Déjà Vu, All Over Again
An entrepreneur learns coming back as CEO requires thinking about business in a new way.
Don't say "You can't go home again" to Brett
Shockley, co-founder of Minneapolis-based Spanlink
Communications, whose early product, Webcall, let online
shoppers click an icon to connect to a call center-a novel idea
back in 1995. In 2000, Cisco Systems took a minority interest in
the company, and Shockley, 46, got an offer he couldn't refuse:
to become vice president and general manager of Cisco's
customer contact business unit.
In January 2002, however, Shockley returned to Spanlink as CEO.
Time away gave him confidence to make tough decisions, such as
trimming Spanlink's staff, which had grown 60 percent in his
absence.
The second time around required a new mind-set. "It was
about building the company in a whole new direction," he says.
Last year, Spanlink nearly doubled its number of employees and
boasted sales over $40 million. Says Shockley, "I'm just
focused on growing the business as fast as we possibly
can."
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