Alan
Discount.

Years later, my father wanting to wind down the business and ease towards retirement, cut me loose. It was tough – I was now married with a young daughter. The future was uncertain. While my father’s decision at the time felt harsh, in reality, he did me a favor - it made me get outside my comfort zone into the “real world”, away from the security blanket and limited purview of a family business. I joined a direct mail company that shared a similar vision for producing marketing materials direct from computer to printing press – meaning no conventional artwork, film, plates, etc. were required to produce the materials. It was all electronic and digital. I would like to say this linear evolution was planned, but just as my father made moves out of necessity, I was simply following opportunity. After travelling to many of the largest printing companies in the U.S., and surviving the trials that go along with pioneering unproven, virgin technology, I found success. As a result, I was recognized as one of the frontrunners of this new era of digital printing, which later expanded to include new ways to personalize marketing materials, moving away from a mass market approach to a one-to-one relationship with constituents. My unique knowledge was eventually sought by others, and I spent some of my free time sharing my “power-user” experience using the leading tools (Aldus, Adobe, Quark as well as many pre-press digital platforms) with others, at seminars and tradeshows.

It was at this time I also got a taste of entrepreneurialism beyond what I had seen in my family business. The ironically also family-owned (just not my family) catalog business I had joined was led by an 80-year-old patriarch, who took me under his wing, and like my father, was more visionary than one would expect for his years. Together we started a company inside the parent business catering to still neophyte but yet burgeoning desktop publishing market. Within months I built the business to include hundreds of proprietary products, a million-catalog circulation, a million customers, and a dominant and respected brand in the marketplace. Our reward for success came in the form of 2 suitors for each of the respective businesses. It was a deal the family owners could not refuse. Sadly, while I had strategic and managerial control and unparalleled knowledge of the inner workings of both businesses, I did not have a significant equity position or safety net. Fortunately, instead of losing my job,  one of the acquiring entities considered me an integral piece of the sale and I received a consulting deal to aid them with the transition, and ultimately expand the business...