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KeynoteforMSTCConvocation,May18,2013,UTAustinAT&TCenter

ByBobMetcalfe

UTAustinProfessorofInnovation,MurchisonFellowofFreeEnterprise

Ahoy!

Dr.Cadenhead,DeanGilligan,McCombsFaculty,MSTCgraduates,

families,friends,and,whomdidImiss?others.FromournewTexas

familyhereAustin,HookemHorns,yall.FrommyoldVikingfamily,

plyingwatersoftheNorthAtlanticforathousandyears,Ahoy!

Whatagreathonor,andgreatpleasure,tojoinincelebratingthe2013

MastersofScienceinTechnologyCommercialization,AKAMSTCs,

McCombsSchoolofBusinessatTheUniversityofTexasatAustin.

Yall,pleasejoinmeinshoutingAhoy!Ahoyoncountof3:1,2,3,Ahoy!

Tomakealongstoryshort,andIhopeyourMotherishere,evenifonly

inspirit,becausethesumandsubstanceofwhatIplantosaytodayisto

finallyagreewithyourproudMother,thatyou,MSTCgraduate,arethe

mostimportantpersonintheworld.

Buildingonthatoneclearthought,asfoodforthought,Iwouldlike

(overthenexttwohours)toanswerthisquestion:Arefounderati

thepeoplewhoinvent,innovate,commercializetechnology,foundand

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much,abouthowtooperatethemachineryofFreeEnterprise.Sadto

saythatourFreeEnterpriseSystemisunderattackthesedays,by

peoplewhowouldprefertogrowgovernmentsratherthaneconomies.

Thankgoodnessyoureheretotherescue.

Beforeyouboltoutofheretogetstarted,Ihavetwocomplaints,one

complaintaboutthoseingovernmentsandtheothercomplaintabout

manyofmyfavoritefounderati.

GovernmentshavenoclueaboutthepowerofFreedomOfChoiceAmongCompetingAlternatives,myacronymforwhichisFOCACA

freedomofchoiceamongcompetingalternatives,thekeytoprogress.

So,togrowgovernmentand/orGDPand/orcreatemorejobsand/or

getre-elected,whatrope-pushingpoliticiansdois--followmy

metaphorhere--theytrytoMILKthegeesethatlaidthegoldeneggs.

Aesopmustbespinninginhisgrave.

Ontheotherside,mytwofavoritekindsofinstitutions,research

universitiesandtechnologystartups,outofwhichmostfreedomand

prosperitycomebothdamagethemselvesbyeschewingmanagement.

Professorsobjecttobemanagedandgetawaywithittenure,for

example.Startupfounderatitoooftenthinktotheirdetrimentthat

beinglean,hiringtheirfriends,hackingtoallhours,eatingRaman

noodles,notwearingsuitsisallittakestosuccessfullyscaling

technologyenterprises.

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AlltheeffectiveinstitutionsIveeverseeninmylonglifehaveattheir

coregoodgovernanceand,asnightfollowsday,goodmanagement.And

IsaythatnotjustbecauseIsportabachelordegreeinIndustrial

Management.Ididnthavetobeheretoday,andImcertainlynotbeing

paidtobeheretoday,butImhereattheMcCombsSchoolofBusiness

becauseIhaveseenthatgoodmanagement,especiallyofthe

commercializationofinnovativetechnologies,iswhatmakestheworld

goround,whatbringsFreedomandProsperity.

Dontknowwhyittookussolong,butwefinallymadeittoTexastwoyearsago.ThemissionIacceptedfromDeanofEngineeringGreg

FenvesandDeanofBusinessTomGilliganwastobeaProfessorof

InnovationhelpingmakeAustinabetterSiliconValley.Andby

AustinImeantoincludethisourfaircityandallitsnearbysuburbs-

north,east,south,andwest-Dallas,Houston,SanAntonio,andElPaso.

WedonotaimtobeBETTERthanSiliconValley,butabetterSilicon

Valley.BythephraseSiliconValleyImeanthebloodthirstytake-no-

prisonersswing-for-the-bleachersFreeEnterpriseVentureCapitalism

duringthe1970s,1980s,and1990sinwhichIfreelyprospered.

SomeAustinitescringewhenIsayweshouldbemorelikeSiliconValley.

TheyobjectfromthebackwithsomeversionofKeepAustinWeird!

HavinglivedinandaroundSanFranciscofor22years,myretortisto

warnAustinnottoenteranyweirdcontestsagainstSanFrancisco.

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Whichistosay,youcanbeworld-classtechnologycommercializersand

stillbeprettyweird.

AnotherchallengetomyProfessorofInnovationmissioncomesfrom

thosewhowiselyask,Cancreativity,invention,innovation,

entrepreneurshipbetaught?Arestartupfoundersbornormade?This

isafrequentquestionansweredoutsideofAustinwithfamousnames

likeJobs,Gates,andZuckerberg.HereinAustinthequestionisoften

answeredwithproudreferencetoJohnMackey,founderofWhole

FoodsMarket,withhisbillion-dollarworldHQdownon6th

andLamar,andMichaelDell,founderofDell,withhisbillion-dollarworldHQjust

upacrossAustinsnorthernboarder.MackeyandDellbothattended

UTAustinbrieflyandthendroppedoutbeforewecouldteachthem

muchofanything.

ItshardtoimaginethattheuniversitiesattendedbrieflybyJobs,Gates,

Mackey,Dell,andZuckerbergdidanythingmorethanADMITthem.So,

thissmalldatasetsuggests,entrepreneurshipcannotbetaught,orat

leastwasntinthesefamouscases.

Thesamequestion--naturevsnurture--canbeaskedaboutgreat

scientistslikeAlbertEinstein,greatartistslikePabloPicasso,orgreat

musicianslikeMickJagger.EinsteinstudiedmathandphysicsatETH

Zurich.Picassostudiedinthreefineartschools,finallyinBarcelona.

MickJagger,whilefoundingtheRollingStones,wasabusinessstudent

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attheLondonSchoolofEconomics,whereheprobablylearnedtodance

usingthecasemethod.

Andhey,thefoundersofIntel,Amazon,andGooglewerenotcollege

dropouts.ElonMusk,todayscoolestinnovator-entrepreneur--PayPal,

Tesla,andSpaceX--gotabusinessdegreefromWhartonandaphysics

degreefromUPennandstartedtowardaPhDatStanfordbeforehisfirst

startup.

Wait,Iattendedschoolfor23years,graduatingfromMITandHarvard,andthenworkedincorporateresearch,whilehangingaroundStanford

inSiliconValleyfor8years,beforemyfourthstartup,myfirstreally

successfulstartup,3ComCorporationin1979.

Ifyouwanttoknow,thekeyskillIwastaughtthatmostcontributedto

mysuccessasacommercializeroftechnologywasselling.Myparents

neverwenttocollege,atechnicianandasecretary,whoforexamplehad

noinklingaboutthedifferencesbetweenthehighartsofsalesand

marketing.IgotstartedsellingReadersDigestsubscriptions,thenas

rushchairmanofSigmaNuFraternityatMIT.Ilatersolda$2,000

sponsorshiptoanMITconference.ItookaSellingSkillsclassatXerox

with,Ikidyounot,35blondesaleswomen.In1982,I,aPhDengineer,

suddenlybecameVPofSalesandMarketingofmyInternetstartup.I

couldntgettheURL3.Com,becausetheWorldWideWebwouldnot

takeoffforanother15years,butIled3Comsalesandmarketingto

$1M/monthinrevenueandsoonthereafteranIPO.Ihadbeentaught

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nottobeafraidofNO,tocalmlyaskWHY,totakethehintfromGod(or

Darwin)whogaveus1mouthbut2ears,bymakingandkeepingever

largerpromises,andfinallytogetYESandsayTHANKYOU.Iwasnot

BORNasalesman,butamanengineerwhogottaughtsellingenrouteto

startupsuccess.3Comeventuallydid$5.7Binsalesduring1999and

after30yearsbecamepartofHPin2011.

Iwas33yearsoldwhenIfounded3Com.Theaveragesuccessful

entrepreneuriscloserto40.So,Imtellingyou,Jobs,Gates,Mackey,

Dell,andZuckerbergaredelightfulexceptions.

Andtheymaynotevenbetheexceptionsyouthink.ImetanUTAustin

undergradrecently,AlexJudd,whoturnedouttobeDrumMajorofthe

LonghornBand.Wetalkedaboutfootball,andInotedthatwehavea

100footballplayers,aboutadozenofwhoweighmorethan300pounds.

ButAlexbraggedthattheLonghornBandhas400musicians.Which

remindedmethatSiliconValleyhasalotofpeoplestartingcompanies,

butmanyMOREprosperingpeopleinthesupportinginnovation

ecosystem.

SomaybeitsanoversimplificationtothinkthatJob,Gates,Mackey,Dell,

andZuckerbergwereborntobuildApple,Microsoft,Dell,andFacebook

allbythemselves.MaybetheynucleatedteamsoffounderatiwhoDID

finishcollegeandlearnedintherealworldathingortwoaboutthe

commercializationoftechnology.

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MyfriendSteveJobswasnottheonlyfounderofApple.Maybeyouve

heardofSteveWozniakandpoorRonaldWayne,theotherfounders.

Buttherewasafourth,sixmonthslater,MikeMarkkula,atthetimea

semi-retiredIntelexecutivewhoreplacedRonaldWayne.Andquickly

afterthatcameCEOMichaelScottfromNationalSemiconductorandan

armyofwhatSiliconValleycallsadultsupervision,mostwith

advancedcollegedegrees,PhDsandMBAs,allschooledinSilicon

Valleyssystemforscalingtechnologicalcommercialization.After

foundingApplein1976,SteveJobsdidnotbecometheworld-beating

CEOofAppleuntil1997--21yearsafterfoundingit.BythenStevehadgrownintoBEINGadultsupervision;hehadbeentaughtandlearned

wellhowtocommercializetechnologyusingtheSiliconValleymodel.

WhichbringsmebacktoLonghornFootball.Ithinkitshouldbea

strategyofUTAustintohaveourfounderati,ourentrepreneurs,our

startuppers,andourcommercializersoftechnology,yall,tobeas

supportedandascelebratedasourfootballplayers.Ourstartups

shouldbemorelikeourfootballteams.ThatswhyIvebeenbranding

ourinnovationworkatUTAustintheLonghornStartupProgram.

Remember,manyofthepeoplewhomakeourfootballteamssuccessful

nevergetonthefield,ormaybeonlyduringhalftime.Noteveryoneona

footballteamisthequarterback,norareallfounderatiCEOs.WhatI

likemostaboutthisanalogy,bytheway,isthatIcanstrivetobethe

MackBrownofUTAustinstartupsandhope,justlikeMr.Brown,to

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make$5Mperyear.Intechnologycommercialization,arecordof9-4

getsyouintotheSuperBowl.

Inclosing,whenyoureahammer,everythinglookslikeanail.Myfield

isnetworking,andsointechnologycommercializationitsnetworking

thatIsell.Startups,myfavoritecommercializerofinnovative

technology,prosperwiththeirnetworks:networksofscientistsand

engineers,ofcustomers,ofmanagers,ofsuppliers,ofinvestors,of

strategicpartners,networksofearlyadopters.

Whichremindsmetomentionthatmostexquisiteinnovationnetwork,

whichIveseenintheSistineChapel.Michelangelopaintedanetworkof

advancedtechnologiesbehindAdamontheleft,andontheright,God

withanetworkofneeds,andtheirtwonetworksreachingout,

searchingandpivoting,theirfingersfinallyfindingoneanotheracross

Heaven,needtouchingknowledge,betweenTRL6&7,thatmagicaland

holycommercialmomentofcreationofatechnologicalstartup.

Ihopeitsnotbeentoomuch,agreeingwithyourMothers,thatyall

MSTCersarethemostimportantpeopleintheword,withastorythat

includesSteveJobs,MackBrown,andtheCreationofAdaminthe

SistineChapel.Gotheeforthandmanagetechnologycommercialization,

instartupsorotherwise,andbringtheworldFreedomandProsperity.

MyMotherRuthRIPwasNorwegian,andsoletmeclose,asIopened,

withtheoldVikingbattlecryfortechnologycommercialization:Ahoy!