KAPLAN INSTITUTE EXEC DIRECTOR HOWARD TULLMAN SPEAKS AT 10TH ANNUAL DUPAGE COUNTY REGIONAL BUSINESS OUTLOOK MEETING

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1871 CEO Howard Tullman Remarks at Illinois Humanities Council Award Benefit Luncheon

   

                 Before I start, I just want to say that all of our thoughts and prayers go out to Martha Lavey for a speedy and full recovery. No one in the City has been a greater advocate for the arts and for the humanities.

               I want to begin by thanking the Illinois Humanities Council for this great honor and the leadership and staff of the IHC for doing all of the hard work that it takes to pull off something as challenging as this program. I’m also thankful for the work the IHC does every day because - in my life - art isn’t optional or nice to have – it’s essential. A culture is measured by its aspirations and its dreams and those dreams are dreamed by its artists.

            I also want to say how grateful I am to the 3 co-chairmen for today’s event – Joel Henning, Murray Peretz and Richard Price – whose support, commitment and generosity are unparalleled and who ALWAYS answer the call whenever I ask for their help. They are good and steadfast friends and great humanitarians as well as consistent supporters of the arts in their own right.  I also want to thank Marie Tillman and Joe Shenton for all their help with today’s luncheon and especially Marie for agreeing to give a few closing remarks on the program today.

            I want to thank my wife Judy for all her support, encouragement, patience and understanding for many decades now and for only occasionally saying: “Are you really going to buy THAT painting?” and only rarely saying: “Oh, no, not another business.”

            I want to thank Kevin Coval and the crew from Louder than A Bomb for their participation in today’s event. We’ve been friends and supporters of Kevin’s work for many, many years and I continue to be amazed at the growth and the depth of his work and its impact on our city and on all of our citizens.

            And finally, for our meals, my many friends at Lettuce (and especially our guest chef Andrew Shedden from Mon Ami Gabi) as well as my long-time pal Marc Schulman from Eli’s. Marc and I have worked together on many different things over the years starting when I moved Kendall College from Evanston to its new home on Goose Island.

            I was reminded of that particular adventure most recently when I was proud to see (in connection with the recent hoopla here in the city) that more than a dozen of my chefs from Kendall have been honored over the years by the James Beard Foundation. I didn’t season the soup, but I like to think that I helped to set the table. And I didn’t do it alone – Barb Pollack who’s here with us today was an important partner in the creation and development of the “new” Kendall College and in all our major projects since then.

            I had a similar flashback a few years ago when Christo’s wife, Jean-Claude passed away. We had worked together more than 40 years ago on a series of multiples for the Men’s Council of the Museum of Contemporary Art. I was also lucky enough to support and see the realization of their Central Park Gates project in 2005 (which was only 26 years in the making) and it was truly a dream come true.

            In fact, Christo taught me a number of valuable lessons about passion, patience, persistence and perseverance that I reference and rely on every day in my writings and in my work with hundreds of entrepreneurs who are every bit as much dreamers as Christo.

            He taught me three things in particular that I would share with you:

            (1) that you should never agree to knowingly surrender your dreams;

            (2) that it’s a good plan to always have more dreams than memories; and

            (3) that a man isn’t really old until his regrets take the place of his dreams

           I’m happy to report that I’m still dreaming every day. And that I’ve learned over the years that the development of dreams and their transition into concrete realities always follows the same path:

            (a) initially, they seem impossible;

            (b) eventually, they seem improbable; and then

            (c) ultimately, they seem inevitable.

            The most important trick - while you’re waiting for the world to catch up - is to always be drawn by your dreams rather than being pushed by your problems. The second crucial element is to have the support of talented people beside you because today no one accomplishes anything important all by themselves. Being an artist or an entrepreneur may seem lonely at times, but you’re never really alone.

            One other important difference at 1871 is that our dreams come with deadlines and even the grandest ideas are soon obliged to generate invoices. Great companies start with art and end up with science. But actually I’ve found that there’s very little difference between artists and entrepreneurs which is what makes my present work so exciting.

            Whether at Kendall, Experiencia, Flashpoint or 1871, it turns out that the demands that true art makes are really no different from what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. Three basic things: sacrifice; discipline and integrity. While there are few things more intimidating than sitting before a blank canvas or an empty sheet of paper and waiting for the light bulb and the inspiration to strike; the truth is that the process of building a new business from scratch really isn’t that much different. Mostly it’s about getting started and putting one foot in front of the other. It’s a lot less about inspiration and a lot more about perspiration.

            In fact, the most important thing that any good artist or entrepreneur will tell you is that ultimately it’s not even about creativity. Creativity is often necessary for great works, but it’s not sufficient. What ultimately gets the great work done is a great deal of work.

            You’ve got to show up.

            You’ve got to sit down and get started.

            And you’ve got to have the strength to do that each and every day.

That’s the process. It never changes. You do what you have to do. You do it the best you can. You do it that way every time. And it’s funny how often things work out pretty well.

            Because in the end, it all comes down to a simple truth:

YOU DON’T GET WHAT YOU WISH FOR,

YOU GET WHAT YOU WORK FOR.

Thank you again for this honor and for honoring me with your presence here today.  

EXECUTIVE CLUB LEADERSHIP CIRCLE PANEL WITH 1871 CEO HOWARD TULLMAN, SAM YAGAN, CHUCK TEMPLETON, CRAIG SAMPSON AND ROB WOLCOTT

RICHARD PRICE

BUD SEMPLE

CHUCK TEMPLETON

CRAIG SAMPSON AND SAM YAGAN

ROB WOLCOTT

NETWORKING TIPS FROM THE TOP

             Last week I had the privilege of sitting on a panel with two extremely successful serial entrepreneurs (Sam Yagan – founder of OkCupid and now CEO of Match.com and Chuck Templeton – founder of Open Table and now MD of the ImpactEngine accelerator at 1871) which was moderated by my good friend, Rob Wolcott, who runs the Kellogg Innovation Network (KIN). The title of the panel was slightly longer than the typical length of my blog posts (so I don’t want to repeat it here) and no good entrepreneur stays on point anyway - so let’s just say that it was an evening of quips and networking tips from a bunch of very smart and experienced people.  I learned and laughed a lot (and caught a few things that were new ideas to me as well) and I thought I’d share a couple of the highlights.

(1)   Walk the Walk and Wear the T-Shirt

                        I’m usually the most under-dressed guy at grown-up events like this, but Sam Yagan was wearing a Match.com t-shirt under his jacket so, from a sartorial splendor standpoint, it was pretty much a draw. The more important point was what Sam said about why he was wearing the shirt and what wearing the shirt says about Sam. He said that, as the CEO, he’s always selling and promoting the business and that it’s a critical part of that process that everyone he meets knows that he’s all-in, fully-committed, and sincerely does believe that Match.com will change your life for the better and, if you’ve got the time, he’ll tell you how and why.

                        My friend Slava Rubin who co-founded Indiegogo (and is now the CEO) always wears a company t-shirt when he travels. He’s plenty proud of the business he’s built too and it shows the minute you meet him and you’ll miss your plane for sure if he gets started talking about the company and the latest and greatest crowd funding successes that they’ve helped to make happen. He says, of course, that his shirt’s a comfy way to roll, but the real reason is that he knows he’s going to pass a bunch of people on the trip and it’s the cheapest form of subliminal advertising he’s come up with so far which also saves him a bundle on marketing.          

           It’s all about authenticity, believing in your business and yourself and walking the walk. Leaders lead by example or they don’t really lead at all. The day you’re not comfortable in your role, in the business, or in the company t-shirt, is the day you should find another place to be. If you’re not excited about what you’re doing and proud of the place you doing it, do something else. This stuff (building new businesses and changing the world) is just too hard and life’s too short to go to work every day without a spring in your step and a smile on your face. Not everything will ever be fun and easy, but as long as it matters and you’re making a difference, there’s no better place to be.

(2)   You Never Know Who’s Going to Bring You Your Future

            Rob Wolcott likes to say that at KIN he tries to never leave serendipity to chance, but Chuck Templeton told the audience two different ways that – in the early days of his business - he manufactured and mined his own serendipity. One was a process and one was an attitude and they both helped him build his earliest networks of supporters and sponsors and also – crucially – helped him fill in the gaps in his knowledge and experience by reaching out to others for help.

             The process was pretty simple. He’d read every issue of what - for a few minutes back then - was more or less the hot tech industry magazine (The Industry Standard) – which he described as an early version of WIRED (although the fact is that WIRED was started about 5 years before it) and when he read about people doing things that seemed interesting and relevant to his business, he would reach out to them and ask them for a few minutes of their time to answer his questions. Not only did he learn a lot about stuff, but he said that he also learned a lot about how many people were so generous with their time and how they would actually take the time to help a total stranger. The morale of the story was pretty simple – it never hurts to ask – and it can often turn into a real opportunity and it’s always an education.

        The attitude was also pretty straightforward. He said that you should always keep an open mind when you meet people and that you should never underestimate them because you really just never know who’s going to turn out to have the keys to the kingdom. Or as I like to say: you never know who’s going to bring you your future. Every encounter, every meeting, every conversation is a chance to learn and also to build and extend your network. Everyone’s an example – some to emulate and some to avoid like the plague – but you’ll never know which ones are which if you don’t invest the time to explore the possibilities and have the right attitude while you’re at it.