I teach a course in entrepreneurship for engineers at the University of Southern California, so I'm used to having to persuade budding entrepreneurs whose lives have focused on technology  that it's not about the technology when you're designing a new business venture.  It's always about people, their needs and how you deal with them.  It wasn't surprising then when USC alum and successful entrepreneur Shannon Blake Gans came to class this week to talk about her company and the lessons she's learned that students figured she would focus on what her company does.  After all, it is a pretty sexy company in the film industry, but they quickly found out that although the technology is important, it's probably not the critical success factor for the business. 

New Deal Studios is arguably the leading full-service visual effects production house in the motion picture industry.  They have created the stunning visual effects for such popular movies as The Dark Knight, The Aviator, Spider-man 3, and X-Men: The Last Stand and for blockbuster video games such as Halo 3: Believe.  As CEO, Shannon brings the business expertise to a successful partnership that includes Ian Hunter, an expert modelmaker, and Matthew Gratzner, formerly the owner of a successful costume and prop fabrication company.  Founding the company as Hunter-Gratzner in 1995 (Shannon had just graduated from college when she joined up with them), they parlayed their creative expertise and Shannon's business acumen into a company that is now known not only for its technical expertise but for its ability to give producers what they want while keeping the costs down.

But the real key to their success is the way they treat the people they deal with--their customers, employees, and partners.  Shannon learned early on that dealing with people in the entertainment industry is no walk in the park.  They can be tough and it often seems that their goal is to "put their vendors out of business" by pressing them to shave their margins to the point of the vendor not making a profit.  Shannon has learned to navigate that fine balance between delivering the quality that has come to be associated with New Deal Studios and keeping the costs at a level that is tolerable to the filmmakers.  One way she saves money is by planning scenes in exquisite detail, timing effects down to the millisecond so that they can do a scene in no more than two takes.  Consistent with her view that it's about people, she spends most of her time managing relationships and making sure her employees have the best working environment possible.  Paying attention to the needs of the people you work with pays off in higher profits and long-term sustainability and technology alone cannot buy that.