LIQUID LEADERSHIP
An interview by Jason Gardner with Brad Szollose

10 Years after the Dot Com Boom, Brad Szollose talks candidly about the company he took public, hyper-growth, the return of Silicon Alley and his formula for the future of leadership.

I heard through the grapevine that Brad was one of them; a former Dot Com Boomer. Remember those days? Just 10 short years ago, Wall Street was flooded with an army of goateed Internet geeks eager to carve out their niche in the Canyon. It was a time when venture capitalists suddenly lost their minds and handed out billions in start-up capital to the first Gen-Xer who shouted “It’s the new economy man, you just don’t get it!” Arrogance and a shaved head could net you an extra 15 million dollars and Wall Street began to embrace a scary new concept – creative types were dabbling in big business. History was being rewritten as Cyber Celebrities invaded Manhattan and business plans were scribbled on cocktail napkins.

But the whirlwind romance seemed to end as quickly as it started. Overnight, near the end of 2000, the honeymoon ended – the Dot Com bubble burst and New York City was never the same. An intrepid few got out just in time with substantial rewards, taking their Herman Miller Aeron® Chairs (the symbol of 90s excess) with them. At $750 a pop, shareholders began to suspect where their investments went. The majority of Dot Com’s imploded amidst the burning ashes of their former loft space. To coin a phrase from Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities, the Masters of the Universe were masters no more.

I caught up with Brad Szollose (44) to talk with him about the Dot Com Boom. He was there, front and center, for an unbelievable ride. An entrepreneur and business owner for well over 27 years, long before the feeding frenzy of the 90s, Brad has been involved in such diverse disciplines as large-scale corporate events, web design, brand building, corporate coaching, and even professional stand-up comedy.

Yet there’s nothing funny about his accomplishments. In the mid-90s Brad co-founded K2 Design, Inc., with Douglas Cleek, David Centner and Matt de Ganon. At first K2 started out as a traditional design firm, but soon the four were hard at work transforming K2 into an interactive agency. Hyper-growth ensued and K2 Design began to explode from 4 employees to a workforce of 60. In less than 3 years, K2 launched its IPO on NASDAQ, raising over $7 million. They were the first Dot Com to go public.

All told, during Brad’s tenure, K2 experienced a 425% growth rate for 5 successive years. Handling that kind of growth was due in part to a unique management style that won K2 a leadership award from Arthur Andersen Consulting. I wanted to know more when Brad breathlessly entered the small Vietnamese restaurant in Union Square. “Jason, how’s it going?” He meant it. Within minutes I felt as if we were best friends. For the next 10 minutes he listened to my responses. This guy has boyish charm and confidence to boot – no wonder he did well. After some incredible food and a few anecdotes, my interview kicked off with the company he co-founded.

Q&A with Jason Gardner
 

I read up on K2, what a track record! Can you tell me how you got started?
Douglas Cleek called me up one day and said ‘I’d like to go into business with you.’ I had known Doug for over 10 years since college, been in his wedding party and climbed a mountain with him, so I figured what the hell. In less than a month we started the company. That was February of ‘93.

I heard you were an entrepreneur long before starting K2?
Oh yeah…I started my first business in 1979 when I was 16, had my first management position at 18. After college and a few years of working in NYC, I went freelance, specializing in large-scale corporate events. Although it was very exciting and I was working in true multimedia, I craved something more. After Doug called, I was fired up.

A year later you brought on David Centner as CEO and Matt De Ganon as president. The company seemed to explode from 4 to 60 employees, all within 3 years. How did you manage all that growth?
It wasn’t easy. We hired 15 employees in one batch and suddenly I didn’t know a third of the company. I realized if K2 was growing this fast, then I had to grow with it. So, I went to NYU for management classes and changed the way I operated as a leader.

When did things really heat up?
There was an article in Advertising Age that featured K2 alongside nine other companies that did Web sites. Imagine that – there were only 10 companies in the entire country who could do this kind of work. There was a huge photo of us under the headline and that did it. Companies were calling us left and right – Bell Atlantic, Xerox, American Express. It eventually led to us doing the IBM Deep Blue vs. Garry Kasparov Chess Challenge.

Wait…you’re the company that did the Deep Blue Chess Challenge?!
Yep, that was K2. It was one of the first live events to use the Internet. Most people didn’t have 56k modems at that time so we had to fake streaming banners and blow-by-blow commentary. We hired court stenographers to cover the action. Then we hired programmers from Russia to maintain the site because chess to Russians is like baseball to Americans. They know chess, and since the New York Times was monitoring our work on a daily basis, best to hire people who know better.

IBM wouldn’t listen to our server suggestions at first, but after 5 million hits that Friday, they gave us whatever we asked for. For a little while K2 became known for live events on the Web. We did RENT’s touring date Web site, and Bring In ‘Da Noise, Bring In ‘Da Funk! cast party. We got to hang out with Savion Glover and George Wolfe at Irving Plaza. All broadcast live on the Web.

Did all this high profile work generate the 400% growth rate?
We really didn’t have a choice. Suddenly corporations wanted web sites and there weren’t enough studios. We weren’t the only game in town either – there was CKS, Agency.com, Razorfish, DoubleClick, and more. We just grew to meet the demands of the marketplace.

How did you cope with hyper growth?
Well, first we hand-picked our people. Interactive technology is about the fusion between data, navigation and user experience. Today’s graphic designers aren’t thinking in terms of beautiful colors, but in terms of information architecture. To make the shift to that kind of thinking a person has to be very intelligent. With that said, we decided to hire smart, super-creative self-starters who had quirky resumes. With each new hire, David (Centner) and I met them at orientation. We gave them a copy of Tom Peters’ Pursuit of Wow and encouraged them to think out of the box and take initiative. Our thought was if an employee came up with a great idea, then by all means run with it! Create an idea factory within your organization and leverage a culture that will self-manage and support it. And don’t be afraid to maximize a competitive environment.

You sound like a management expert?
I better be, I’ve been at this for almost 30 years! (LOL) My job is to understand people – whether they are employees, management, or consumers. I am not a textbook leadership expert. I am someone who has sat in the ownership seat as well as on the board of directors, so I know what pressure is.

Today’s workforce never wants to hear you refer to them as “Human Capital.” They are extremely talented and technologically savvy, and expect to be treated as such. If you want them on your staff, you have to treat them well, otherwise they go freelance. It’s a shift in thinking – they don’t work for you, they partner with you.

Ask this: “Would you want your top talent working for your competition?” If the answer is no, I suggest profit sharing and goal setting. Keep your talent close and listen to them.

How has that model worked for you?
Quite well actually. I gave my staff the most creative environment possible while offering an ESOP. More importantly at K2 I always encouraged people to invent new business ideas. If it was good, we’d back it.

Case in point, two of our managers came up with an idea for a proprietary network of web sites based on top web search results. We liked the idea and financed the whole thing. That network became a separate brand and business unit. Eventually CliqNow! sold for $4 million and those two creative managers went with the deal. They are now executives at DoubleClick.

Would you say Silicon Alley is back?
Most definitely. The bubble burst to allow business to happen naturally. Now it is a viable sector based on the needs and demands from the marketplace. Ad spending is up and so are revenues.

Any advice for today’s leaders and executives?
Corporate America is spending millions on managing Millennials. These are young adults who were born between 1980 and 1995. They don’t know a world without video games, computers and gadgets. (This is the generation that was given trophies for showing up) The backlash is they believe more experienced individuals are dinosaurs and need to make room for them. The truth is productivity is down. The next 15 years will release 90 million of them into our workforce. Companies aren’t prepared to baby-sit nor will there be enough high salaried jobs.

Add to that the toppling of the American economy while third world countries become economically competitive. So far, the United States is the most expensive country in the world in which to do business. Our average worker makes around $43,000 a year compared to an employee in India making a very lucrative $6,000 a year…and cars go for $2,500 over there! Believe it or not, what will keep America competitive is our falling dollar. But we’ve got to get hungry again. We’re too relaxed.

Today’s executives must be more flexible, adaptable and strategic. Managing locally but acting globally will be necessary to compete. A firm management model must be developed.

Are you flexible, adaptable and strategic?
I live it and breathe it. By the year 2010, technological information will be doubling every 72 hours. Basically, change will be happening faster than our ability to keep pace. A competitive landscape that is now global, a glut of information, a bumpy economy and a workforce that is a little bratty will force companies to rethink their management style.

Time for Corporate America to step into the 21st century of borderless management.

And what are you doing these days?
I am a leadership coach. Evidently taking a company public and managing over 60 employees with offices worldwide gives you some sort of credibility. (LOL)

Leadership today really needs a new guidebook to success. Executives can no longer afford the old model of top down hierarchy. Today’s leader must become a resource for strategy and talent. I’m finishing my first book on the subject. I have a working title and it’s scheduled to be published in 2008. I am also speaking around the country about the new shift. It has been an exciting 5 years in the making.

It appears that Silicon Alley has returned. More experienced, less cocky and very weathered, the remaining players are carving out real companies in a real business sector. Even the poster boys of arrogance, Jeff Dachis and Craig Kanarick of Razorfish have toned down their act. The new economy is thriving and here to stay as companies like Lounge Lizard, Happy Corp Global, and DoubleClick prove they are the worthy ones. Plain and simple, the Cyber Business has grown up and the future of leadership is in their hands. And there’s that feeling again – the romance has returned to New York City. –JG

To contact Mr. Szollose, call 212-691-9037
or by email at brad@bradszollose.com

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Who is Brad Szollose?
Photos throughout this site are by Chia Messina, Gavin Ashworth and Jason Gardner

Brad Szollose started his first business in 1979 at the age of 16. Ironically, that was the same year he won his first design award for a state wide catalog cover design competition. Having an extensive art program in high school helped fuel his decision to become a graphic designer instead of a professional drummer. Brad attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and graduated with honors in illustration, graphic design, and cartooning. Szollose moved to New York City in 1984 and quickly became a noted multi-media designer, freelancing for such companies as The Caribiner Group, Drury Design Dynamics and Roger Wade Productions, producers of corporate theater and related promotional and entertainment events. In this capacity, he managed a team of designers, photographers and programmers in the production of full-scale, big-budget corporate national sales meetings. With a track record in traditional design and the technical mastery of 70 millimeter film, Szollose developed a reputation for creating never-before-executed special effects. During his tenure at these companies, Brad worked on the national and international sales meetings for the following corporations:

American Express, BMW, Banco Popular, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bozell, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Coty, Ethicon, Ford Motor Cars & Lincoln Mercury, IBM, Mercedes Benz, Merck, Mobile, Novartis, Pfizer, Rhône Poulenc Rhorer, Novartis, Seagram’s, Self Magazine, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Sunoco, Tahitian Noni, Vintner’s, WavePhore and Xerox.

After almost 10 years as a professional designer, Brad wanted to try something new.

In 1993 Brad co-founded K2 Design, Inc. with Douglas Cleek before the average person had heard the word “Internet”, or the term “Silicon Alley.” Both Douglas and Brad envisioned a full-service, total creative, interactive studio that specialized in building brand awareness and 1:1 relationships over the Internet.

Little did they know that the Silicon Alley boom was about to begin and K2 was positioned to ride the wave.

With Brad & Doug helping to drive the award winning creative, David Centner became CEO and Matthew DeGanon as chairman, K2 was able to expand from 16 employees to a work force of over 60. This hyper-growth positioned K2 as an industry leader, (along side such names as CKS, Avalanche, DoubleClick, Razorfish and Poppe.com). K2 went public in 1996 with an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on NASDAQ, raising over $6 million in public monies and over $1 million in private placement.

Brad became the Brand Manager and Creative Director for K2’s public and investor image. Day-to-day, he designed and managed a team for K2’s web brand, investor collateral and printed image.

Today, using his 30 years of entrepreneurial experience, Brad coaches executives and entrepreneurs in transitioning their businesses and management style from the Industrial Age into the Information Age. His methodologies help build equity and attract investment capital.

To contact Mr. Szollose, call 212-691-9037
or by email at brad@bradszollose.com