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Déjà Vu, All Over Again

An entrepreneur learns coming back as CEO requires thinking about business in a new way.

By Chris Penttila •

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Don't say "You can't go home again" to BrettShockley, co-founder of Minneapolis-based SpanlinkCommunications, whose early product, Webcall, let onlineshoppers click an icon to connect to a call center-a novel ideaback in 1995. In 2000, Cisco Systems took a minority interest inthe company, and Shockley, 46, got an offer he couldn't refuse:to become vice president and general manager of Cisco'scustomer contact business unit.

In January 2002, however, Shockley returned to Spanlink as CEO.Time away gave him confidence to make tough decisions, such astrimming Spanlink's staff, which had grown 60 percent in hisabsence.

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