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.)