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Saying Something

The Interviews - Part 11 - Balance

8/21/2018

 
This is the last in a series of 11 videos produced by the Smeal College of Business at The Pennsylvania State University. This one focuses on the challenges of keeping a work/life balance in the startup world.

The Interviews - Part 10 - David vs. Goliath

8/14/2018

 
This is the tenth in a series of 11 videos produced by the Smeal College of Business at The Pennsylvania State University. This one focuses on startups versus established players.

The Interviews - Part 9 - Vc's and Investment Bankers

8/9/2018

 
This is the ninth in a series of 11 videos produced by the Smeal College of Business at The Pennsylvania State University. This one focuses on the IPO run-up.

The Interviews - Part 8 - Change Management

8/7/2018

 
This is the eighth in a series of 11 videos produced by the Smeal College of Business at The Pennsylvania State University. This one focuses on managing growth.

The Interviews - Part 7 - Hiring and Firing

8/2/2018

 
This is the seventh in a series of 11 videos produced by the Smeal College of Business at The Pennsylvania State University. This one focuses on team recruiting, growth, and culture.

The Interviews - Part 6 - Culture

8/1/2018

 
​This is the sixth in a series of 11 videos produced by the Smeal College of Business at The Pennsylvania State University. This one focuses on creating and maintaining a productive corporate culture.

The Interviews - Part 5 - Partners

8/1/2018

 
​This is the fifth in a series of 11 videos produced by the Smeal College of Business at The Pennsylvania State University. This one focuses on the dynamics of founder partnerships.

THE INTERVIEWS - PART 4 - Angels

8/1/2018

 
This is the fourth in a series of 11 videos produced by the Smeal College of Business at The Pennsylvania State University. This one focuses on the value provided by angel investors.

THE INTERVIEWS - PART 3 - Your Money, My Life

6/26/2017

 
This is the third in a series of 11 videos produced by the Smeal College of Business at The Pennsylvania State University. This one focuses on the pros and cons of bootstrapping.

THE INTERVIEWS - PART 2 - Seven Degrees of Separation

3/13/2017

 
This is the second in a series of 11 videos produced by the Smeal College of Business at The Pennsylvania State University.

Trumpets

9/14/2015

 
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I had completely forgotten about this entertaining quote from 2006 that I stumbled upon today:
... in comparison to Donald Trump’s latest book, I found Starting Something to be much more interesting and entertaining.
​-- Mimi Grant, President, Adaptive Business Leaders

The interviews - Part 1 - The mindset, passion & idea

4/15/2015

 
This is the first in a series of eleven videos produced by the Smeal College of Business at The Pennsylvania State University. Under the direction of Dr. Anthony Warren, characters from Starting Something were interviewed in 2006. These professionally produced videos were packaged into a comprehensive entrepreneurship program. 

The interviewees were not coached. I asked them to be as truthful as possible and speak from their own perspective. Ouch.

Note: You may notice that my interview sections are heavily edited. The day of the shoot, I had a once-in-a-decade flu, with a 103 degree temp. I was barely able to remain upright... and kept forgetting what I was saying... even worse than usual. Sorry 'bout that.

Epilogue - Part One

3/6/2015

 
In late 2002, Neoforma forwarded me a message from a writer for Fortune magazine. She was writing an article, following up with the founders of companies the magazine had written about during 1999 and 2000. She was interested in what had become of an array of momentary business celebrities, including me...

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January 2001 - The Sequel

3/4/2015

 
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The seed of Neoforma was contained in the remnants of the capital equipment planning division, a group of mostly early employees—who either did not fit or did not want to fit into the new core of the company.
Neoforma Sharpens Focus on Core Strategy, Will Divest Two Business Units
Neoforma.com, Inc. announced plans to divest certain business units that are not aligned with its core strategy of building and operating Internet marketplaces that empower healthcare trading partners to optimize supply chain performance . . .

January 25, 2001, Neoforma Press Release
In a last ditch effort to survive in an increasingly foreign body, I had demoted myself again to—well, to a regular member of the group. Nobody reported to me. I was four layers from the top. In effect, I had worked my way to the bottom.

In spite of the group’s ability to present great content on our website and to bring in significant revenue, the schism grew between Neoforma’s single-minded focus on profitability in the supplies market and my group’s focus on the capital equipment market.

There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that what we were building in my group would eventually be relevant to what Neoforma was building, but the market dictated that Neoforma would not have the resources to build along more than one road at a time. And our group wasn’t on the most expedient road. It was evident that, by every business criterion, Neoforma would have to temporarily shelf the company’s capital equipment initiatives. We were necessary to the future, but distracting to the present.

We had been making money, but were at a point that we would require some investment to grow. Neoforma was now ready make the tough decision to postpone my group’s development.

I was too. I was tired. Tired of the stress between dependence and independence, between obedience and exploration. I was tired of being depressed. And, most of all, I was tired of holding onto the idea that Neoforma somehow needed me, or perhaps the hope that Neoforma somehow needed me.

But we were not willing to let go of some of the ideas that had originally inspired us. The capital equipment group had to survive. We had made too much progress to give up. So, in spite of a currently hostile environment for start-up businesses, we worked the crowd to facilitate a way to spin my group out of Neoforma.

I knew it would be helpful for Neoforma if Jeff and I and two key members of the group, Dave and George, left on good terms. And I imagined that it would make some of the people I was leaving behind feel better to know that this early piece of Neoforma history would still survive—and thrive.

So after several months of strangely and increasingly hostile negotiations, Attainia was formed. Our new, small company would set off into a world not too unlike the one that Neoforma had been born into.

Eerily similar to our experience at spinning out from Varian, nobody was comfortable discussing our departure. It was much too awkward. There were no goodbye lunches or closing ceremonies. We were just gone one day — or perhaps we were simply there in a different way from then on. The facilities guy was uncomfortable taking my badge and access key, but I insisted.

Bob and I said goodbye to each other via email.

In spite of the uncomfortable departure, we were excited by the idea that Neoforma was spinning off a new company. Actually, Neoforma had previously spun off at least two companies. With this tradition, Neoforma joined the ranks of many great Silicon Valley companies, including Varian, which has a long history of spinning off technologies and companies, including ones that would contribute to the development of advanced CT scanners, ultrasound equipment and dot matrix printers.

With the right nutrients and caretakers, Attainia would one day grow to its ultimate potential. And who knows what it might seed?
My initial role in the new company, Attainia, was to be limited. I had two other priorities. I had to spend some time with my family and I had to spend some time with myself.

I had to make sense of this bizarre experience and my elusive feelings about it. Every time I closed my eyes, jumbled memories threatened to overwhelm me.

Somehow, I needed to integrate what had happened over the last five years with who I am. I needed to write everything down and organize it somehow, but figuring out how to assemble all of the disparate experiences would take some time.

I had written often, but never anything more than five or ten pages. This was something else completely. It was a new and exciting challenge. It was like starting anew.

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September 2000 - Editing

3/3/2015

 
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Neoforma.com and Novation Reach Target Ahead of Schedule. 79 Hospitals Representing $2 Billion in Purchases Sign Up
Neoforma.com, Inc. and Novation today announced the addition of 39 new healthcare facilities, bringing to 79 the number of hospitals signed to purchase supplies through Marketplace@Novation, the online purchasing solution powered by Neoforma. This figure exceeds Neoforma’s goal to have 56 hospitals signed onto Marketplace@Novation before year end . . .

September 7, 2000, Neoforma Press Release
E-Biz
. . . PricewaterhouseCoopers, which has launched the Healthcast 2010: E-Health Quarterly [says]: “A shakeout is in store for some 50 companies that now market e-procurement services in the U.S.” . . .

Materials Management in Healthcare, September 2000
It had started so simply. Or rather, in the beginning, it had appeared to be so much simpler than it was.

There was Neoforma. That was about all that could be said about it. Nobody knew what a Neoforma was. Neoforma was not like anything else in particular...

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    About Me

    I am an architect, writer, and serial entrepreneur. 

    I'm also a dichromatic tritan, which means I'm one of between 150 and 1,500 people in the US with this rather extreme form of colorblindness. I write about how colorblindness has profoundly affected my life's path on my other blog: dichromat.com

    My surreal journey as co-founder of Neoforma (formally NASDAQ: NEOF, later acquired by GHX) is the basis for Starting Something, a multiple award-winning book, used in many biz school entrepreneurship classes:

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