Things That Never Happened

Things That Never Happened

In My Bloodstream: Lisinopril,  Amlodopine,  Omeprazole, Tamsulosin
On The Stereo: Smugglers Blues: Glen Frey (RIP)

Another story from the past.  With some modest updates.  I am up to my butt in family and their dogs - and loving it.  So I simply cannot spend the time required to bring you a new column.  Our family has been apart for far too long, and this time together is valuable.  We are finally getting the chance to make new memories, instead of looking at pictures and reviewing the past.

When I was a chemical salesman, I was familiar with, and sold desiccants, like diatomaceous earth and silica gel.  The products were customer and process-specific, and manufactured by W.R. Grace, headquartered in Philadelphia.  Simply put, they are custom-designed products used to remove unwanted elements from a process.  For example, in the manufacture of multi-pane, storm windows, moisture must be removed from inside the window, in order to retain absolute clarity through both panes.  Add some silica gel inside the aluminum frame, give it a slit to access the inner air, and the window remains clear.  Without it, fog or frost would be a certainty.

In the process of moving natural gas, the gas is forced through a bed of molecular sieve, with pores specifically created to allow only the gas molecules through.  Contaminates are captured inside the crystal's nooks and crannies and eventually removed.  Think of  the insides of a silica gel as a strainer of sorts - only more complex.

As it happens, I was the only person in our company directly involved with both the supplier and existing or possible clients.  I had, over a period of time, negotiated a sale to Shell, in Sarnia, Ontario.  Rail cars.  A big deal at the time.  In fact, it was the largest single sale in Canada by the manufacturer.  

A representative of W.R. Grace, seconded to Philly, from their German company, came to Toronto. Ostensibly to visit some of their new customers and discuss and train me further, on features and benefits of a number of their products.  I had drawn the attention of Grace management, as an essential financial contributor to their business.

What he really had planned was a whole different deal.  He wanted me to join him on a 50/50 split, in the  creation of a new company, to become the Canadian arm for W.R. Grace.  He would return to the head office, talk to his manager.  I would resign from CIL.  He would move to Calgary, where oil and gas were king, and I would remain in Toronto, where manufacturing opportunities were abundant.  We would, each, cover all available businesses in our respective geographies, backed up by the other, when particular skills were required.  I loved the idea.  My entrepreneurial spirit soared.  All that was left was for him to go and set the deal up with his management.

Two weeks passed and I had not heard from him.  I called his number to find he had returned to Germany.  With no explanation, or available contact information.  

I gathered the idea was not as agreeable as he thought it might be.  Just a guess.

So that was a thing that never happened.

Two other times, similar opportunities came and went. One was an offer from a software game developer, in Phoenix.  They had developed war games, sold on discs, in those days.  They loved their work.  But the had no clue how a real business was actually run.  They were wacky geniuses who were living a cartoon life, while product orders were left unfilled and prospective customer queries left unattended.  They did not want to spend their time on the humdrum business part of their creative work.  I was recruited by a head-hunter, but the brains behind the games were not of my planet.  I just could not see the fit for me. When I see now, how that market has developed, I may have closed the door too abruptly. 

Things that never happened.  I remained a corporate guy.

My favorite involves a dear friend and former neighbor in Tuscaloosa, Art Thompson.

Art had a friend, another Arthur, and they were both steeped in technological businesses.  Art, a Professor Emeritus from the University of Alabama, had started a business years ago, which converted his former hard-cover, business strategy books, to computerized versions, which offered incredible flexibility and ease of use for  M.B.A. students and their professors.  A smashing success.  And that business extended itself into commercial markets and now, seems to have no bounds.

Key to Art's success, going in, was his business model.  He got to teach and find the best and the brightest future entrepreneurs, and offered them equal shares in his company and in its profits.  The only stipulation was that Art would make the final decision on business direction and clientele.  Cool.

Art and I have, many times, over dinners and wine, discussed business case studies on existing companies, and imagined future opportunities for the imaginative.  He had a remarkable span of business knowledge, and we had many interesting conversations over a glass or three of wine.

Arthur, his buddy, was a partner in a recently sold financial analytics business, which had access to the nation's largest banks, lenders and brokers.  They were able to decipher, by any individual's zip code, and their specific address, their approximate wealth and could, therefore offer predictability and potential of that person's ability to buy something.

 I was introduced to Arthur and we met several times thereafter.  Golf and dinners always supplied the setting.  The two Arthurs had an idea.  And I was soon brought into the mix.

Art would create, with his company, the software to identify, for companies selling high end products, a list of A+ possible clients.  Basically, who would, or at least have, the economic potential to buy an expensive camera.  Or any higher priced article.  Separate who is on line just "kicking the tires" from who could actually buy a Mercedes or Bentley.  I was blown away by the depth of financial information shared among these institutions.

Arthur's job would be to talk to the new owner of his former business, and negotiate a users' agreement,  allowing us access to their information.  He thought that to be a realistic and achievable piece of the puzzle.  And my job would be to market and sell the product.  I asked Art if he had any ideas on markets and how to create wealth from this new bundle of information I had just received, and he, without blinking said, "That would be your job."  

Let's get at it, then, I thought.  What opportunity.  This had roller-coaster potential.  Every sense would be raised to the surface.  I can, to this day, still remember my excitement.

I began a series of visits back to Tuscaloosa.  I met Art's partners. His former students.  All  fairly recent grads from the business school.  We began brainstorming how we might use this economic data.  What do we really have?  Who needs information like this? Are there already competitors?  How do we even know that, if we have not yet established who we are and where our markets might lie? 

These young people were bloody wonderful.  Brilliant.  Respectful.  Opinionated.  Open. I had copious  questions regarding how to build our model- could we easily add scale -  could we have variable formats, and on and on.  Very importantly, could we take our information and integrate it into another company's operating system.  They would huddle, discuss, debate, offer different options, and we moved on, gaining increasing traction over several weeks and visits. 

At one point, I looked over at Art, and I said how impressed I was, with his team's commitment, openness and ethic.  And they are smart, I said.  Art smiled. "Yes they are".  And a small grin followed.

We set out, at the beginning, to make our data base available to large corporations.  I thought that a good idea, but way too slow to get off the ground, customer, by customer.  We started making lists of reasons this idea would not work.  Somehow, after rummaging through market and customer possibilities, and stymied by the amount of effort and time required to create anything that would remotely become a business, we abruptly had our revelation.  Investigating and dismissing what would not work, left us with what would.

We had been thinking too small.  We needed to sell our product to someone at the front of the line, not the back.  We didn't need Cadillac, we needed Google.  The search engine was the real customer for us. The product seller was the aftermarket.  There were five or six of us in the room, and we all went quiet.  I was pondering whether or not this had already been done.  Would Google not have the resources to do it themselves?  Here we are, a couple of people in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  Did we just get an idea that would garner the attention of a giant search engine.  We were all of the same mind.  And slightly stunned at the prospect.  And the enormity of the opportunity.

We could sell our idea (service) to Google.  Google, in turn, could use our information to offer a premium service to their customers, which could separate the wheat from the chaff, allowing their marketing team to focus on a more robust clientele.  Anybody who visits a client's site could be identified by the thickness of their wallet.  The client could provide their individual requirements and Art and his genius partners could provide a programmed solution.  Now we had to rearrange our plans and do some research.  On a different type of customer.  Does it have to be the largest?  Would others be interested?  How would we even interest any of them in listening to our idea.

Someone had a relationship with a search engine provider in Vancouver, British Columbia.  We arranged a phone conference.  We would find out several things.  Was the product of interest?  Was it already available in some form?  Would their customers pay for a premium service.  Would they share that premium with us?  Good questions.

We got an even better response.  Everything we thought would make a business, would make a great business.    There was nothing like this available.  At least to their knowledge.  The money trail was most agreeable.  And the two Arts and I were going to have fun.  The second Arthur and I were not working full time, and were looking forward to our next challenge.  We were all energized.  All of Art's partners could vividly see the potential.  They were ready to go.  This was going to be a big business by the time it was done.

This was at least a start.  The company we talked to and likely others, looked to have potential.  But we agreed that, if this really was a viable and attractive business model, then we should start at the top.  One sale on a large scale would be more manageable than a variety of local, smaller businesses.

The only thing left for us to do, was to wait for Arthur's visit, scheduled to take place in a few weeks. We continued to plan and dig into the details.  The more technical work done up front would make the sale much smoother.  Once the product was known, there would be a race to get a more finished product to market.

Arthur was informed by his former business, that a deal, such as we were presenting, had been agreed to about a year and a half earlier.  Another company was already in motion, doing exactly what we had planned.

I loved every minute working and talking and debating with my friends.  In Tuscaloosa and in Aspen.  Another life highlight.  We didn't get our timing right, but my time was never wasted.

I must apologize for this"hanging chad" of a story.  But the truth is, my love for business and the creative juices and work ethic that are part of my DNA, have always been what makes me who I am.  Good or bad.

I seldom had to choose between work and play.  To me, they have been intertwined.  My complaints have been seldom, and my joy has been great.  The work ethic that we have discussed in past blogs, cannot be excised.  I have had the great good fortune to have enjoyed almost every day of my life, because I worked.  My wife and family have enjoyed the benefits derived from my work and I have many friends, to this day, because we worked together, as employees, customers or suppliers.  I have been touched by the best.

Things that never happened.

My apologies, again, for dwelling on topics of business.

Cancer, however, did happen.

 I am scheduled, this Wednesday,  for a long day of blood work, scans, doctors and my fourth infusion.  We should, hopefully, discover the effectiveness of Keytruda .  

There will be much to talk about.  I only wish I knew what.  The future is cloudy for us.  We can only carry on, follow the protocol, and wait.

jrobinmullen@gmail.com or FB