Spring 2007

Thank you, Dean Farvardin, and welcome friends, guests and — of course, the reason we are all here today — the graduates of the class of 2007. I am very honored to be a part of today’s events, which mark such an important milestone for each of you. When the Dean invited me to speak to you, I thought to myself, “what could I share that will inspire a group of 700 engineers who are graduating from college?”

Not long ago I sat where you are with my classmates and just like you I was excited about beginning a career in technology. I knew that with an engineering background, I could do more than just get a job – I had an opportunity to drive change. And later, earning an MBA at the University of Maryland provided me with additional perspective on business and innovation.

But it was the Internet revolution – when technology literally transformed the global marketplace – that led me to entrepreneurship. I wanted to make some money, have some fun and win.

I had been with GE for more than a decade and was at an executive level when I was asked to run an Internet-based new venture for GE. Despite the fact that everyone told me I was crazy to leave my senior position to run a start-up, I was inspired by the opportunity to innovate, and I took it.

I am not here today to tell you to follow the path that I took. I am here to tell you to take a chance – do what other people AREN’T doing. I am not here to tell you about traditional examples of successful engineers. But I AM here to tell you about the new world that expects engineers to drive innovation and entrepreneurship.

The next time you listen to your iPod, remember the names of three entrepreneurs – two of them engineers – who started a small computer company in 1977. Those names are Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, the founders of Apple Computer.

Another example is Richard Barton, an engineer who was working in product management for Microsoft. While working on a travel CD-ROM, he convinced Bill Gates that online travel was the wave of the future.  There marked the birth of Expedia.com.

And right in our own backyard, there’s Dr. Robert Fischell, a University of Maryland graduate who has spent his life inventing life-saving medical devices including the first implantable insulin pump. These are examples of engineers who didn’t follow the traditional path.

Now I know you’ve spent the last four or more years of your life listening to your parents, your professors and countless mentors impart words of worldly wisdom upon you. But I’d like to give you a slightly different perspective of engineering, one that’s based on entrepreneurship. To help you learn that you don’t need to take the path that everybody else took in the past, and that it’s OK – in fact, better – to make your own way.

So, what do you need to know to become a successful engineer and entrepreneur?

FIRST, “it can’t be done” is music to the ears of an engineer AND an entrepreneur. Naysayers who can’t see your vision and don’t recognize that innovation is all about vision will always tell you it can’t be done.

Charles Duell, US Patent Commissioner, said in 1899, “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, said in 1943, “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment, said in 1977 that “there is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” And to look at “it can’t be done” from a slightly different perspective, because I am an ice hockey fan, Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky said, “I was told I wasn’t big enough, maybe not fast enough, and not strong enough.”

Some of my MOST rewarding experiences happened after I was told “it can’t be done.” I was told that starting a specialty surfacing company with my brother in our home town of Syracuse, New York, was a bad idea. Today, that business, Nagle Athletic Surfaces, is one of the largest specialty surfacing companies in the northeast.

I was told that abandoning my career at GE to get into technology – into the “Internet craze,” as it was called – was foolish and short-sighted. After 24 months, we were offered $450 million for the company.

And later in my career, I was asked to take over a struggling software company that was losing 50 cents on the dollar. In 48 months, we sold the company for $190 million.

Don’t let anyone tell you “it can’t be done.”

The SECOND thing you need to know to become a successful engineer is that innovation is absolutely essential in a competitive world. Even if you’re an outstanding engineer, it’s likely there’s someone halfway around the globe who can do the job for a quarter of the cost.

I currently hire engineers in India, across Europe, and in the US to develop Quark software. It’s been said, in a country with more than a billion people, “If you are a one in a million type of guy/gal, there are 1,000 others just like you.” You need to differentiate yourself through innovation and entrepreneurship in order to stand out. And, keep in mind, innovation doesn’t always have to mean invention.

Consider a story I came across about a man who opened the first department store in his town. Business was great, until someone opened another department store in the building next to him with a sign over the door that said, “Lowest prices in town.” Another man opened a department store on the other side of his building, with a sign over the door that said, “Best quality in town.” So the first store owner put a sign over his own door that said, “Main entrance.” Apply this simple philosophy to the complex challenges you’ll face.

The FINAL thing you need to know to become a successful engineer and entrepreneur is, TAKE RISKS. It’s NEVER too early to take risks and follow your dreams. In fact, the earlier, the better, because you have less to lose.

Let me take you back to the founders of Apple Computers. You’re familiar with how the risk paid off for Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in launching an entirely new industry. But what about the third founder, Ronald Wayne? What happened to him?

He sold his share in Apple back to Wozniak and Jobs for $800 just two weeks after they began. Why? He was concerned about the risk involved in a start-up and didn’t want to take on any debts if they failed. So for the risk of $800, what did he pass up?

If you’ve got an idea, pursue it with enthusiasm.

So, in closing, let me leave you with these three bits of advice.

1. First, whether you want to get rich, change the world or simply be happy, the only way to do any of this is to do what
   you love to do – all the rest will come.
2. Second, don’t let anyone tell you “it can’t be done,” if you know in your heart that it can.
3. And lastly, look into the future, not the past.  In the words of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, “…skate to where the
   puck is going, not where it has been.”

Thank you.