Qualifications
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Over Thirty years of hands-on experience in the high tech industry, designing computers and programming
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Built a computer consulting practice which grew into a multi-million dollar software company
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Ability to quickly assess customer needs and provide solutions
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Extensive results-oriented marketing background
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Computer Expertise
* Visual Basic * Windows 3.1/95/98/2000/NT/XP
* MS Office * Word * Excel * Word Perfect
* Front Page * Quicken * QuickBooks
* BusinessWorks
Background
You could say I began my career at the early age of 14 when I received my general class amateur radio license. In order to obtain an amateur radio license a person must pass an exam that demonstrates their proficiency in electronic principles. After making many adult friends over the airwaves (one of which was the flight control operator for NASA at mission control in Houston) I graduated from high school and entered the Corps at Texas A&M. My original plan was to receive my 2nd Lt. Commission, enter the Air Force, receive my flight training and fly for a commercial airline.
Eventually determining that the military was probably not meant for me, I transferred to the civilian side of the campus and fell back to my first love, electronics and majored in Electronic Engineering.
After leaving Texas A&M I held several entry level positions at various companies such as Lockheed and LT Instruments before being hired by Abbott Medical Electronics, a division of Abbott Labs. While there, as luck would have it, I was chosen to develop a 32 bed computerized cardiac patient monitoring system. Management decided that I should look at using a new integrated circuit that had just been developed by a start-up company in California to help reduce the cost of the project. So I was sent to California to attend a school at this company to learn how to use the new integrated circuit. Looking back, that simple decision by management was one of the single most influential events of my life. That small little company in California, by the way, was Intel. At that time, they had just developed the first microprocessor.
As you might expect, I spent the next several years finishing that project. In the meantime, Intel released its second generation microprocessor, the 8008. Not long after that came the 8080 and then Zilog came out with the Z-80. The microcomputer revolution had been born and I was there at the beginning, literally growing up in the microcomputer era.
For as long as I can remember I had always had the desire to work for myself. As the microprocessor era was being born, the first several years of my professional life were spent designing, building and programming microcomputers. I knew computers from the inside out, but how to start my own business was a big question mark. The answer came in 1981 when an opportunity presented itself for me to start a computer consulting company. One of the hardest things about consulting as a solo act is that if you are lucky enough to get your first customer, how do you keep finding new customers while you’re doing the work for the first customer? That problem was solved by an acquaintance who had recently opened a computer store, focusing on selling hardware only. Realizing his customers needed assistance with other aspects of owning a computer (i.e., setting up their system, installing software and even writing custom software), he referred his customer base to me as I had the expertise to take care of all these other needs for them. Having that entrepreneurial spirit, and being a bit of a maverick, I seized the opportunity to start my own consulting business, Microcomputer Consulting Services (MCS).
With a great deal of perseverance and hard work, business began to grow. As it did, I discovered that if you were charging people for your time, your earning capacity is limited. I realized that in order to achieve my goals I had to turn the business into a product oriented business instead of a service oriented business.
I saw an opportunity to develop a sofware package for the residential real estate appraisal market. With help and guidance from some real estate appraisers that I had met during my consulting practice, I began writing the program that would ultimately turn my little consulting company into a multi-million dollar software company. While maintaining my consulting practice, it took nine months of writing code in the evenings and weekends part-time to finish the project.
What began as a one-person, home based operation, grew to a five-employee company operating out of the house. In 1992 we outgrew that space and moved into real office space, complete with 7 employees. In 1993 MCS was recognized by the Dallas 100 as being among the top 100 fastest growing privately held companies in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area, ranking number 47. Now, 47th may not seem very high to you but to me it might as well have been number 1! I had made it!
By most external measures I was successful. But what I was beginning to realize at that time was that all the reasons I wanted to own my own company were gone. While I had the necessary income, I was no longer doing what I enjoyed .... consulting. My time was spent solving human resource issues, managing the finances and planning the future direction of the company. It was very stressful and had ceased to be fun. I began to make a concerted effort to sell the company. After spending about a year looking for the right company to acquire MCS, in the fall of 1996, MCS was purchased by a competitors.
After taking almost a year off, I decided to return to what I enjoy most, consulting. Once again, I am sharing my expertise with others, helping them become more successful in their own business.
In summary, I spent 15 years building a multi-million dollar company and had the fortunate experience with my early consulting practice to interface with many top executives and business owners. I have built a network of influential friends and business associates that I can call on for their expertise and advice.
How can I help you?
Special Interests
Avid Snow Skier,
Scuba Diving (certified), Private Pilot for 30 years, wannabe Golfer
Personal Info
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Education
Texas A&M University - Electrical Engineering
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Organizations
Richardson Lions Club (past President),
past member of the CEO Institute
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Details
Married, 3 children, excellent health, non-smoker
