Navigating Through Multiple Pivots: Convercent CEO Patrick Quinlan (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: The truth is, you can learn income statement. Learning leadership is a much harder thing. Leadership is something that is either you have it naturally or don’t. It’s not so simple.

Patrick Quinlan: I would agree. We certainly see people who are uncomfortable leaders who have done good. At the end of the day, you can learn it. You either have that ownership or you don’t. You can get better at it.

Sramana Mitra: You can get better at it with experience. I think people are either natural leaders or not natural leaders. I don’t know. That’s just my bias. When this company was sold, what year was this happening?

Patrick Quinlan: I joined the company in 1996. I became the President in 1997 and we sold it in 1999.

Sramana Mitra: By the end of the century, you were done. Did you have to serve an earn-out or any kind of lock-up?

Patrick Quinlan: Yes. I got fired again.

Sramana Mitra: Did you make money on that deal?

Patrick Quinlan: I made some. He treated me fairly. I never actually had true equity but when the deal closed, he gave me a portion of it. Then I did have an earn-out with a severance package. I went to the new company. Entrepreneurs don’t really do great in earn-outs.

Sramana Mitra: Given what you just described, the fact that you got this incredible learning opportunity in this company, even if you made no money at all, I would say that it was worthwhile.

Patrick Quinlan: It’s interesting when you asked the question if I made money on it. Where I am in life was not impacted by that outcome. I never think of Delta from a money standpoint. I think of it as my actual MBA. I very much agree with the Peter Thiel view of the world that college is a highly overused tool for a lot of people. I think that life is the best educator.

Certainly if you want to become an accountant, lawyer, or doctor, you should go do that. I have a strong belief that you learn a lot more through experience. I have a seven-month-old son. He’s my first kid. I don’t look at him and think, “I hope you go to Stanford.” It’s right for some people, but I don’t think it’s the automatic answer.

Sramana Mitra: I don’t have an MBA. I’m a computer scientist. I started my first company at graduate school. I have very good business acumen, but I learned everything through the job.

Patrick Quinlan: Yes, and you learn through failures. The company that I was involved in after this was a seven-year slog. We were in the housing space. We made the horrible decision to charge on a per-home start basis. For every house you started, you would pay a fee, which was awesome in 2006 and 2007. The company grew. We raised money from some local investors. The company’s revenue dropped 95% in four months in 2008.

This segment is part 3 in the series : Navigating Through Multiple Pivots: Convercent CEO Patrick Quinlan
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