Getting To Know My Mentor and Advice he Has
I recently had the opportunity to interview the Chairman of Sawtooth Software, W. Christopher King. He received his MBA at Brigham Young University in 1980 with an undergraduate in Computer Science. He began writing marketing models as a research assistant in college in 1977. Since then, he has been involved in marketing research.
He started his career as a Technical Support at John Morton company in 1982 in Chicago. In 1987 He became the manager of Sawtooth Software company. He has held multiple positions such as President, Vice Chairman and currently, he is the Chairman of the company. He has been with Sawtooth Software for 32 years now. Sawtooth Software is an industry leader in marketing research analytics including choice modeling and hierarchical Bayes analysis. He is also the Director of Strategic Development and Research for the Polynesian Cultural Center. His specialties are Small business management and market research modeling.
I was impressed to interview him because he has done what I want to do for 32 years and he possesses the skills that are great for business. I know I can learn a lot from him and I was able to ask him three questions that can point me in the right direction in regards to businesses.
- How would you describe your current business model?
“Sawtooth Software, Inc. is a privately-held, employee-owned S-Corp. We have a Board of Directors; W Christopher King is Chairman. We have 4 members of the Board: President, Vice President, and two managers. The members of the board and chairman are elected by the shareholders. We have two corporate officers: a President and Vice President. We have 13 shareholders; all are employees of the corporation. Should a shareholder decide to leave the company (or if they are fired), they must sell their shares back to the corporation at “face value”. If an employee would like to sell their shares at any other time, the corporation has the first right to buy them back at “face value”.
The company has no outside investors and no debt. We have savings in excess of 3 months’ expenses. This structure allows us to provide a SEP-IRA retirement plan where the company participates by contributing 25% of an employee’s annual gross to the employee’s personal SEP-IRA plan. We offer full health coverage via an HSA plan for the employee and dependents and fully funds the HSA account to it’s maximum.”
2. Why did you select your business model and how would you do it differently if you had to do it all over again?
“We chose this business model for its simplicity and also its benefit to the employees. No, there is nothing we would change about this business model. The fact that we have no outside investors helps us to focus on long-term outcomes and not short term profits. Employees who continue with us for the long-term are invited to become shareholders. This helps us retain good employees.”
3. What advice do you have for a college student who is considering starting up his or her own business?
“Do not attempt a start-up right out of school. It is best to find a job/career with another firm to gain experience, business networking (contacts), and capital. On the side, begin developing the start-up. Once the start-up begins to grow, slowly transition from your job to the start-up until it overtakes your regular income. Then you can drop your regular job.”
It was interesting to learn from him during the interview. He actually changed the way I thought I will start my business after school. I thought I would finish school and go straight to working on my business but after the advice he shared, it was an eye-opener for me. This was very helpful for me because now I know more about him and his success. This interview has paved a way for me to go back to him and learn more about how Software companies work and the challenges that come with it.
