The fourth and final Executive-in-Residence event of the academic year was held in Blackwell Hall on Feb. 29. Sudhakar V. Shenoy, founder, chairman and CEO of IMC, Inc. in Reston, Va., addressed a packed room on how he risked everything to win in business on two different continents. Under his leadership, IMC has been recognized as an award-wining technology solutions company.
Shenoy began with a quick joke, pointing out his accountant and new Farmville resident in the audience, David Fields. "You know, he audits a lot of things, but I didn't expect him to be here to audit what I'm talking about," Shenoy quipped.
Shenoy started by telling the story of his startup in the technology business. He arrived at an IBM office on Jan. 2, 1981 to work, but was turned down because he lacked the requirement of being in business for at least one year.
On the elevator ride down from the 13th floor IBM office, Shenoy saw a sign that read "Wang" on the second floor. He decided to investigate since he had just read about Dr. An Wang, the company's founder, in a New York Times article. Shenoy was able to meet with Wang, kick-starting his association with Wang Laboratories. The business is best known for the development of core memory, the basic design that has provided the foundation for technology's basic evolution.
Shenoy's first job was to come up with a "commissioner's correspondence tracking system" for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The demonstration was due Monday and Shenoy learned of the job on Thursday. He said, "I went back and told my guys, ‘I don't know what your plans are for the weekend, but they're all cancelled."
Working through the weekend, they were able to give a presentation and win the largest contract in Wang Laboratories history. Promised $5,000 for the project, Shenoy earned a 250 percent return on his $2,000 investment.
Shenoy's idea was to package the software and sell it as a fixed price item; this was done, and the software was priced at $15,000. "I made a ton of money for one weekend's worth of work," he said.
Shenoy talked some about adapting with the changing tides. He noted how the computers that were used when the business first started would not hold a candle to something as tiny as a phone today. Shenoy said he calls himself the "Forest Gump" because he has simply fallen into things and they seem to just happen.
Some 80 percent of IMC, Inc.'s work deals with the health care industry today. Around 1997, Shenoy met a woman well-versed in the health care industry, especially with cancer research. Shenoy realized the health care industry would soon need technological guidance.
Moving to Salk Industries, the woman Shenoy met didn't think raising money to do research would turn out to be difficult. Shenoy contacted a friend who helped the woman find twice the amount of money for her research than what was needed.
Through research with databases, she noticed it was taking weeks to complete some of the genetic comparisons. According to Shenoy, technology in that area was not moving forward. "I said, ‘There's something's wrong.' I got her to come to my office the next day … and we came up to a solution which reduced it so she could do those comparisons in under five minutes."
Shenoy did the project free for the woman, but sold the software for several million dollars after keeping ownership. "It was just plain dumb luck. Imagine if I hadn't got out of that elevator, I wouldn't have become a Wang Lab person; if I hadn't sat next to her at the cancer research gala, I don't know what I would be doing," he said
The other 20 percent of the work is with private organizations through the management of content. "If you think about it, everybody's collecting data about everyone else," Shenoy reminded the audience. The emphasis is on helping companies manage content and removing redundant, obsolete and trivial (ROT) information that clogs databases and networks.
Shenoy said, "As technology changes, innovations take place. It is imperative for companies like mine to keep pace." He said talent and innovation would keep America number one. Shenoy credited those students he visited in classes on Wednesday as strong innovators.
Additionally, Shenoy said competition is not just the person sitting next to you in class. Competition has become globalized. "We must be cognizant in that," said Shenoy. "In many ways, I'm glad I'm older than you guys. I don't know how I would face up to all the competition that's coming up. On the other hand, you have great tools on your hand to face up to that competition."
The Executive-in-Residence program is a service of the Longwood University College of Business & Economics. Its existence is made possible through corporate support of Barrett Capital Management, LLC and SunTrust Banks, Inc.
Shenoy tells the audience his tips for success.
