I learned quite a bit from my last boss; actually I learned most everything (important) about business from him. He was the CFO of Adaytum during my time there who orchestrated the sale of the company to Cognos for $160M. Late one evening (we all worked late in those days) Dan Mayleben called myself, a sales rep, and the head of product marketing into his office to discuss "the prize".
The prize was why we were there. It was the reason I left my previous company and went to what was essentially a start-up. The conversation revolved around a pending (2/3 years out) IPO and what would happen if we worked hard, kept expenses low, hired the right people and hit the big time. We were all loaded down with stock and the prospect of $80, $90, or even $120 per share price was something everyone constantly calculated and recalculated. That was the prize...or so we thought.
We sold the company and everyone made money in the deal. We didn't make $80/share, but I can't complain about the way it worked out. The boom, after all, was over. It was good to see the rank and file make money on the deal.
...but what about the prize? Now that I've moved on, I realize that "the prize" was working with some of the most talented people in the business. We still get together on occasion, and I was able to take some of my team with me to new opportunities, but I still look back at those days and really appreciate the fact that everyone at Adaytum was an "A" player. We all reflect on those times; the fact that we didn't always get along, didn't always agree, but when the bell rang we all pulled together and got the job done regardless of personal issues, resources limitations and budget constraints.
I still get together with Dan on occasion, as well as with many of the other Adaytum alumni. He moved on to High Jump software and helped sell the company to 3M. We now secretly refer to him as Dan "the man" after doing 2 deals in 2 years. He was right about keeping your eye on "the prize". It's just that "the prize" means different things to different people.
...what about Cognos? They gave away the prize. They thought that the product was the driver behind the success of Adaytum. They learned to late that it was the people. It was the 300 people around the world that would run through a wall at the end of the quarter to get it done that continued to changed the company and the market space. The Prize is in your human capital. Keep them happy, productive and most of all involved and they'll take you across the finish line on their shoulders.
