SM: Really strong people do not tolerate that kind of dynamic. JE: The way to lead innovation is to bring out the leadership in each individual.
SM: What knowledge and experience did you gain from your time at Packet Design? JE: For the first time I realized how hard it is to hire CEOs. One of the problems with an incubator is that if you try to turn the idea over to someone else and it was not their idea, they
SM: You merged with 3Com, which has a completely different dynamic and culture. JE: The biggest mistake is that we merged with the notion there was going to be an office of the president. Bill Carrico and Bill Krause were sharing the key roles. Bill Carrico was chairman and president and Bill Krause was CEO, or
SM: Tell me some about how VCs received your concept when you were starting Bridge. JE: Bridge started in 1981 and we spent six months trying to raise money. We raised $1.8 million, and I remember one VC asking why we needed $1.8 million for a modem. I looked at Bill and said, “He doesn’t get it”. We
SM: I have never even thought of myself as a woman. I have thought of myself first as an entrepreneur and a professional. JE: I thought of myself as a technologist first. When I became a leader and manager I thought of myself as a business person first and a woman second. Now when I
Estrin has been named three times to Fortune Magazine’s list of the 50 most powerful women in American business. She sits on the boards of directors of The Walt Disney Company and FedEx Corporation as well as two private company boards – Packet Design, Inc. and Arch Rock. For more background review her bio. SM:
SM: Is there anything else you would like to discuss that is relevant to your company? GK: There is another project that is driving part of our company economics. That is the high density vertical growing system; we are rolling it out as a commercial product.
SM: It sounds like you are still in the early stages of your startup in terms of the overall balance of technology. Could you address your reasoning for doing this in the public market? GK: When I first had this idea the market was not what it is now. Back then I could not get