The more you share, more powerful you become

In the late 1970’s, David Schwaab crashed a Hewlett-Packard users group. His boldness caught the eye of an individual who recruited him to work at a small software startup.

Schwaab was employee number nine, and in choosing work over school, he helped grow the company to more than 70 employees before it was acquired by HP in 1981. At HP, he spent the next few years enjoying life as an ‘intrapreneur.’ Wikipedia defines an intrapreneur as an employee “who focuses on innovation and creativity and who transforms a dream or an idea into a profitable venture, by operating within the organizational environment.”

In 1985, while still with HP, Schwaab co-founded an office product company which grew to become the second largest in Denver and was eventually purchased by BT Office Products in 1990. He then started a board game business, Ways with Words, with two friends. Schwaab helped write the business plan and get the product off the ground, then in 1999, funded and assisted his brother-in-law to start an all-natural taffy shop in Old Town Sacramento, Calif.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Commercial Solar is a big investment, but not an overwhelming one

Solar offers a significant economic benefit for commercial property owners while also positively impacting the environment and offering a path to compliance for new municipal requirements like Energize Denver. A local, experienced solar installer will help you navigate the complexities of commercial solar to achieve financial success for your project.

In 2005, David took an early retirement from HP and started Rebit in his Fort Collins basement with a couple of colleagues. Rebit offers external PC backup solutions.

Q: What was the genesis of the idea for Rebit?

A: Software to do simple and automated backups didn’t exist. We saw it as a major gap in the market, and something we felt could be done much better than was currently being done. The innovation was that we saw backup as a background application. It simply runs in the background and the user doesn’t need to worry about it.

Q: What came first, the problem or the solution?

A: The problem came first. Rebit targets the need of a simple backup solution for non-technical users. It was a lack of easy-to-use backup software for the typical home user.

Q: What have been your biggest rewards?

A: I truly enjoy the community I now work in; it’s filled with people I admire. Rebit has grown far beyond the vision of the original founders. Benefiting from simple kindness of complete strangers, I attribute much of Rebit’s success to the support of the Colorado technology community who have embraced Rebit and the opportunity to unselfishly help it grow and even become part of it.

Q: What do you know now that you wish you had known sooner?

A: I try not to ever regret anything as they become great learning experiences, but for your readers I can outline three big key areas to think about:

• Form as a corporation from the beginning because it was time-consuming to do it after we had formed as an LLC. We wanted to begin offering company shares to new employees.
• Consider bringing more development resources on board sooner. We tried to make it with the resources we had and I believe it stalled our company for a year.
• I learned that by bringing in someone else to run the company, and allowing them to bring along their own staff, we significantly increased our speed to the market and it helped us secure additional funding.

Q: Are there one or two things you can attribute your success to?

A: Success came from focusing on my strengths and knowing my weaknesses, and partnering with those who are strong where I was weak. Put yourself out there no matter what. I credit much of Rebit’s success to Bill Beierwaltes, and his support in the beginning. Bill gave us our first office space when we outgrew my basement. Bill has believed in our idea from the beginning and in doing so has given us credibility in the community.

Q: What are your strongest core beliefs?

A: Be open to other people, to new ideas and new ways of doing things. Be open to yourself and be optimistic. All businesses are a game played by the same rules. I’ve run successful ventures in a wide variety of different industries. Along the way I’ve learned the common elements that make any business successful.

Q: Do you recommend an MBA?

A: I believe in hiring MBAs, as they make great employees. As far as an entrepreneur having an MBA, you have to ask yourself why you think it would be necessary. There’s no magic answer out there – you just need to do whatever it takes and empower others because you can’t do it all by yourself. If you always expect the best from others and from yourself, that’s what you’ll get.

Q: Slogan to live by or what it might say on your tombstone?

A: What drives me is knowing I am making a positive difference in the world. Expect the best results from yourself and others, and do whatever it takes.

Brian Schwartz is the founder of 50 Interviews Inc., and can be reached at www.50interviews.com.