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Life as
a Dropout, Entrepreneur, & MS Exec
By Michael Alan Hamlin
October 28, 2002
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates shares
a couple things in common with Joey Gurango, managing director of
Microsoft Business Solutions. Both, for instance, are college dropouts.
And, they both work for what as of last week is again the world's
most valuable company, which Gates founded. But Gurango has much
more experience dropping out of college. "I went to many, many
schools, and never finished up at any of them," he told me
recently. "I consider it a badge of honor."
Born in the Philippines and exported
to the U.S. when he was 18, it took a while for Gurango to give
up on college. He dropped out of colleges all over the U.S., and
later in the Philippines. Gates dropped out of just one, Harvard,
where legend has it he spent most of his time playing cards. But
Gurango not only has more experience dropping out of college than
Gates, he has more experience as an entrepreneur.
While Gates was involved in or co-owned
three entrepreneurial ventures, including Microsoft, all had to
do with technology. Gurango's entrepreneurial adventures cover a
much wider spectrum, and include injection molding, opening up a
laser machine shop, door-to-door sales, and even gourmet pizza deliveries.
He saw opportunity in pizza restaurants that didn't deliver their
own products. It was a great idea that didn't last long. Neither
did the laser machine shop. "I spent all my money on equipment,"
he said, "and forgot that I needed operating capital."
Those learning experiences were often
painful, but valuable, providing Gurango with the knowledge, as
well as the determination, he needed to eventually succeed in business.
And success did eventually come in the late 1980s when Gurango set
up Match Data Systems with a partner in Seattle, Washington. The
two entrepreneurs developed custom software for Fortune 1000 companies,
according to Gurango. By 1991, the company was so busy it established
an R&D center in the Philippines, which Gurango ran himself,
to keep up with demand. Another center was opened in Australia in
1995.
Gurango said the company set its
sights on the Philippines only after looking at alternative locations
with plentiful supplies of programmers. Alternatives included Leningrad,
Warsaw, and Mexico City. "But there were problems with each
of those venues," he said. "Then my brother said the Philippines
has programmers. My first response was, 'Oh yeah, sure.'"
Now Gurango - who's stayed in the
Philippines since his return in 1991 - feels somewhat differently.
"The programmers here are very good at the entry level. They
are as good as those found anywhere, including the U.S., and there
are plenty of them. Where we have problems is at the senior systems
design level. But that's only because these senior people are recruited
overseas as soon as they have two or three years experience."
And that's still true, despite the tech crash.
Match Data Systems soon began developing
software on contract for a software firm called Great Plains, which
at the time was headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota. "We had
a project accounting solution that we developed for them,"
Gurango says. "It filled a hole in their product lineup, and
that made them interested in pursuing a closer relationship with
us." Great Plains was also having difficulty ramping up its
own R&D. "It wasn't easy to get top people to relocate
to Fargo," Gurango noted dryly.
Great Plains therefore bought what
it had trouble creating, acquiring Match Data Systems in 1999. In
12 years, the college dropout and several times failed entrepreneur
had made it big, creating a firm so successful in the development
of innovative custom software that it was acquired by a major customer.
More acquisitions were to quickly follow.
Great Plains' suite of small business
applications, its reach in that segment and its new R&D depth
made the company an attractive partner to Microsoft, which was looking
to expand its share of the SME market. Gurango, who had developed
a reputation as a strong, motivational leader who delivers results,
is said to have been an important component of the value proposition
that Microsoft bought into when it acquired Great Plains in 2001.
What became Microsoft Great Plains
was recently renamed Microsoft Business Solutions following another
acquisition, this time of Denmark-based enterprise solutions developer
Navision Software. The Philippine R&D center of the now combined
company is responsible for five different global product groups.
It develops HR and payroll applications for the U.S. and Canadian
markets as well as accounting software. Professional services automation
develops software for the professions. For Asia Pacific, the Philippines
develops customized taxation modules for financial and accounting
software. And, it is responsible for developing the integration
interface of the company's solutions with customer relationship
management software.
All these products are developed
by Filipinos, in the Philippines. So it's not surprising that Gurango
says the company is here for the long-term. "If you want to
get something done, this is the place to find the people."
And by getting things done here, Gurango has consistently increased
the value of what has become an impressive global force in the software
industry in its own right.
He's also shown how an entrepreneur
really succeeds: Never stopping, no matter what, until you get it
right.
(Michael Alan Hamlin is the managing
director of consultancy TeamAsia and the author of three books on
Asian economies and companies. His latest book is Marketing Asian
Places, of which he is a co-author (Wiley, 2001). He can be reached
at mahamlin@teamasia.com.).
Copyright © 2002 Michael Alan
Hamlin. All Rights Reserved.
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