SM: What is going on in the market that justifies Enquisite coming into it today? MH: At the highest level, you have people switching off newspapers and magazines. Everyone is under a lot of pressure to deliver revenue. A lot of things are shifting to electronic commerce world and electronic advertising.
SM: What kind of revenue ramp did you see in Commerce One? MH: We were doing about $200 million a quarter during our last big quarter. That was really from software sales, and a minimal amount from transaction revenues.
SM: What is the story of Commerce One? How did you get involved there? MH: In 1995 I became the chairman of Sybase. It was a tough time in the market for database people and there were disagreements with the board.
SM: What year did you take Sybase public? MH: That happened in 1991. I stayed there until 1995. SM: What was your experience like after Sybase became an established leader? MH: We grew it to 5,000 people. We had operations all over the world and I learned that companies go through phases.
SM: In 1984 when you started Sybase with Bob Epstein, what was the funding environment? That was not in the heyday of venture capital. MH: Most of the venture capital was going into hardware companies. Very few software companies were being funded.
SM: Where did you end up working? MH: I took a position with AMDAL and went through their MBA rotational training program in 1979. I worked for them for a couple of years, and learned a lot. It was a mainframe company and was dealing with some of the most complex technologies for the time,
SM: Mark, where does your story begin? What is the genesis of your incredible career? MH: I grew up in a very small town in the southwest corner of Minnesota. It was a farming community of 3,000 people. It had a good school system. I had a Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer existence while I
SM: What kinds of products would you like to bring in? RL: They must leverage our market share. I know our customers would prefer to purchase from us if we have the products they want. We are very careful not to mess up the salesperson’s relationship with the hospitals.