Jump Ship Nationwide, cubicle-bound techies are making the leap from tech exec to BIZ Experiences. Is it your turn?

Whit Alexander and Richard Tait, the minds behind the successfulboard game Cranium, both have a long history of BIZ Experiencesialpursuits. Alexander, whose father lived down the river fromAmway's founders in Ada, Michigan, would sell boat tours tovisiting Amway believers willing to pay exorbitant sums to catch aglimpse of the founders' abode. Meanwhile, Tait had a gigselling fish door to door, which unfortunately proved to besomewhat short-lived. "There was a bit of a shelf-lifeproblem," he quips.

Alexander and Tait will have you in stitches as they recountstories of these and other previous start-up ventures, but ask themabout the major factors that contributed to the success of Cranium,and both will point to the years they worked for Microsoft. Thepartners join the ranks of many BIZ Experiencess who got their startas tech execs at big-name corporations and translated theirexperiences into innovative businesses.

In 1997, Alexander and Tait decided to leave Microsoft on a highnote to start their own business and, surprisingly enough, didnot start a dotcom or create a computer game. Instead, theychanneled their BIZ Experiencesial energies into a unique board game,Cranium. Since its launch, Seattle-based Cranium Inc. has sold morethan 400,000 copies of the game, and Cranium has become thefastest-selling board game in history, says Tait.

So why a board game and not a computer game? Tait and Alexanderasked themselves that same question, until they did some research.Apparently, no computer game had ever made more than half a billiondollars, while several board games had.

Still, everyone the partners encountered discouraged them."We met with the founders of Pictionary, and their advice wasnot to do it," Tait recalls. "But Whit and I lookedaround and saw lots of pictures of their big boat, and we said'Wow-it worked for them.' So we went against the face ofbetter judgment and pushed ahead with our product."

Tait and Alexander assert that much of their confidence to takea chance and develop the game came from working at Microsoft.There, they were able to thrive in a supportive and dynamiccorporate culture, developing high-profile products in partnershipwith the world's largest corporations. In creating Cranium,they drew from the product-development approach they had learned intheir former jobs.

"You learn how to define a problem in a way that'sgoing to satisfy a market requirement," explains Alexander."It's the discipline of deciding on the right thing to doand getting it done."

Getting Experience From Large Firms

Brent Kleinheksel, 28, founder and former CEO of PlanetPortal,brought similar skills with him when he left IBM. The Durham, NorthCarolina, start-up provides print-to-Web data servicing solutionswith mapping services and content tailoring.

Before starting PlanetPortal, Kleinheksel worked at SunMicrosystems in Phoenix for nearly three years and at IBM for abouta year, where he played a key role in building brand recognitionfor the IBM ThinkPad i Series.

Kleinheksel says he chose to work at IBM because of theoutstanding reputation of its ThinkPad marketing department. Heactually got the idea for PlanetPortal after attending a series ofIBM business meetings in Silicon Valley focused on finding ahardware solution to help customers navigate the Web moreeasily.

Kleinheksel says he can't imagine being successful withouthaving worked at a large firm first. "That's not to sayit's the only way to do it," he says, "but if youdon't get experience first, your investors, employees andeveryone else will pay for your learning curve."

Working at a Tech Company

In some ways, working in a major tech company can improveentrepreneurs' troubleshooting skills by showing them whatsituations to avoid. In 1996, Amy MacHutta, Tim Ottman and DanielBlaser left M&I Data Services, a Brown Deer, Wisconsin,software company specializing in banking products, to open theirown business, Software Configuration Solutions Inc. The Elm Grove,Wisconsin, start-up assists other tech companies with managingsoftware changes.

While at M&I, MacHutta and her partners developed asoftware-management tool and process they felt would help othersoftware developers in the industry. They saw it as a businessopportunity, but they learned M&I was not interested inpursuing it because it did not fit into their business focus. Atthat point, the trio decided to venture out on their own.

Within months, Software Configuration Solutions was showing aprofit, and it exceeded the million-dollar mark after its secondyear. MacHutta, 33, says she and her partners learned theimportance of creating a solid infrastructure before initiating newservices from working at M&I, which she believes often operatedin more of a reactive than proactive mode. "We learned that wewouldn't want to always be catching up," she explains."We wanted to plan for growth and be prepared forit."

MacHutta adds that she and her partners also reaped manybenefits from their years in the corporate high-tech world. Whilethe partners' skills are mostly self-taught, they say theywouldn't have had the opportunity to learn or apply thoseskills without first working at M&I. "Working in a teamenvironment and with the release process was very valuable,"she says.

MacHutta says working in a corporation is particularly importantfor BIZ Experiencess who ultimately wish to turn these largerorganizations into clients. "Before starting your business,you should try to put yourself in an environment where you hope tosell your product or service," she says. "Otherwise,you're training yourself as you're [starting up], and thatisn't always the best route to take."

The Difference In Work Environments

Many BIZ Experiencess who leave large companies to start their ownbusinesses have to spend some time transitioning from aconservative corporate environment to the far less formal, moreexpressive culture of a start-up. David Cutler, 29, and hispartner, Jeff Palmer, 30, both worked in the technology division atAndersen Consulting for several years before starting their ownhigh-tech start-up, Curious Networks, in Chicago.

Cutler says working as an Andersen consultant with Fortune 500companies and helping them develop world-class computer systemsgave him invaluable experience in dealing with clients and handlinghimself in professional situations. Andersen also taught Cutler howto deal with a variety of client problems. "Once you get areputation and some experience, Andersen will just plop you down inany client situation, and you have to be productiveimmediately," he explains. "You also have to be able toaccommodate and learn to interact with a wide variety of people andcultures."

"There's a lot to be learned from the rightorganization and from associating with the right people," addsAlexander. "Some people have that knowledge intuitively;others learn it on the fly. Still others do better when they getswept up in the culture of an organization that performswell."

Julie Vallone is a Walnut Creek, California, business andtechnology writer who has worked in plenty of big ponds but prefersher little one.

Contact Sources

Cranium Inc., (206) 652-9708, cranium@playcranium.com

Curious Networks, info@curiousnetworks.com,www.curiousnetworks.com

Software Configuration Solutions Inc., (262) 938-0442,www.softconfig.com