Robert (Bob) Jordan is an entrepreneur with his own series of successes, including Online Access, the first Internet-coverage magazine that wound up on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing private companies and was eventually sold. He currently has a company in Illinois, interimCEOinterimCFO, which is a network of highly-qualified C-level execs in a variety of industries who are available for short-term work on projects and contracts. So why did Bob write the book? He was interested in learning from people who had started businesses from scratch, grew them, and then sold them for $100 million or more or went public for at least $300 million. However, Bob wasn’t focused on just any successful entrepreneurs; in his own words, “I had a chip on my shoulder.” He wanted to show the world that technology businesses aren’t found only in Silicon Valley—they also come from the Heartland—Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, Indiana...With the help of some of his investment banker friends, he compiled a list of about 70 candidates and invited them to spend 90 minutes at the Four Seasons in Chicago in September of 2008 to record the interviews. Twenty-one of them showed up, and the rest he contacted later by phone. As Bob says, it wasn’t a scientific study—“[I] wanted a work of art, not science.” 

 

I asked him what were the most surprising things he learned from his entrepreneurs. I expected him to mention one of the tips from the list his publicist has provided, but that wasn’t the case. With a laugh, he blurted out, “The original plan the entrepreneur had never worked.” The company that grew to success didn’t look a lot like the company did at launch. So, those of you who insist on sticking steadfastly to your one great idea might be making a big mistake. 

 

Second, Bob learned that boredom is a big advantage to an entrepreneur. Now, even that one stumped me until I thought about it a bit. He gave me a great example. He had interviewed Dane Miller, CEO of multi-billion-dollar medical device company Biomet. Apparently, during one of those massive blizzards that sometimes shuts down the power in Warsaw, Indiana, Miller was bored and decided it was time to prove to the world that titanium beats stainless steel for joint replacement. So, since he had nothing else to do, he had a surgeon friend implant a small bar of titanium in his arm and he left it there for 9 years to prove that it was biocompatible. The result? A $12 billion company.

 

My conversation with Bob Jordan was fascinating. It’s Bob’s first book, and it may just be a winner. It’s definitely worth a read.