Qualifications
Over Thirty years of hands-on experience in the high tech industry, designing
computers and programming
Built a computer consulting practice which grew into a multi-million dollar software
company
Ability to quickly assess customer needs and provide solutions
Extensive results-oriented marketing background
Computer Expertise
* Visual Basic * Windows 3.1/95/98/2000/NT/XP
* MS Office * Word * Excel * Word Perfect
* Front Page * Quicken * Quick Books
* 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 software 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
- Education
Texas A&M University - Electrical Engineering
- Organizations
Richardson Lions Club (past President),
past member of the CEO Institute
- Details
Married, 3 children, excellent health, non-smoker
