Judy Estrin is all in favor of a Plan B, and she probably
wouldn't mind a Plan C. Estrin, 47, is a serial entrepreneur.
She and her husband, Bill Carrico, 52, have been starting
businesses since 1981, when they formed Bridge Communications,
which made computer hardware and merged with 3Com in 1987. Then
they moved on to start Network Computing Devices in 1988, going
public in 1992; and in 1995, they created Precept Software, which
was purchased by Cisco Systems three years later. Estrin, an
engineer as well as an entrepreneur, serves on the boards of
Federal Express, Disney and Sun Microsystems.
Estrin is now CEO of the couple's latest company, Mountain
View, California-based Packet Design, founded in 2000. The new firm
launches startups-taking risk to a seemingly foolish degree,
especially today. But the first company Packet Design launched,
Vernier Networks, which develops software that helps network
managers protect wireless local area networks from intrusion,
raised more than $10 million from investors last year. Everything
seems to be off to a roaring start.
But like Kamfar's, Estrin's type of risk-taking is
analogous to a stuntwoman driving a car into a brick wall: It's
less dangerous than it looks because of all the precautions taken.
Packet Design relies on plenty of internal research before sinking
finances and energies into a startup.
"You have to
believe in your convictions, but that doesn't mean you follow
them blindly."
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"I believe in calculated risks and known risks," says
Estrin, who surely is thinking of a few dotcommers who have come
and gone. "There are a lot of entrepreneurs who say
'Let's jump into it and let's not worry about it.'
I think we have been much more about understanding what the risks
are, and then making the right trade-offs and deciding which risks
to take, as opposed to just thinking that taking a risk is always
the right thing to do."
One of Estrin's biggest risks came early in her career, when
she and her husband had secured investments to create Bridge
Communications, which relied heavily on Ethernet technology. At the
same time, a technology research firm concluded that broadband
technology would stomp the Ethernet into the ground.
"The investors were very concerned," recalls Estrin.
"But we stood fast and said, 'That's not going to
happen.' We ended up being right, and we really did believe we
were right." And that belief is crucial to taking a risk,
Estrin adds. "You have to believe in your convictions, but
that doesn't mean you follow them blindly."
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