Month: January 2013

A few weeks ago I posted some commentary as to the various questions I had about my future.  Since then, with the help of many conversations and much reflection, I’ve come to some early conclusions—despite the fact it’s only been one month since I left my job at Analog Devices.  My need to establish some early decisions is driven by the realization that I am better off putting some stakes in the ground and trying some things rather than analyzing the landscape for an extended time without actually doing anything.

In my earlier post I had concluded that I didn’t have the right goal.  I wrote that instead of thinking in terms of “finding my next job” I should be thinking in terms of a more meaningful, audacious goal.  Since then, I’ve come to realize something that I’ve actually known for a quite a while—that what I really want to do is start my own company and be its CEO.  Having said that, this is not necessarily an immediate goal.  While I could go ahead and do this now I do feel that I would be happy taking on a lesser, interim goal as a stepping-stone.  One possibility could be to co-found or join a startup in a marketing/business development capacity with an experienced CEO at the helm.

Another conclusion I’ve come to is that it is a seed- or early-stage startup that I want to get involved in rather than a late-stage startup.  This is where I would have the greatest learning and enjoyment and is what would motivate me the most.  I also think it is where my “intraprenurial” experience at Analog Devices has its greatest applicability.

This brings me to yet another realization resultant from the conversations with entrepreneurs I’ve had this month.  My experience of founding and building the iCoupler^® business within Analog Devices involved many of the same challenges, experiences, and learnings as occur in a startup.  I am referring to such things as building the team, developing early prototypes, selecting the initial market, obtaining customer evaluation/validation, defining (and revising) positioning, developing products, selecting follow-on markets, and of course—gaining senior management funding.  While I am sure these things are all more difficult in a startup without a large company’s infrastructure and support, they nonetheless involve the same set of uncertainties, market forces, and principles as exist in a startup. 

The last set of decisions I’ve made revolve around the need for action.  In parallel with continued exploration I’ve decided to jump in and get involved in a several startup activities:

• MIT Enterprise Forum Start Smart Workshop:  I’ve enrolled in this 8-week educational program for technology entrepreneurs.
• Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center (MTCC):  I’ve volunteered to be on the advisory panel for MTCC’s Platform Meetings.  These are meetings in which a local entrepreneur presents their business and solicits feedback advice from the panel.
• CleanTech Open Mentor Program:  I’ve submitted an application to be a mentor for startups participating in CleanTech Open’s accelerator/business competition program.
• MassChallenge:  I’ve submitted an application to be a mentor for startups participating in MassChallenge’s accelerator/business competition program.

That’s it for now.  I don’t know exactly where these early decisions and actions will take me but I am confident they are important steps to take over and above my continued networking.

Earlier this week I met with someone (I’ll call her Mary for convenience) who has extensive experience as a startup executive and is also active in various Boston area entrepreneurship organizations.  An entrepreneur I met last fall referred me to Mary due to our common backgrounds in clean tech.  Prior to our meeting Mary had taken the time to read this blog and my LinkedIn profile and came armed with good advice and specific actionable recommendations.  This was truly amazing as I had never met nor spoken to Mary previously.  I am very grateful that she invested the time to do this. 

The main thing we spoke about is Mary’s observation that I need to establish my credentials in the startup community.  Regardless of the strength of my background and of what I’ve accomplished in the corporate world I am not known in the startup world.  Mary felt that the best way to address this is to get involved in organizations that provide mentoring services, run competitions, and offer other support for early-stage startups.  Working in this capacity would be an excellent way to meet other entrepreneurs and investors and establish my credentials over time.  The startups to which I would get exposed would not necessarily be ones where I find a role for myself but would serve as vehicles for learning and self-exposure. 

Mary went on to provide three specific recommendations:

• Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center (MTCC)
  This is a state-funded organization within the University of Massachusetts whose charter is to facilitate the transfer of technology from Massachusetts research institutions to the state’s industries.  Mary expressed high regard for this organization and thought I could be helpful as a coach within the MTCC’s advisory services. 
• MassChallenge
  This is a Boston-area accelerator organization whose purpose is to support novice entrepreneurs.   They provide mentorship and other services and also hold an annual competition with cash awards.  There are both mentorship and judging opportunities in which I can get involved.
• Cleantech Open
  This is a national organization focused on accelerating clean technology startups.  They provide training, mentorship and other support to entrepreneurs bringing clean technology to market.  As with the above there are opportunities to get involved as a mentor.

These are all excellent suggestions and ones I am following up on immediately.  Mary’s advice resonated strongly and convinced me that I need to just dive in and start getting involved in the startup community.

In general, I’ve received positive feedback regarding this blog. However, one thing that a few have questioned is my use of people’s names. This has caused me to rethink this practice—despite the fact that I’ve only used names when I’ve received explicit permission to do so.

My use of names has been driven by a desire for maximum transparency. But I now realize that continuing to do so may, in some cases, cause discomfort and inhibit future interactions. I further have come to realize that there really is no compelling reason to use people’s names and that I can easily continue to document my interactions in a transparent manner without including names. As a result, going forward I will no longer include individual’s names in my postings.

Ronn

I had two very interesting and helpful meetings this week with experienced entrepreneurs – Menachem Abraham and Curtis Davis.  Both are past acquaintances who were very forthcoming with their views and also open to providing further advice and guidance in the future.  Below are the key points from each meeting.

Menachem Abraham

Menachem is a family friend who has been involved in entrepreneurship for over thirty years.  He has founded multiple companies (Chipcom, Prominet, Mintera), served on multiple boards, and is currently Chairman of MultiPhy.  After hearing my objectives Menachem had the following to offer: 

• Staying in my existing technology area might be difficult as investors are not too keen on semiconductor startups anymore.
• Transitioning to a completely new technology or market area could be difficult as I would be at a disadvantage relative to other candidates already experienced in the required areas.  The next best thing would be to target an adjacent technology/market area.
• Asked about my interest in going into software/web/mobile/biotech. Acknowledged the difficulty of transition but also noted that that is where the action is now.
• Agreed that the local universities are a good source of ideas and technologists for startups and that connecting into them is worth doing.
• Stated (in contrast to Paul Liberman’s comments) that unless things are going poorly a CEO’s time should not be dominated by dealing with investors but also spent on charting strategy, leading the team, and other operational issues.
• Menachem felt that my notion of initially working with multiple companies on a coaching basis would be difficult.  Citing himself as an example he pointed out that one would want to immerse oneself fully in understanding a company’s problems, technology, market and in developing soutions.  Doing this on a part-time basis for multiple companies in parallel seems impractical.  (This seems to be a consistent piece of feedback I’m getting.)
• Choosing which startup to get involved in is a very important decision.  In addition to considering a company’s technology, strategy, and team I should also understand who the investors are, the strength of their support, their views of the business, etc.
• The most fun startup experience is in the early going working with a new novel technology.

Curtis Davis

Curtis was one of my early bosses at Analog Devices and was responsible in 1999 for giving me my first entrepreneurial opportunity. He assigned me the task of creating a new business (iCoupler^® isolation products) based  on innovative technology in development at the time.  Curtis has since moved on to serve as CEO at two startups (iWatt, Alfa Thermodiagnostics) and so has gone through a similar career transition as what I am seeking.

• Curtis found his transition from Analog Devices to a startup to be fairly easy and natural.  He felt this was because he had always gravitated towards “startup” type opportunities within ADI and ran his organizations in an entrepreneurial fashion.  Based on his experience with me (admittedly a bit removed) he didn’t think I would struggle in this transition either. The biggest new area of learning for him was dealing with investors and raising money.  But even that, he said, is very manageable if you are “selling” something you believe in and are passionate about.
• Transitioning to a new technology or market is not that big a deal.  This stuff can be learned.  What is more difficult and valuable is knowing how to bring new technology to market and leading a team to execute on that.  (This is somewhat in contrast to Menachem’s views above although Menachem’s comments were from the pragmatic perspective of getting somebody to hire me into a new field.  Curtis’s comments were from a personal perspective of gaining competency in a new field.)
• Getting somebody to hire me now into a CEO position without at least a corporate VP title may be difficult.  I may be better served seeking a startup VP position initially.
• The experience of working in an early- versus a late-stage startup is very different.  In an early-stage startup the focus is on developing the technology, the product, and the strategy while in a late-state stage startup the focus is more on accelerating growth and leveraging the technology more broadly.  Curtis felt that early-stage startups are more fun.  (On this point Menachem agreed.)
• If I am leaning towards working in an early-stage startup I should seek out some technologists to team up with and start something new.
• Contrary to some entrepreneurs’ practices a startup does require some planning.  Granted, it is not likely appropriate to spend as much time planning as is done in a mature large business – especially when considering the unpredictability of new technology and their markets. However, entrepreneurs that completely ignore planning are ones that fail.  It’s a question of balance.  A useful guideline is to plan in accordance with a time scale that matches the duration of your funding.
• Semiconductor technology has become a commodity area.  It will be difficult to find interesting, attractive startups in this field. (Same view as Menachem.)
• In choosing which startup to join assess the team, the CEO, and the investors. (Same view as Menachem.)

So, I had spent the last number of years figuring out what I don’t want to do – work at large companies that lack sufficient entrepreneurial opportunities.  But now that I am out the more difficult question remains – what do I want to do?

In this early stage of exploration I have come to realize this question has more dimensions than I first thought.  Yes, there are the obvious ones:

• What technology?
• What market?

But beyond these questions there are others as well:

• Start my own company or join an existing one?
• Early- or late-stage start-up?
• Role:  CEO?  VP Marketing?  VP Engineering?
  (Does it matter that much in a startup?)
• Location:  Boston?  US?  Foreign?

And there are yet even further ones revolving around how I reach my end point:

• Immerse myself at the first reasonable opportunity that I encounter and see what happens?
• “Survey the field” for some number of months and then pick the most attractive opportunity?
• Mentor/coach one or more startups and see where that leads?
• Other?

As I write this I come to realize that I probably have the wrong objective in mind.  Instead of thinking in terms of “finding my next job” I probably need to have a more meaningful and audacious objective in mind – something along the lines of “be a founder/leader of a successfully exited startup”.  My next position might be as the founder of the next Google or it might be something else that serves as a stepping-stone. 

So, of all the questions whirling around in my mind the most important to answer first might be whether I should be looking for a startup or an idea for a startup.  If I can answer this then I will better able to answer the question I commonly get at networking events:  “So, what do you want to do?”

Two interesting and diverse interactions to report on today:  Professors Fadhel Ghannouchi and Mohamed Helaoui of the University of Calgary and Paul Liberman of DraftKings.com.

Professors Ghannouchi and Helaoui, University of Calgary
This conference call was the result of a referral by a business contact (Adel Ghazel, EBSYS, www.ebsys-tech.com) from my time at Analog Devices.  Drs. Ghannouchi and Helaoui have some graduate students that are looking to spin out a company based on some novel RF front-end technology and need business help. 

I spoke about a possible first step of me helping these students connect with some potential customers to get some feedback and validation.  While the distance between us poses some practical problems this could be a way for me to get my feet wet working with university technologists.  Professors Ghannouchi and Helaoui said they would take a couple weeks to think about next steps and would contact me when ready.

Paul Liberman, DraftKings.com
Paul was referred to me by his brother Max – a former colleague at Analog Devices.  Paul is the CTO of DraftKings.com which is an online fantasy sports company.  While this is not likely an area I would get into Paul was very open with commentary and advice about startups.

Most meaningful to me where his comments below:

• The biggest challenge for startups is in finding talent.  This includes the challenge of finding experienced management talent that is willing to actually roll up their sleeves and get deeply involved in execution rather than just management and planning.  Another challenge is in with compensation.  Typically, early startups can’t afford to match the salaries experienced managers are receiving at large companies and need to focus on people willing to accept lower salaries in return for equity or the other benefits working at a startup can bring.
• Paul suggested that a good way for me to get involved with a startup is to engage with for a limited time (~three months) at modest compensation.  Such an arrangement would give both the startup and me a low-commitment way to assess each other while progressing towards our goals.
• Paul did feel that my notion of getting involved in a small number of companies simultaneously, each on part-time basis, was not a good one.  His view was that it is very difficult to gain a deep understanding of a company’s challenges without fully immersing oneself full time.

Paul’s comments and advice made sense to me and are causing me to re-think how I should proceed with my future engagements.  For now this is not an issue as I still am in the early stages of just seeing what’s out there.  But, I may reach the point when I’ll need to focus in on just one company more quickly than I had anticipated.

Well, so much for taking time off!  I am finding myself overwhelmed by opportunities to meet people, explore opportunities, attend events, and read a seemingly endless number of entrepreneurship-oriented blogs/books/articles.  Any apprehension I may have had a few months ago about being able to find ways to connect with the startup community is completely gone.

My calendar for the next few days illustrates this:

• Today:  two calls with recruiters with job opportunities who found me on LinkedIn, a lunch meeting with an ex-colleague, and an afternoon meeting with another contact who has transitioned from a big company to a startup.
• Monday:  dinner with an ex-colleague’s brother who is running a local startup.
• Tuesday:  a Boston Entrepreneurs’ Network event
  (Product Development and Prototyping Strategies in a Startup)
• Wednesday:  an MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge event
  (New Year’s Resolutions for Startup Founders: What Not To Do in 2013 with Katie Rae and Jean Hammond)

Ok, ok.  My calendar certainly isn’t as packed as it was back at the office but I am a bit surprised how quickly and easily these activities are piling up.  At this early stage I think it’s ok but I will need to keep in mind that I am working towards a specific goal of moving my career in a new direction.  Determining exactly what that direction is, of course, is part of the process.  But I can see already that it could be very easy to get immersed in this whole networking thing and lose sight of the fact that it is a means rather than an end.

One other thing that has surprised me is the number of referrals I received from people at my old company.  It was an interesting phenomenon.  I learned that many at my previous employer had their own circles of recruiters and entrepreneurs that they kept to themselves.  People didn’t generally talk openly about external job possibilities so there was very little sharing going on.  However, once it became known that I was leaving, people felt comfortable telling me about their contacts and I was hit by a tsunami of referrals for follow-up.

Going forward I will write in this space about the more interesting interactions I have.  When permissible (as with Ben Vigoda) I will use names of people and companies.   As I get deeper into this blog I suspect that much of what I am writing is nothing new to existing entrepreneurs.  However, for the large population of “corporate workers” out there who are either thinking of a change or are simply interested in this process perhaps there is something of interest here.  Your feedback, as always, is appreciated.