Angela
A. Brown
Angelique X. Irvin
David
Ashley Morrsion
David Niu
TEACHING & LEARNING
Consulting
to Growth Businesses
Opening the Doors to Private Equity
OUTREACH
Wharton West: Back to School
Q&A with The Newly Appointed Director of The Wharton Small Business Development Center
Faces of Wharton Entrepreneurship
RESEARCH
Inside The "War Room"
Paul
Hynek
CEO
Personal
Information
Company name /type: Spitfire Ventures, Inc.
Education: MBA / MA Lauder 1990
Primary place of residence: Los Angeles
It would surprise people that I….:
I live in Los Angeles and am not producing movies.
P.O.V.
(Point of View)
I
became an entrepreneur because…:
I’m so ornery that I would never hire myself.
Best way to respond to criticism and doubters: Understand that
they typically have more validity in their point than you initially care
to admit. Then don’t immediately try to convince them wholesale,
but rather agree on concrete milestones that you can achieve that will
gradually help win them over to the cause.
Best definition of a successful entrepreneur: Three parts foolhardiness,
two parts confidence, one part vision.
Most challenging part of your job: Taking time to view the
horizon well past the next fire on my To Do List.
Biggest impact of the Wharton School: The confidence to be
able to break down all manners of massively complex business issues into
incremental, achievable milestones.
Best memory of your Wharton days: Heading up the Wharton Summer
Volunteer Project, and building the Carib Indian Tribal Council Headquarters
in Dominica with 6 Wharton friends.
Close
calls
How
you started your business: They passed out magnetic
address books at my high school reunion and it made me think that instead
of a largely worthless promotional doodad, I could publish real content
in these things.
Pivotal moment in growing your business: Winning the Entrepreneur
Magazine / Southwest Airlines Business Plan Concept.
Most interesting non-entrepreneurial job offer you’ve declined:
CFO of a company that had the exclusive rights to market 500,000 never-before-heard
recordings of the best music recorded in the Soviet Union spanning 50
years.
Biggest surprise you encountered growing your business: That
even the most unpleasant aspects of your own business can be more enjoyable
than the perks of a cushy job.
Most difficult decision you’re glad you
made: Accept investment from friends and family.
Entrepreneur
to Entrepreneur
Favorite
Web site:
www.brandfidelity.com
Book
that most influenced your thinking: "Lateral
Thinking" by Edward de Bono.
Favorite activity outside of business: Snowboarding
Goal still pursuing: Hiring people I admire.
Person most influential to your success: My little brother,
who once asked me "What are you going to do with all the money you’re
going to make?" (I’ll let him know when it happens.)
Person you most admire: Herb Kelleher
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