The Entrepreneur’s Essentials: Afterword (by Bob Campbell)
Written by Bob Campbell on Sept. 19, 2019:
I first met Brett Hurt over 25 years ago. He was completing his undergraduate studies with a major in Management Information Systems at the University of Texas and was aspiring to a management consulting position. I was one of his interviewers. He tells me that it was his toughest interview, and that he had no idea where he stood in my eyes. He jokes today that he is still not sure! In fact, I found a bright, personable, and high performing student, and Brett came away with a consulting job offer.
Brett started his career in technology development at a large global management and was a very strong performer. However, as with many young consultants, Brett became interested in going back to graduate school to secure an MBA. He was accepted by the highly regarded Wharton School.
At Wharton, Brett caught the entrepreneurial bug and never looked back. He spent the next two decades starting and building companies. I spent the next fifteen years overseeing leading a practice at the consulting organization. Over that period, Brett was an entrepreneur immersed in the startup world. I, in turn, was focused on large clients and projects as an intraentrepreneur and rather oblivious to the startup world.
Brett built a successful track record of building advanced technology companies including the Web analytics firm Coremetrics and the social commerce firm Bazaarvoice. His success allowed Brett and his family the resources both to give back to society, as well as the ability, through their family office, to further stimulate entrepreneurship through angel investing in other intriguing startups and venture capital funds.
Seven years ago, I retired after almost 40 years of service. I headed out to build a second career and found an emerging interest in advising young, bright entrepreneurs with big market disruptive game changing ideas and selectively making angel investments in such ventures. That is the arena in which Brett’s world and mine reconnected.
I have always believed in the constructive role which business can play in our society. In fact, my college honors thesis authored almost 50 years ago was on the subject Emerging Trends in Corporate Social Responsibility. I also believe strongly in the responsibility that business leaders have to lead with the highest standard of personal and professional ethics. That is where the Public Benefit Corporation, also known as B Corporations, movement came to my attention. One of the early technology companies in that emerging space is data.world.
data.world was Brett’s sixth startup, and was first structured as a C corporation but then converted to a B Corporation on the day of its public launch of July 11, 2016. Its mission is to be the global place where those who analyzed and shared data collaborate. It is a very bold vision, and one which captured my attention as a market disruptive technology with global market potential.
Over a several month period, Brett and I renewed our relationship that had initially been kindled 25 years prior. I found in Brett to be the same bright, energetic, hardworking, and personable young person who I had first interviewed on campus many years prior. And for my selfish interests, I found a source of experienced-based learning and insights in Brett as I allocated more of my time to the startup world.
I had the good fortune of being asked by Brett to serve as an advisor to data.world and readily accepted. Over the past two years, I have worked with Brett to help with business strategy, relationship building, and opportunity pursuit. That also provided me with the opportunity to see Brett in action as a CEO.
I have found a leader who is passionate about ideas and innovation. I have found a CEO committed to building and developing talent, along with his cofounders. I have also found a leader who demonstrates a collaborative style, sharing responsibilities readily with his cofounders and other members of the management team. And I have found a leader committed to transparency and frequency of substantive communication to his Board, investors, staff, and other stakeholders. His regular and detailed weekly communications are, in my opinion, a best practice for the industry, as he details so clearly in Chapter 13 of this book. It is so interesting to me that these attributes of an effective startup leader are similar to the attributes for an effective consultant — the world in which we first met!
Business aside, Brett shares my passion for social justice and advancing women and others of diverse backgrounds professionally. Brett has been a strong supporter of several impactful groups. Those values are also quite evident in the workings of the non-profit Austin100, which Brett cofounded and pioneered to bring Austin’s business and community leaders together. Today Austin100 is led by Lawton Cummings, an incredible female leader that Brett and his cofounder, Josh Baer, recruited to the cause.
This book represents the culmination of Brett’s 20 years to date as a successful entrepreneur. I believe the insights and suggestions are relevant for any young person considering this career path as well as accomplished entrepreneurs striving for continued professional growth.
