Introduction to the Entrepreneur of the Year judges and the selection process.
Our second annual company-building awards
It felt like the start of a new school year. On a crisp fall day, Inc.'s nine national Entrepreneur of the Year judges convened in the conference room of a Boston hotel. All looked fit and tanned, and each carried a clean pad of paper and a sharpened pencil.
Clearly, these students came to learn from one another. Early on, they decided on a format that tested their persuasive skills; instead of dryly nominating their top three candidates, they opted for going category by category, making impassioned pleas for their top choices. And they employed any rhetorical devices they could muster.
"Why get on the Titanic when the QEII is on the next dock?" implored one judge, sensing that the group was drifting away from his candidate. There was even an old-fashioned filibuster. "I'm sorry, did I go on too long?" asked one judge, observing the others in a collective state of catatonia.
The group followed its instincts -- wherever they led. Among the issues: Can you be an entrepreneur only if you started the business? Is there a crucial distinction between an entrepreneur and a manager? One judge even dragged out the dictionary's definition of entrepreneur. "Who cares what the formal definition says?" complained another. "Does this person really represent what we want?"
Not that such abstract questions always dominated. There was plenty of deal making. One judge, after watching a favorite candidate sink, muttered to a neighbor, "You pulled out on me." There was even a hint of voting irregularities. "Are you from Chicago?" asked one judge of another who accidentally voted twice.
Cabletron Systems Inc. -- which the judges applauded for its fast growth and its quick decision making -- began its rise back in June, when the company was given a regional award. It was one of 281 companies honored regionally -- selected from more than 2,600 applicants. The process had started with a four-page application and a follow-up due-diligence visit by Ernst & Young professionals.
Each region had its own judges selected by the joint sponsors -- Inc., Ernst & Young, and Merrill Lynch. From there, INC's senior editorial staff reviewed the applications of all the regional winners and chose the 11 honorable mentions and the 17 finalists.
The nine national judges, who met in September, were selected by Inc. and charged with choosing winners in four categories: Master Entrepreneur, Turnaround Entrepreneur, Emerging Entrepreneur, and Supporter of Entrepreneurship. They also chose -- of course -- the Entrepreneur of the Year.
THE JUDGES
The national Entrepreneur of the Year judges gathered in September to make this year's final selections. They are James McManus, founder and chairman, Marketing Corp. of America, an advertising, market-research, and consulting firm based in Westport, Conn.; F. Kenneth Iverson, chairman and CEO, Nucor Corp., a steel and steel-products manufacturer headquartered in Charlotte, N.C.; Paula George, founder & CEO, The SoftAd Group, an interactive advertising, sales, and marketing agency based in Sausalito, Calif.; B. Thomas Golisano, founder and president, Paychex Inc., a payroll processing company in Rochester, N.Y.; Donald Burr, founder, People Express Airlines Inc.; Harry V. Quadracci, founder and president, Quad/Graphics Inc., a printer in Pewaukee, Wis.; Bernard A. Goldhirsh, founder and chairman, Inc. magazine; James Koch, founder and CEO, The Boston Beer Co., a brewing company based in Boston; and Dan Garner, national director of entrepreneurial services, Ernst & Young.
MASTER ENTREPRENEUR
Manny Villafana, Helix BioCore Inc., Minneapolis
"Everybody asks me the same question," grouses Manny Villafana, chairman and CEO of Helix BioCore Inc.
What mystifies observers is this: How is it that he actually enjoys a process that most people find frightening? Villafana claims he likes to start companies. At last count, the 50-year-old had started four businesses, which now employ more than 2,500 people.
Villafana formed his first venture, Cardiac Pacemakers Inc., in 1972. Now part of a division of Eli Lilly & Co., Cardiac Pacemakers posted sales of $200 million last year. When its board rejected an idea for an improved artificial heart valve, he said, "OK, fine, I'll take it." In 1976 St. Jude Medical Inc., now a $200-million company, was born.
From there, Villafana departed to manufacture a new laser catheter through GV Medical Inc. He left that company in mid-1987, when he and management "had differences on which way the company should go," he says. It has yet to head in a profitable direction. His latest venture, Helix BioCore Inc., designs and manufactures production equipment to grow mammalian cells for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.
All of Villafana's companies are based in the Twin Cities, and all are public. They share other attributes as well. He has avoided venture capitalists. And his first hire at each company has been an employee who serves as materials manager. "You need someone who can find basic things, like desks and suppliers," says Villafana. "And I have someone I can trust." He also works hard to build teams. "I'm not afraid of putting the best and toughest people together," he says. He's been known to warn managers whose egos get in the way: If you don't shape up, you'll blow your chance to make a million bucks. "You'd be surprised how all of a sudden they become good working guys," he says.
