INC.: Let's step back a minute. You agree that this lean-and-mean approach is a matter of principle for you. Why is it so important?
BRICKLIN: For one thing, I believe you can tolerate more adversity if you have less overhead. That's one reason I worry about leveraged buyouts. I also think there are certain benefits to staying as small as possible.
INC.: Such as?
BRICKLIN: Such as flexibility. I make midcourse corrections all the time. I've had my heart set on certain things about a product and then done total about-faces based on arguments from three or four test sites. At first, I've resisted. I've said, "No, no, no." But the people doing the testing have convinced me, and I've been able to turn the whole organization around because we were just two or three people. I don't know how I'd do that in a bigger company -- making sure you're sensitive to information from the outside. You need somebody to be a kind of gatekeeper, to decide what to take in and then to get the whole organization to act on it.
INC.: Any other benefits you can see to being small?
BRICKLIN: I think it's always good to be a customer in your market, so that you can think like a customer. At Software Garden I've been able to sense changes in distribution patterns, for example. I was buying from PC Connection before mail order was recognized as an important distribution channel. So I could make decisions based on that knowledge. Before, at Software Arts, we had purchasing people. I was removed from the market.
INC.: But aren't there ways to avoid that pitfall?
BRICKLIN: Yes, but first you have to be aware of the pitfall.
INC.: Let's rephrase the question. Can you be a fast-growing company and still be lean and mean?
BRICKLIN: Oh, sure. Look at WordPerfect. They're real lean and mean, and they grew like crazy. For example, they realized they had to provide technical support. So they decided to offer customers a free, unlimited 800-number service with the package. That sounds extravagant, and it could have been, too. They needed 200 people to handle the phones. So what did they do? They hired the spouses of Brigham Young University students to do their tech support. It wound up costing them about $8 per sale to provide the service. Well, $8 is nothing on an item that costs several hundred dollars, especially if it gives you a big advantage. That's lean and mean. They put the money where it was appropriate. So you can run a growing company this way. In fact, I'm thinking about trying it myself.
INC.: You are?
BRICKLIN: Yes, because of a new product I'm developing. If it's at all successful -- not even wildly successful, just moderately successful -- we will probably have to grow.
INC.: Can you tell us what the product will be?
BRICKLIN: No, I can't say yet. But it's a utility for the IBM PC, and it'll be out by the end of the summer.
(continued)
INC.: How do you feel about the prospect of building another growing company right now?
BRICKLIN: I find it scary.
INC.: A growing company is scary?
BRICKLIN: No, no. A growing company is fun. It's adrenaline. It's exciting. But it does take up a lot of your time to do it right. I just don't know if I want to make the commitment to the particular company this one would become. And I would have to be committed to it. When you make the decision to grow, you're committing yourself to go wherever the company goes and to invest yourself in it.
INC.: How old are you?
BRICKLIN: I'll be 38 this summer, and I know these products can last 5 or 10 years. Do I want to be hitting my fifties after spending a decade with this new product? I have other things I want to do.
INC.: I guess a growing company looks different when you're pushing 40 than it does when you're 25.
BRICKLIN: Oh, sure. When you're in your twenties, you feel you can do it a million times. Your life is far ahead of you. You never ask, "Where is this going to lead?" Now, I realize I can do it a few more times, assuming I work into my sixties. I have to decide if I want to waste a whole cycle on something like this.
INC.: Are you questioning whether you want to do another growing company at all?
BRICKLIN: No, I'm definitely going to do one at some point.
INC.: Why?
BRICKLIN: It's fun, and it's a challenge. I mean, how do you grow fast and be successful when everyone's stretched to the limit? Lotus was like that for a long time. They were growing like crazy, but they were much smaller than they needed to be. Then they got bigger than they needed to be. So it's a difficult balance. I don't know how you do it. But I do know you shouldn't be big just for the fun of being big. It reminds me of biblical stuff.
INC.: How's that?
BRICKLIN: In the Old Testament, the king derives honor and splendor from the number of people he has. He must not have too few. That's one reason Jews prefer communal prayer over individual prayer. You honor God with lots of people. There's honor in having lots of people.
INC.: So?
BRICKLIN: So you have to remember it's honor you're getting from having all these people in your company. It's not necessarily efficiency.
