According to Berglas, that's typical -- and perfectly understandable -- entrepreneurial thinking. Challenge, he says, is a basic nutrient of the entrepreneurial diet. "And challenge doesn't exist unless it increases," says Berglas. "To the expert skier, going down the bunny hill isn't really skiing. As you progress you go from the green circles to the black diamonds. Pretty soon you have people dropping you out of a plane to ski." Likewise, the second-time entrepreneur, in order to keep from getting bored, needs to up the ante. The danger, says Berglas, comes when challenges turn into threats. "An entrepreneur needs to realize the competency he can exercise is limited. What does he do for an encore in round three? Triple his previous return? Pretty soon the bar is too high." But provided the second-timer is realistic about the goals he or she sets, upping the personal ante can be an effective tactic.
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It's a way for you to make a difference, not just a product
"We like making the world a better place. And the margins aren't bad, either."
If you buttonholed Randy Carlock to ask him about his accomplishments, he could justifiably brag about Audio King Inc., the Minneapolis-based stereo-equipment retail store he bought in 1976 and grew to a 10-store, $25-million company by 1991. (The company has since gone public and currently stands at about $50 million in sales; Carlock serves as chairman of the board.) Or he might flaunt his success with Computer King Inc., the computer-equipment retailer he founded in 1979, which had $3 million in sales when he sold it, in 1983. But what he'd be most likely to crow about these days is his nonprofit work at the Institute for Family Business at the University of St. Thomas, in Minneapolis.
Carlock developed a family-entrepreneurship program for the institute, an activity he views as being every bit as enterprising as his other two businesses. "I'm a lot more interested in my work at the university than in thinking about starting another business," says Carlock. "I love helping other people do what I did. I've created jobs and wealth; now I want to help other people create jobs and wealth. Would I get this much pleasure out of starting another business? I don't think so."
Besides, Carlock says, many of the same skills are pressed into service whether the new company bows before the bottom line or not: identifying opportunities, building teams, maximizing scarce resources, and expressing ideas. "You're working with the same knowledge base," says Carlock, "but you measure your success in totally different ways."
Other entrepreneurs prefer to take on a broader goal within the context of a for-profit venture. It was no accident that Peter Yates chose as his second venture to start Hyper-Quest Inc., a CD-ROM publisher specializing in entertainment/educational titles. He says he has always wanted to educate children. "Right out of university, I spent five years teaching. Growing up in England, we were taught some wonderful subjects, like astronomy, archaeology, mythology, anthropology," he observes. "They just don't seem to teach any of those anymore. They are incandescently wonderful subjects that Western education all but ignores."
Ever the genteel Brit, Yates bemoans the brutish influence he says Western culture imposes on its youth. "Our culture is so full of violence and negative images for our children," he says. "They are taught to solve violent problems with violent solutions." Yates feels that Hyper-Quest's products allow him to play a part in counteracting what he calls the "more coarsening features of our civilization." Oh, and it also brings in a few bucks. "I do have a serious mercantile streak," he confesses. "If this weren't making money, I wouldn't be doing it."
Weldon, too, says that his second venture seeks to "create products that are more meaningful and offer a greater benefit to society." Whereas his first company produced catheters that allowed physicians to diagnose problems such as heart disease, this time most of his wares are therapeutic: they fix problems rather than just pinpoint them. "When the surgeon who uses the product turns and smiles at me after the procedure, that's a real feel-good opportunity," says Weldon.
Super-squishy nonsense, you say? Well, don't get Weldon wrong. "I'm not interested in being a social worker," he says, "but I get more excited by products that go beyond filling a need."
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This time you can do what you really want to do
"Next year's marketing budget? Yeah, well, you need to speak to the CEO about that."
Why would Peter Yates, being presumably of sound mind and able body, give away the best job at his new company? He has his reasons, as it turns out. And good ones, too.
When Yates started Compass Technology Inc., in 1989, he naturally assumed the helm as CEO. Although he claims he has always had more of an affinity for the "big picture" aspects of running a company than for the day-to-day details, he nonetheless found himself responsible for all of the above. Enter son Julian, who quickly proved himself invaluable, not only as the sales manager but as the operations chief as well. "There were many examples of things I was good at planning but wasn't very good at executing -- for instance, testing software and technical support," says Peter Yates. "I'm not a process guy. My son has always said that, usually in front of other people. The more the merrier." By the time the Yateses sold Compass Technology, in 1992, Julian -- age 29 -- was acting as the CEO, although he lacked that specific title. Technically, he was chief operating officer.
