Anecdotes, Alibis, and Advice
Experience with Big and Small High Tech Businesses in Massachusetts
(and beyond)
The aggressive professional-in-training considering his or her
options for employment following graduation has a wide variety
of opportunities from which to choose. In spite of changes in
the business climate, the maturation of some technical standards
and the continued rapid evolution of others, and ongoing raw
technological advancement, there are certain Personal
Planning Factors that should be considered by the graduate.
Dr. Donald A. Gaubatz
978 853-9934
31 October 2002
dag@theworld.com
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About the Presenter
Dr. Donald A. Gaubatz left a university position in Washington,
DC and moved to Massachusetts in 1978 to begin a career with
DEC (during which he completed his Ph.D. at Cambridge
University in England) and became Vice President of
Workstations with offices in Maynard, MA and Palo Alto, CA.
He went on to do private investing and consulting on an
international basis and, as a result of Advisory Board work with a
local startup, was asked to join the firm as SVP/COO. Dr.
Gaubatz participated in proposing the National Center for
Computer Graphics and Scientific Visualization to the NSF and
was on its Advisory Board for the 11 years of NSF funding. He is
a Founding Member of the Computer History Museum in
Mountain View, CA and is the only member of the
Microprocessor Report Editorial Board on the East Coast.
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Anecdotes, Alibis, and Advice – Outline
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Introductory Context - Industry, Personal
Sketch of Background, Experience
You’re in the Right Place
Advice for You (Personal Planning Factors)
Alibis for (and from) Everyone
Anecdotes (supporting the Advice, not the Alibis)
Startup Equity Split - Example
Summary (for Yankees)
Handouts, Reading List
Artifacts, Tokens, and Charms
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Introductory Context - Industry
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Times are not the best.
Tech is down.
Tech market leaders’ share prices are low.
Jobs are scarce.
Entry-level positions are hard to find.
Retirement plans are threatened.
… so let’s get going …
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Introductory Context - Personal
• Personal Review (sort/merge/purge/store)
– Paper Things (files, books, magazines, business cards, …)
– Silicon (Copper, …) Things (electronics, computers, …)
• Professor Lieberherr’s Lecture Request !!!
– Lecture drawn from lots of context …
• San Jose trip
– Microprocessor Forum
– Computer History Museum Fellow Awards
– Many meetings with professional colleagues
– Silicon Valley is NOT a Happy Valley
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Background Sketch 1 of 2
• Family electronics business, St. Louis
– Audio, Movie Theaters, Television (News!), Controllers
– Engineering Degree, Washington University
– ELECTRONICS and BU$INE$$
• Catholic University of America, Washington, DC
– Visiting Instructor (to start)
– Assistant Prof (concurrent graduate work)
– Extension Courses (completely self-driven)
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Background Sketch 2 of 2
• Digital Equipment Corporation (Applied R&D)
– Modernized system peripherals
– Ph.D. Cambridge University, England
– Vice President of Workstations Worldwide
• Independent Consulting, Investing
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Boards and Advisory Boards
International clients
Large and small companies
Leveraging experience, contacts …
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Alibis for (and from) Everyone
• There are too many from which to pick:
“… great technology but no sales …”
“… they wouldn’t fund next generation…”
“… it was the CxO’s fault …”
“We have all had a very cold shower,” said
Bob Grady, a venture capitalist with the
Carlyle Group – Associated Press, 10/29/02
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You are in the Right Place
(Technology)
• The money is sitting on the sidelines:
– Business expansion
– Venture investments
• It’s a lot of money (Karlgaard)
– “$ 2 trillion”
– Your estimates may vary … (some say $ 6 trillion)
• Calculating a company’s value (Kawasaki):
– $500,000 per staff Engineer
– - $250,000 per staff M.B.A.
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This is what will happen for You
• Near, to very near, term, low expectations
may well prove valid.
• Intermediate to long term, achievements
will be higher, possibly much higher.
• Long term, achievements will be very much
higher, beyond one’s (your) ability to predict.
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My Prediction, said another way..
• In spite of poor conditions in the near term,
you will achieve beyond your expectations
in the long term.
• Observation by Gordon Bell (paraphrased):
Predictions for technology progress are overly
optimistic in the near term, and not nearly
optimistic enough in the long term.
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Here’s how to get past the near term
(to the good stuff)
Personal Planning Factors 1-5
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Be Good
Be Articulate
Be Connected
Be Business-Like
Be Open to Possibilities
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Be Good*
Personal Planning Factor 1
• This means be a good engineer, designer,
architect, researcher, programmer, sales
support engineer, operations analyst, …
• You can work towards this “at school”.
– There are no limits
* I didn’t really mean good, I meant great.
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Be Articulate
Personal Planning Factor 2
• Be, or get, good at writing. Nothing
happens without writing. Start with your
résumé, do a biographical sketch, and refine
and update them constantly.
• Be, or get, good at speaking. You cannot
create your career alone, you need to draw
people along with you, you need to form
group consensus, and you need to lead.
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Be Connected
Personal Planning Factor 3
• Be, or get, good at connecting with as many
worthy contacts as possible. As you proceed in
your career, your “connections”, your personal,
trusted, widely-distributed network will be
invaluable to your progress.
• Do you have a mentor?
• Your contacts are worth organizing and nurturing.
Use a computer. Be personal. Be consistent.
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Be Business-Like
Personal Planning Factor 4
• Business ain't kiddin’ around. (I can use slang in
my slide, but you can’t use slang in your written
or spoken business communication.) (Use the
spell-checker, and then check the spell checker.)
• Return all calls, emails, letters.
• Be prompt.
• Be grateful, say “thank you.”
• Be gracious under pressure.
• Be personable, but be “contract*-aware”.
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*CONTRACT
The Agreement constitutes the entire
understanding of the parties relating to
the subject matter hereof and supercedes
and cancels all agreements, written or
oral, made prior to the date hereof
between the parties.
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Be Open to Possibilities
Personal Planning Factor 5
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Plan.
Plan as much as you can stand.
But, be ready for (unplanned) possibilities.
Many of your future opportunities will occur
because you are (or have become):
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Good (Great)
Articulate
Connected
Business-Like
• Let’s go the the anecdotes …
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Anecdote 1
Creating Expertise, Ext. Courses, Contacts, $s
• Catholic University of America, Winter ’77
“We (You) need Extension Courses.”
• Resources:
– Microcomputers: 1
– Interest: User Microprogramming
– Deal with Western Digital; Deal with DEC
• Results:
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New Course, Summer ’77, Winter ’78
Oversubscribed, ran two sessions in ’78
Consulted at Lawrence Livermore Labs in ’78
Co-Taught Microprogramming Course at MIT, ‘79
Tutorial Chairman, ACM SIG MICRO, three years
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Anecdote 2
Delivered Disk and Ethernet I/O for MicroVAX
• Pre-DEC experience with DEC products:
– Great CPU, system architecture, system software.
– Peripherals not competitive.
• Resources:
– Personal belief, vision that DEC could do better.
– Support from the right places (but not all places).
• Results:
– Took design responsibility from Storage Group.
• Used outside resources
– Took design responsibility from Networking Group.
• Worked with 3Com (Bob Metcalfe), Intel
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Anecdote 3
Delivered DEC’s first RISC Workstations, 3D, Etc
(From Risk-Taker to Managing Risk-Takers)
• Residency at Cambridge University completed.
– Returned to DEC, 1986, continuing dissertation, projects.
• Opportunity: “Here, manage PDP-11s.”
– 1987, 100s of employees, mature (big) business.
• Opportunity: “Here, manage Workstations.”
– 1988, 100s of employees and growing, MA, NH, CA.
• Resources:
– Commitment, support, track record.
• Results:
– More strategic products, in shorter time.
– $1.6 billion business.
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Anecdote 4
The Network Enabled Many Engagements
(Trusted Connections Bridge Domains)
• U.S.A. Representative, Olivetti-Oracle Res Lab, UK.
– First worldwide sale of Radio ATM to DoD.
• Compaq Computer, Consultant.
– Products, strategy, management.
• Elcom Tech, Malvern, PA, Investor, Consultant.
– Powerline communications.
• Mangosoft, Inc., Westborough, COO/SVP.
– WAN-coherent Windows-compatible virtual file system.
• Etc. …
• Cogent Technology, Santa Cruz, Board of Directors.
– Raised funds; acquired by C-Cube, Harmonic Lightwaves.
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Startup Equity Split – Example
Position
CEO
CTO/Founder
VP Engineering
Dir Engineering
Arch Engineering
Principal Engineer
Senior Engineer
Engineer (4 yrs exp)
VP Sales
VP Marketing
CFO
Office Manager
Product Manager
Equity %
6.0-10.0
6.0-10.0
3.0-5.0
1.5-2.5
0.75-1.0
0.6-0.8
0.4-0.6
0.25-0.4
2.0-3.0
1.0-2.0
1.0-1.5
0.1-0.2
0.5-0.75
Notes: 1) at first round, employees should own one-half the company, 2) at second
round, one-fourth, 3) exact details may vary.
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Summary (for Yankees)
• “You’d know a Yankee anywhere.”*
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Frugal
Resourceful
Hard-Working
Independent (see next page)
Tenacious
Rugged
Strong-Willed
Inventive
Neighborly
• Combined with the Personal Planning Factors, this
is YOUR RECIPE for Entrepreneurial Success!
*Boston Globe Magazine, November 1, 1998
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Advice from a Financial Planner
The personal financial planning process is not full of mystery. The actions
required to develop a financial plan that will help you achieve financial
independence are logical and sequential. The greatest roadblock to
achieving financial independence is the tendency to procrastinate.
Time is your greatest asset if you use it wisely.
To make your financial plan work it is necessary that you discipline
yourself and consistently follow through on the actions that will help
you achieve your goals.
Those consistent actions are:
– Pay yourself first
– Managing your debt
– Managing your taxes
– Maintain a consistent budgeting process
– Systematically review your progress
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Handout 1 of 2
“An Engineer’s View of Venture Capitalists,” by Nick Tredennick with Brion
Shimamoto, IEEE Spectrum, Vol. 38, No. 9, September 2001, pg. 13-19.
“A Venture Capitalist’s View of Engineers,” by Brian Kinard with John Balbach, IEEE
Spectrum, Vol. 38, No. 11, December 2001, pg. 14-15.
“Across the board, things aren’t what they used to be”, Gordon Baty, Mass High Tech,
July 2002.
“Venture Investments fall to 4-1/2-year Low,” by Michael Liedtke, Boston Globe,
October 29, 2002, pg. E3.
“For Richer”, by Paul Krugman, New York Times Magazine, October 20, 2002, pp. 6267, 76-77, 141-142. Cover Title: “The Class Wars, PART I, The End of Middle-Class
America (and the Triumph of the Plutocrats)”
“In Defense of the Boom”, by Michael Lewis, New York Times Magazine, October 27,
2002, pp. 44-49, 60, 70, 72, 84, 94. Cover Title: “The Class Wars, PART II, The
Vilification of the Money Class (and the Triumph of the Mob)”
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Handout 2 of 2
“So Many Ideas, So Few Companies,” by Esther Dyson, New York Times Magazine,
February 15, 1998, pg. 16. Subtitle: “In Silicon Valley, everyone wants to be a C.E.O.,
but nobody wants to do the grunt work of management, operations, and marketing.”
“How to Make a Big Hit With Your Pitching,” Michael Gartenberg, Computerworld,
March 26, 2001.
“Things I Wish I’d Been Told – Tips For Students with a Bachelor’s in Computer
Science,” by Craig Partridge, from a lecture given at Stanford in 1999. URL:
http://www.ir.bbn.com/~craig/things-i-wish.html
“The Top Ten Marketing Writing Mistakes,” by Dianna Huff, D.H. Communications,
2001. URL: www.dhcommunications.com
“Q&A with Bob Metcalfe,” Computer Power User, November 2002, pg. 108.
“You da Brand,” by Tim Noonan, Hemispheres, May 1999, pg. 94-96, 98-99, 100-101.
“Digital Rules: By the Numbers,” by Rich Karlgaard, November 11, 2002, pg. 39.
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Reading List 1 of 2
“Rich Dad, Poor Dad, What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money—that the Poor and
Middle Class Do Not,” by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lecter, Warner Books,
2000.
“The Green Guide to Personal Finance: A No “B.S. Book for Your Twenties and
Thirties,” by Ken Kurson, Main Street Books, 1998.
“Entrepreneurship for the Nineties,” by Gordon Baty, Prentice Hall, 1990.
“The Experience Economy: Work is Theater and Every Business a Stage,” by B. Joseph
Pine II and James H. Gilmore, Harvard Business School Press, 1999.
“Soul of a New Machine,” by Tracey Kidder, Back Bay Books, 2000.
“The Economist Guide to Business Numeracy,” by Richard Stutely, 1993.
“The Venture Imperative,” by Heidi Mason and Tim Rohner, Harvard Business School
Press, 2002.
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Reading List 2 of 2
“Engines of Logic,” by Martin Davis, W.W. Norton & Co, 2000.
“Out of Their Minds,” by Dennis E. Shasha and Cathy A. Lazere, Copernicus, 1998.
“Computing Tomorrow,” Edited by Ian Wand and Robin Milner, Cambridge University
Press, 1996.
“Stan Veit’s History of the Personal Computer,” by Stan Veit, WorldComm Press, 1993.
“Striking It Rich.com,” by Jaclyn Easton, CommerceNet Press, 1999.
“You are the message: Getting what you want by being who you are,” by Roger Ailes
with Jon Kraushar, Currency Doubleday, 1995.
“100 People Who Changed Our World,” Upside, October 2001.
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… met along the way …
Bill Gates
Paul Allen
Steve Jobs
Ken Olsen
Bob Metcalfe
Maurice Wilkes
A. Bechtolsheim Leonard Bosack Don Knuth
Ted Hoff
Stan Mazor
Gordon Bell
Harry Lewis
John Hennessy
Dave Patterson
Grace Hopper
Carver Mead
Ivan Sutherland
Rod Canion
Lewis Platt
Bill Hambrecht
Vinod Khosla
Jim Clark
Rick Rashid
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