Wednesday, September 27 the Business Ingnitor Series presented Tom Stockham President and CEO of 3point5, a company that develops technology that trains retail sales associates. The talk was sponsored by Grow Utah Ventures, Grant Thornton, and Connect Magazine for the entreprenurial community.
The Business Ignitor is a series of talks and presentations that highlight individuals that are considered successful business leaders in our community. One such individual is Tom Stockham. I didin't know much about him as an individual but I had heard of MyFamily.com for which I discovered Tom was the founder and CEO. Tom Stockham talked about what it takes to make a difference and how an individual can focus their talents to execute a difference.
He opened his talk with a great joke that had something to do with "celebrating" as opposed to 'celibating'. It took me a minute to get the joke but slowly, I got it. The point of the joke (without repeating it) was show how easy it is to misinperpret a message. Great opener. The rest of his talk centered around getting the message out in clear terms, keeping the passion for what you believe in, and some thoughtful advice on how to get there from here. It was a great talk from the perspective that you just can't give up and it takes tenacity and perserverance to build a successful business.
Some great advice offered at this talk:
1. Don't give up and be passionate about what you are doing.
2. Do your best to create a simple message to communicate what your business is about.
3. Follow up on all leads. What one person doesn't understand, another person will.
4. Build a company that is supported by sales of your product or services, then go for capitol investment.
Tom, thank you for the candid talk. It was worth attending!