the west coast business day is shifted forward. It starts later and ends later. This doesn’t apply to me since I work with many people on the east coast and often join calls at 6 or 7 AM. Life runs a few beats more slowly on the west coast than the east coast. People walk a few beats more slowly and have a slightly less urgent sense about life.    

9. Do you still drive a Hybrid?  Is it the same one?

Yes, I still drive a hybrid car. Back in 2001, I was the first person I knew with a hybrid. It was a two-seater Honda Insight. I now drive a Honda Civic Hybrid. I found I needed a back seat on occasion. I bought the hybrid more for the engineering than for the environment, not that there’s anything wrong with lower CO2 emissions.

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© BrownHEN.org – 2007

Interview with Terri Cohen Alpert, CEO of Professional Cutlery Direct and of Uno Alla Volta, Inc.

BrownHEN interviewed Terri Cohen Alpert, Brown '85, CEO of Professional Cutlery Direct and CEO of Uno Alla Volta, Inc., North Brandfort, CT

1. Terri, How did a physics concentrator at Brown end up managing a jewelry / luxury items company?

First of all, unlike all the other physics majors of my day, my dreams were always entrepreneurial. There’s no short answer to your question of how I ended up doing what I’m doing today, but I’ll explain my attraction to physics and then my career may make a little bit more sense to you. The appeal of physics was four-fold:

One, physics provides incredible training in problem solving. In physics, as in life, all exams are open book. You are often faced with problems not quite like any you’ve seen before and you need to pull together all of your resources and think of a way through.

Two, I tend to be holistic in my thinking about things and I am very interested in interconnections and in all things interdisciplinary. Physics struck me as being at the center of so much and connected to everything.

Three, I’m attracted to things I find really difficult. It is what some call the “mountain climber” personality where one looks for the highest mountain she can find. Believe it or not, this is really not so much “risk-taking” as it is “risk-avoidance”—at least risk to the ego. Given the magnitude of the challenge, if one proves unable to succeed, one can always chock it up to the difficulty, give oneself credit for trying, and remind oneself of how few others might have tried to scale that mountain in the first place.

Four, once I was in, I simple had to stick with it to prove that someone without scientific aspirations could do it, and to prove that woman could do it. (I was the only woman to graduate with a concentration in physics in the classes of 1984, 1985, and 1986 and as far as I know, I was the only concentrator who wasn’t planning on going on to graduate school in physics or some other science.)

2. You were an Information Technology manager for a large New York bank. Do you believe being a woman affected your professional opportunities in IT?

In the 1980s on Wall Street there were actually a lot of women in IT and a lot of women in IT management.  Going from Brown’s physics department to a corporate department with 30-40% women was a pretty easy transition.

3. You have worked extensively with the student-led Brown Entrepreneurship Program. Based on your observations, how do you think Brown undergraduates can best prepare themselves to be entrepreneurs?

• Be sure you want to be an entrepreneur and are not using “entrepreneurship” as a substitute word for “business.” Unfortunately, the word is misused so much today that it has lost its meaning. Answer the question: Are you driven by the need to create something from nothing? Do you view this as a path to acquire something else you want or need—such as fame, wealth, whatever? If it is a means to an end, find a different path. The end is too far away, too elusive, too hard to achieve and you can’t get there if you are not passionate about what you are doing every day. Furthermore, life is just too short. It may be cliché but there is profound truth in the statement that “life is a journey and not a destination.”  This is something for which many of us need constant self-reminders (me included).

• Find a business that speaks to your own personal passions and takes advantage of your strengths. Corollary: Find one where your personal weaknesses aren’t too much of a liability.

• Remember, ideas are cheap. I find most young entrepreneurs (and the general public) think it is 90% the idea. I’ve got news for you, it is 1% the idea and 99% the execution.

• Constantly work at trying to know what it is you don’t know. Surround yourself with experience or get experience first before starting your own company. (Come work for me – as long as you’ll promise me a few years before launching out on your own!)

4. Is it important in your business to keep up with social and cultural trends? How can a person in a fashion-related business keep up with trends?

Absolutely, it is. As in any business perceiving trends is really just pattern recognition. You sponge information from a huge variety of sources and you do it all the time and the brain discerns the patterns. You look at people who resemble your customers in interests, in demographics, etc and you watch them and their behaviors. You look at the world around you: what’s in shop windows, what people are wearing, what magazines are showing, etc.

I also don’t have to be an expert in the trends myself. My lead merchant does. But, even with her feel for the trends and mine, it is all about testing things in the marketplace with our customer base. We’re careful about how we allocate printed space to new tests vs. new products which are “freshened” versions of things clearly supported by the data vs. repeats of strong performers from the past.

5. Do you believe your deep background in IT gives your company a competitive advantage? In general, how deep a knowledge of Information Technology is necessary for an entrepreneur in the retail world?

Yes to both, but, and it is a big but—technology must serve the needs of the business and never the other way around. This is where my IT knowledge actually helped. It allowed us to create a direct-to-consumer company that wasn’t a slave to our software package. When you run your business to someone else’s software, you run your business to the model inherent in the business rules of the people who developed that software.

When I started the original business in 1993, I couldn’t find software that would run the business the way I knew I needed to run it, especially given the way I was going to need to manage inventory in order to grow from cash flow. So we built our own. It was originally meant to be a stop-gap measure, but it turned into a true competitive edge. We’re continuously investing in our proprietary platform. (In 2000 we won a “CISCO Growing with Technology Award” in the Innovating Customer Service Category.) But, it is never technology for technology’s own sake.

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

• Imagination
• Passion
• Perseverance
• Thick skin
• Ability to be optimistic about the long term while anticipating various pitfalls in the short term

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

Excessive fear is a hindrance to entrepreneurship.  But, a little a little fear can prevent hubris and help lead to sound management of risk.

It is popular to describe entrepreneurs as risk lovers—but while we as a breed may have a lot higher risk tolerance than the average person, gamblers we are not. We take risks, but we manage risks.

At the time my first business was at its most successful, my partner and I developed a fear that the success wouldn’t last. We saw the underlying flaws in our business model long before they could be seen from the outside or show in our financial performance. That fear led to the development of a much better model in a different market space, but one which could leverage our experience and our substantial infrastructure. Our strength today is a direct result of the way in which we pivoted and I have to admit that fear played a positive role in making us realize what we needed to do.

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

Don’t miss out on life while you are building your business. Balance is hard for people of our personality, but it is necessary, and it is family that truly matters. It is great if your family can be supportive of your entrepreneurial ambitions, while always reminding you of your priorities and keeping you humble.

While you are focused on your long-term goal, never forget that most of life occurs in the little moments and that so much of the impact we make in this world comes from the smallest of actions.

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© BrownHEN.org – 2007

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

Interview with Randy Komisar, Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

BrownHEN interviewed Randy Komisar, Brown '76, Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Portola Valley, CA.

1. Randy, what is the biggest difference between being a partner in Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and working at a startup? What do you miss most about having operational responsibilities?

The great thing about being a partner at Kleiner Perkins is that I am surrounded by a tremendous amount of talent—my fellow partners, the founders and CEOs of our many ventures, the impressive management teams with whom I am privileged to work, as well as the many experts who work with our firm and make us smarter.

What I miss is the single-minded dedication to one team’s mission; the daily camaraderie amongst entrepreneurial team members who work together in the trenches, and the success of the team’s vision and passion, which serve to tie the individuals together.

2. How did an Economics concentrator at Brown and a law graduate from Harvard gain the technological background you obviously have? What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs about learning pertinent technology?

The Brown Curriculum allowed me to branch out and acquire a passable competency as a technologist. Brown’s freewheeling academic environment enabled me to take classes in computer science, biology, engineering, mathematics, and other technical and science-oriented courses that I would not have taken if I were merely focused on acquiring the highest GPA. I was able to broaden my knowledge base and education.

My advice for entrepreneurs would be to obtain a generalist background first. Many universities focus on a very narrow, restrictive curriculum. Brown is an exception; Brown focuses on and excels in undergraduate liberal arts education. At Brown, I discovered how to engage my curiosity and how to learn. The methods and processes I learned at Brown have served me well, including in my current role. Every day I go out and learn something completely new and I tap into expertise from various fields to augment my own understanding.

3. What advice do you have for entrepreneurs writing business plans to secure funding?

In a startup environment based upon taking an innovative leap of faith, all experience will be secondary and tertiary, deduced from markets and the experience of other companies. By definition, you do not have sufficient first-hand experience with the leap of faith to develop a foolproof operating plan. But you do need to put something together in order to aim the venture and to gather the money and talent you will need for the journey.

The notion of a business plan for a startup is necessary but not sufficient. The business plan needs to demonstrate to the investors and team that the founders understand the nature of the challenge they are undertaking. But the team will have to refine and of course correct along the way as assumptions based upon secondary information are tested against primary data from the marketplace.

4. When you are evaluating a particular investment what role does the social contribution, for example, to the environment or to economic justice, play?

It does play a large role, but interestingly, it is not necessarily altruistic, because our role is to create commercial value. We do ask the question, “How will this company provide significant value for others?” If you look at our firm and its investments, whether it’s Genentech, Sun, Netscape, Google or Amazon; all these companies created significant social value that lead to their creation of impressive financial value.

This significant value can be utilitarian: with Google one can find anything at anytime; with Amazon one can shop and buy anything at one’s convenience; with Netscape, one could browse something called the internet and explore an entirely new digital world. These companies did not just create social value; they revolutionized our society.

A few years ago, appreciating the threat of pandemics in a global society, we raised a fund and brought in experts to focus on investing in innovations that promise to detect, treat and prevent pandemics. Aligning our economic interests with a huge public threat is good business.

We currently have a strong investment thesis related to the environment; half of our investments focus on companies that are in the green tech—clean teach area. Al Gore just joined us as a partner to help accelerate our global efforts in this regard. Addressing a big problem, like global warming, by definition provides the prospects of creating great value for all the various constituencies.

5. Can New England, Providence in particular, hope to become an entrepreneurial center similar to Silicon Valley? What is needed?

To create an entrepreneurial center like Silicon Valley, Rhode Island needs to develop a cluster of people with relevant domain know how and a culture that reinforces entrepreneurship. Boston already has a robust entrepreneurial center.

I’ve spent time in Japan, India, Taiwan, Chile, and other entrepreneurial hot spots around the world. The question is always asked, “Why is one location more successful than another?”

What I have noted to be particularly unique about Silicon Valley is the following combination of factors: a highly educated group of entrepreneurs and scientists, a great university, and a robust business infrastructure that supports startup ventures, including attractive working and living environments, a lot of available risk capital, and access to quality legal, consulting and financial services.

But Silicon Valley is more than just a combination of its parts. Its entrepreneurial culture has taken more than 80 years to develop. Silicon Valley attracts certain personalities, which are reinforced over time. What people don’t quite grasp is that the culture is very dynamic and it is reflected at every level. People who decided to come and stay invest themselves in the local entrepreneurial culture.

The secret ingredient is how a place like Silicon Valley deals with, “failure.”
Silicon Valley doesn’t punish or brand those who fail. If you have acquired experience and you are passionate about your mission, you are given other opportunities. Silicon Valley recycles and reinvests in the entrepreneurial spirit, something that most other business cultures do not do. Successful people also reinvest in innovation; they want to be a part of the next big thing; they want to help mentor, guide and support aspiring entrepreneurs. This reinvestment is probably the most significant reason Silicon Valley is so prolific in terms of innovations.

6. How can subjects like leadership and entrepreneurship, which seem to be based on personal attributes, be taught?

I have been teaching entrepreneurship at Stanford for seven years now. Great leaders and entrepreneurs are determined by an individual’s experience and, more important, character. What a teacher or mentor can do is reinforce aspects that are aligned with leadership qualities and provide insights and tools to leaders-in training.

In business, leaders are too often judged by the immediate results posted by their companies. Over a short term, a lot of people appear to be good leaders. Great leaders should be evaluated over a longer period of time on their sustainable successes.

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

• Integrity
• Intellectual honesty
• Empathy
• Good self-knowledge — who you are and what you care about
• Passion and complete absorption in one’s mission
• Perseverance

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

I believe fear is a negative emotion and do not find it useful. A lot of people think that if you are paranoid, it keeps you vigilant. But I do not find it beneficial to indulge in fear or to act out of fear.

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?

Failure is not personal if you acted with integrity and have given it your best shot. In Silicon Valley, the only real failures are the people who have fallen short because they were lazy, stupid or corrupt. The inability to achieve results does not make you a failure; it can ultimately lead to positive experience that can result in success.

Most leaders with great successes have had moments of personal doubt, and have endured failures along the way.

10. Do you have a mentor who has helped you in career path / personal development?

I have many mentors. The most significant one is Bill Campbell. I worked with Bill at Claris and Go Corporation in the ‘80s and early ‘90s. We met at Apple more than 20 years ago. He is a terrific mentor. I also learn from my colleagues and associates as well as the many young entrepreneurs I work with.

Most important is that a mentor invests in your success, reinforces your abilities to succeed, extends himself/herself to you, and helps provide what you need for your own personal success, however you define that. While a teacher gives you tools to achieve an existing definition of success, a mentor helps make you a better you.

11. What motivated you to write the very well respected, “The Monk and the Riddle?”

The book started as a rant. It expressed the disgust that I felt during the middle of the dot.com boom. I feared that entrepreneurship was losing its meaning and purpose. It was being co-opted by the carpet baggers and the get-rich-quick crowd who were no longer pursuing entrepreneurship with passion and purpose, heart and soul. The book came out just in time, a month before the crash. To some extent it is gratifying that it is still so well received and used at numerous universities around the world, but its continual success reflects the fact that the base excesses of the boom are never far away.

12. Since the book was written, sometimes it seems like people are being less kind to one another than they had been. What hope do you have for the world?

That is a big question. The human condition is one where we are challenged and tempted by ego, greed, self-interest; many celebrated role models for success are aggressive, brutal and uncaring. It is hard for most people to rise above that and discover that it is the love and support for others that ultimately determine one’s level of satisfaction and fulfillment. Until we rise to that level of kindness, hope will be in short supply. But I am at heart an optimist and believe that people truly want to be kind, so I will hope for that.

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

To live a satisfying and purposeful life, you have to make a contribution. I find it very useful to live a life of integrity in a literal sense—to be integral—to incorporate my principles and values in my livelihood, to express my values in my daily life genuinely and authentically, and to engage empathetically with the host of wonderful people with whom I am privileged to cross paths every day.

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© BrownHEN.org – 2007