Tech Topics - Summer 2008 - (Page 45) RealWorld GARY MEEK FAIR QUESTION Sutterfield answers what’s on entrepreneurs’ minds By John Dunn W hen’s the best time to go out on your own? That’s the question C. Meade Sutterfield, chair of the Alumni Association, is asked most often. Sutterfield, EE 72, a private equity investor, primarily in emerging telecommunications and wireless communications entities, who also advises venture capital firms, is asked the question by students, alumni and business professionals. He gave the answer at the Alumni Career Fair luncheon March 11. “I tell students, ‘Don’t even think about it. Let someone else pay you to make mistakes,’“ Sutterfield said. But for people “really good” in their professions, 10 years of experience “is about right.” Sutterfield began his career in telecommunications after receiving his master’s in business administration from Harvard University in 1974. He entered the specialized mobile radio industry in 1986, when he purchased Johnson Communications Corp., which he built into one of the nation’s largest SMR carriers. The company was sold in 1993 to Nextel Communications. He also founded PowerFone, another SMR carrier, sold to Nextel in 1994. Circumstances may present the ideal opportunity to strike out on your own, Sutterfield said. “If a CEO comes out of an industry and knows that industry, knows the customers in that industry, has a great idea but can’t convince his employer to do it,” it could be the ideal circumstance. “Most of the very successful companies that I’ve been involved with came out of that. People on the team know the industry, know the customers and know the technology. All they have to do is fulfill it. Those are some very successful companies,” Sutterfield said. “If you think about it, that’s a very low-risk strategy,” he added. “A high risk” is an individual who has never been a CEO of a small company, doesn’t know the customers and doesn’t know the technology. Sutterfield’s advice to future business leaders and entrepreneurs is to “hook up with a team that knows what it’s doing.” Sutterfield said young people Meade Sutterfield, chair of the Alumni Association, addresses Career Fair attendees. building their careers should not think there is only one plan or career path dictating their professional future. “When you look back at your career after 10 or 12 different jobs, you may see something that resembles a straight line. But looking at it from the front end, it looks like a set of Cisco routers passing from place to place,” he said. “There are endless possibilities.” The concept of “enlightened selfinterest” is a philosophy that has struck a chord with him. “What goes around comes around,” Sutterfield said. “Do the right thing. Get a reputation of doing the right thing. People will know that about you. It’s an important doctrine.” Sutterfield also encouraged his audience to get involved in activities outside of work. He suggested involvement in professional associations, social networking, athletics, volunteer work, Habitat for Humanity, church and the Georgia Tech Alumni Association. “That’s the way to get to know people informally,” he said, adding it is a way to build a network beyond your job. It might be impossible to get an interview with a key executive in a company, but through volunteer work, it is possible to get to know that person informally. Such contacts can be invaluable, Sutterfield said. Early in his career, Sutterfield said, a friend gave him advice passed along from his experience in real estate: “No matter what business you’re in, you’re in the people business.” The advice must not have made much of an impression when he was starting out, he said. But 25 years later, he heard that same advice again, and the second time it stuck with him. “I went, ‘Ah ha!’” Now it is advice he passes along, and he did so at the luncheon. “No matter what business you’re in — even with an engineering, science or math degree — you’re in the people business,” Sutterfield said. COMPANY OF ONE By Kimberly Link-Wills STANLEY LEARY CAREER COACH SAYS YOU’VE GOT TO BE YOUR OWN CEO happen, because you can’t do it by yourself.” Know how you want your story to end, Butler said. “Are you going to step up to the responsibility of being CEO? If you’re going to take on the responsibility, then you need to define the outcome of your story. There are not many stories that people write without having a happy ending. Have you thought of the happy ending that you want your story to be or are you just letting things happen to you?” Don’t be afraid to speak up, she said. “Have the courage to ask for what you want. This is a Susan Butler-ism that I learned the hard way because there were some positions that I had hoped I had gotten. I guess I thought someone would come and tap me on the shoulder and say, ‘We’d like to have you as a partner.’“ Figure out the moves you should make. Move the stake forward, she said. “The game is your game.” GT 45 W e all should be — and can be — our own CEOs, according to the woman who wrote the book on the subject. “How long has it been since you invested an hour of your time thinking about your future?” Susan Butler asked of her audience, attendees at an evening edition of Women on Wednesdays, sponsored by the Alumni Association. She runs The Susan Bulkeley Butler Institute for the Development of Women Leaders and is the author of “Become the CEO of You Inc.: A Pioneering Executive Shares Her Secrets for Career Success.” “Over the years I had to figure out how to make things happen for me and not let things happen to me,” said Butler, who was the first female professional hired by Arthur Andersen & Co. She joined the company in 1965 after graduating from Purdue University with Susan Butler says success can be achieved by following her “make-it-happen model.” a degree in industrial management. Butler climbed the corporate ladder to become the first female partner of Andersen Consulting, now called Accenture. Before retiring in 2002, she was the managing partner for Accenture’s office of the CEO. “What are the stars that you’re reaching for? Eleanor Roosevelt said, ‘The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.’ I encourage you to believe in the beauty of your dreams. I encourage you to think about your dreams and to think about making them happen.” Butler believes in achieving success through four steps, what she calls the “make-it-happen model”: Define your aspiration. Assemble your team. Create your plan. Navigate your journey. Define your aspiration in writing. “You’re never going to do anything if you just leave it in your head. You need to write it down,” she said. “It’s important to talk to people about what it is you want to do. “How do you expect to make it happen if nobody knows?” she asked. “Find somebody to talk to to get advice and counsel from. … It’s important to pull a team together of people that can open doors for you, people that can give you feedback, advice and counsel, that will introduce you to people that you need to know. Find a mentor. These people will help you make your dream TECHTOPICS | SUMMER 2008
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