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Life after Rice Creating a Career more than just looking for a job

Life after Rice Creating a Career more than just looking for a job. Steve Sheafor, Hanszen ‘72 Cindy Lindsay, Jones ‘73. C. How We Did It – First Job. Work for a large corporation – Hewlett-Packard Hands on technical work Large projects / Teamwork Management experience. S  C.

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Life after Rice Creating a Career more than just looking for a job

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  1. Life after RiceCreating a Careermore than just looking for a job Steve Sheafor, Hanszen ‘72 Cindy Lindsay, Jones ‘73 C

  2. How We Did It – First Job • Work for a large corporation – Hewlett-Packard • Hands on technical work • Large projects / Teamwork • Management experience S  C

  3. How We Did It – First Job • Work for a large corporation – Hewlett-Packard • Hands on technical work • Large projects / Teamwork • Management experience • What we learned • Overall business perspective – engineering plus marketing, sales, support, etc. • Opportunity to look for product ideas • What’s the problem to be solved? • What do people want and need? C

  4. How We Did It – First Startup Experience • Dialogic Systems - 1981 • Mainframe terminal processor • Raised $48M ($100M in today’s dollars) • Technical & Marketing issues created a spectacular failure • Great contacts established S

  5. How We Did It – First Startup Experience • Dialogic Systems - 1981 • Mainframe terminal processor • Raised $48M ($100M in today’s dollars) • Technical & Marketing issues created a spectacular failure • Great contacts established • What we learned • Leading edge technology • Small, highly skilled teams • Working with entrepreneurial people (mentors & investors) • Chance to see the difference that one person can make S

  6. How We Did It – Starting a Company • Cornerstone Imaging - 1986 • Graphics processors • Raised $9.1M from personal contacts • Flexibility - tried several market/product approaches • Initial Public Offering 1993 C

  7. How We Did It – Starting a Company • Cornerstone Imaging - 1986 • Graphics processors • Raised $9.1M from personal contacts • Flexibility - tried several market/product approaches • Initial Public Offering 1993 • What we learned • You MUST be a risk-taker • Huge personal investment of time & money • Opportunity to create something from the ground up • Technology and business play • Risk-takers enjoy personal rewards for success C

  8. How We Did It – Second Startup • Sitera Incorporated - 1996 • Network Processors - NPUs • Selected Colorado for lifestyle and technology infrastructure • Raised $34M mostly from previous contacts • Identified market and created product category • Acquired by Vitesse Semiconductor in 2000 for $750M S

  9. How We Did It – Second Startup • Sitera Incorporated - 1996 • Network Processors - NPUs • Selected Colorado for lifestyle and technology infrastructure • Raised $34M mostly from previous contacts • Identified market and created product category • Acquired by Vitesse Semiconductor in 2000 for $750M • What we learned • Technology & business model are both critical • Who you know is very important • Build a team that can get the job done • Pick a market that can / will be huge • Get your product to market quickly (not perfectly) • Timing is EVERYTHING! S

  10. What We Are Doing Now • Working with startup companies • Business plans • Raising money • Technical analysis for investors • Marketing consulting • Patent consulting • Product development • Infomercials • Continuing to build contacts and expertise for the future • Working with Rice • Board of Trustees • Rice Alliance • Connexions • Teaching B

  11. What Was Important in Building Entrepreneurial Careers? • Worked for great companies and people • Found mentors • Learned from failures • Stretched and tried different jobs • Focused on being a great team member and learning from everyone on the team • Clearly understood the business aspects as well as the technology C

  12. Entrepreneurial Skills for Success • Look for problems that need to be solved or what the market needs • Knowledge - Research, trend analysis, market experience, extrapolation to a future or currently non-existent market • Determine how to quickly meet the need • Design Team – Engineering skill, experience, execution, flexibility • Integrated effort with marketing, sales, support, finance, etc. • Ensure that your solution is unique and patent protected • Innovation - Creativity, focused solution(s) - can be technical, market, business model uniqueness • Find your biggest customer base and go after them first • Sales Expertise - Targeted marketing & selling, excellent presentation skills, good cost/benefit analysis, sales persistence • Create a viable Business Model S

  13. Questions? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? C

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