June 13, 2014
Dad's Wisdom Carries Business Weight; CEOs Share Pops' Wise Advice
By: Sonja Carberry
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
A tip of the hat to dads with sound business advice.
• Stay aboveboard. A teenage Daniel Bland stood mouth agape as his father, Gifford, a contractor for California's public works department, turned down baseball tickets from a vendor seeking favor.
"He would always reject that. He was steadfast in that," said Bland.
Now CEO of 5Barz International, a wireless connectivity firm, Bland admires and emulates his dad's steadfast principles. "It took me years to understand how cool that was," he told IBD. "My father took his position very seriously."
• Leave proper marks. Another teaching moment came after Bland became student council president.
He was sitting at the kitchen table, hurrying through signing official documents, and his illegible scrawl set the senior Bland off.
"He was angry. He would not accept that," said the son. Such carelessness signaled disrespect. The son started over, with care.
•Check your reflection. Branding pro Cory Baker learned it from his lawyer dad, Mark Baker.
"He would say: Whatever you do and however you conduct yourself, you need to be able to look at yourself in the mirror the next morning and feel comfortable with your actions and decisions," Cory said.
As founder of branding firm Julian Wolf, Cory carries that ethical reflection while managing entertainment and fashion accounts with Sony's (NYSE:SNE) TV arm and Isaac Mizrahi, among others. "I take that (advice) with me every day and it guides me through all (my) business and personal relationships," he said.
• Simmer down. "Be humble. If you're truly talented, people will know. You don't have to keep telling them," said Ron Rudzin, CEO of mattress firm Saatva.
The advice came from his father, Sanford, who enjoyed a long career in the furniture business.
• Hit the books. A lesson from Sandy Rudzin, as told by son Ron: "Just like school, work generally requires quite a bit of after-hours reading and studying. You will do some of your best thinking and learning outside of normal business hours."
• Talk it out. "My father, Goerdt Abel, inspired and helped me tremendously to build my first company, BigMachines," said Godard Abel. It started simply. "I asked my dad: How will the Internet affect your (industrial) pump business?"
A long conversation led to BigMachines, which helps firms sell equipment online, and was bought by Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) for over $400 million last year. Abel now leads two ventures: business software review site G2 Crowd and sale-pricing software firm SteelBrick. "My father continues to be my most trusted adviser on business and life challenges to this day," he said.
• Look up. "When I speak with people, I always enter conversations in a positive way, and I even take something good away from an experience that may be difficult," said Robert Garrett, Hackensack University Medical Center CEO.
He learned that from his dad, Jason Garrett. "He's even-keeled and has always been very positive," said Robert.
Dad's Wisdom Carries Business Weight; CEOs Share Pops' Wise Advice
By: Sonja Carberry
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
A tip of the hat to dads with sound business advice.
• Stay aboveboard. A teenage Daniel Bland stood mouth agape as his father, Gifford, a contractor for California's public works department, turned down baseball tickets from a vendor seeking favor.
"He would always reject that. He was steadfast in that," said Bland.
Now CEO of 5Barz International, a wireless connectivity firm, Bland admires and emulates his dad's steadfast principles. "It took me years to understand how cool that was," he told IBD. "My father took his position very seriously."
• Leave proper marks. Another teaching moment came after Bland became student council president.
He was sitting at the kitchen table, hurrying through signing official documents, and his illegible scrawl set the senior Bland off.
"He was angry. He would not accept that," said the son. Such carelessness signaled disrespect. The son started over, with care.
•Check your reflection. Branding pro Cory Baker learned it from his lawyer dad, Mark Baker.
"He would say: Whatever you do and however you conduct yourself, you need to be able to look at yourself in the mirror the next morning and feel comfortable with your actions and decisions," Cory said.
As founder of branding firm Julian Wolf, Cory carries that ethical reflection while managing entertainment and fashion accounts with Sony's (NYSE:SNE) TV arm and Isaac Mizrahi, among others. "I take that (advice) with me every day and it guides me through all (my) business and personal relationships," he said.
• Simmer down. "Be humble. If you're truly talented, people will know. You don't have to keep telling them," said Ron Rudzin, CEO of mattress firm Saatva.
The advice came from his father, Sanford, who enjoyed a long career in the furniture business.
• Hit the books. A lesson from Sandy Rudzin, as told by son Ron: "Just like school, work generally requires quite a bit of after-hours reading and studying. You will do some of your best thinking and learning outside of normal business hours."
• Talk it out. "My father, Goerdt Abel, inspired and helped me tremendously to build my first company, BigMachines," said Godard Abel. It started simply. "I asked my dad: How will the Internet affect your (industrial) pump business?"
A long conversation led to BigMachines, which helps firms sell equipment online, and was bought by Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) for over $400 million last year. Abel now leads two ventures: business software review site G2 Crowd and sale-pricing software firm SteelBrick. "My father continues to be my most trusted adviser on business and life challenges to this day," he said.
• Look up. "When I speak with people, I always enter conversations in a positive way, and I even take something good away from an experience that may be difficult," said Robert Garrett, Hackensack University Medical Center CEO.
He learned that from his dad, Jason Garrett. "He's even-keeled and has always been very positive," said Robert.