Headlines in the business press have been dominated by stories of fraudster Bernie Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, the Big Three CEOs riding private jets to plead for public funds and fat bonuses for executives whose recklessness almost brought their companies (and the U.S. economy) crashing down. The back pages continue to report sluggish earnings, and opinion pages continue to debate how bad the recession is and how long it will last.
This backdrop served as a sharp contrast to what I discovered as a judge for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year contest. This was my first year as a judge and I found the entire experience fascinating. It started with a FedEx’d binder of 117 Northern California companies ― ranging from bakeries to solar utilities ― applying for the prestigious award. Each company made the case for why their CEO should earn this honor, based on six criteria:
- Entrepreneurial spirit
- Financial performance
- Strategic direction
- Community impact
- Innovation
- Personal integrity and influence
The full judging process probably took about 80 hours and obliged me to sacrifice two weekends…not good for my tennis game!
But the truth is these stories just drew me in. I was so impressed to see how many CEOs and entrepreneurs are still making Silicon Valley great. For every Bernie Madoff, there’s a Kimberly Kaselionis, the CEO of Circle Bank, who put her community bank on the map by giving back to the community in the bank’s services and outreach. For every Big Three CEO, there are countless examples of CEOs who forego their own paychecks, or mortgage their homes, to invest in their companies and employees. Scott Lang from Silver Spring Networks was turned down by 100 VCs before he finally got funding. Another CEO risked deportation for himself and his family when he left a safe job to follow his dream.
While it’s salacious to read about boondoggle executive vacations and retreats in Atlantis, many companies are seriously committed to giving back to their community and the world. For example, Polycom’s Global Nomads Group uses its own video conferencing technology to foster communication between K-12 students in different countries. Think of it as pen pals on steroids, connecting students in the U.S. and Israel with students in Iran and Iraq. This represents the highest level of philanthropy – dedication of time, money, product and people.
In the category of an entrepreneur who reinvented an old business model Osman Rashid impressed me the most. Rashid is founder and chairman of Chegg, which applies the Netflix model to textbooks. Students simply rent their books instead of buying them, and Chegg even provides the return mailer. Can you believe no one else thought of that?
So for me, judging the Entrepreneur of the Year was more than a breath of fresh air in a stale atmosphere of gloom and doom, it was totally invigorating and once again reminded me of how special and capable we all can be if we take that choice. I hope these few examples help motivate you and your company in these amazing times of opportunity.
Posts
