Recently, Mark Solon of Highway 12 Ventures wrote a guest article for The Idaho Statesman in which he chronicled the transformation of es/drake into Drake Cooper. He followed the paths that led Bill Drake and Jamie Cooper to each other, and a glimpse into their plan for the future.
A few excerpts from the article: Accident that could have killed him changes CEO’s priorities
One of the first things that Bill thought about when he got back to work after the accident was the fact that he had never created a succession plan for his business. “Sure, I always thought about it,” he told me. “But life got in the way, and I never got around to it.” He realized that he had not even given a hint of direction to his staff on what to do if he got hit by the “proverbial bus.”
Around the same time, Jamie Cooper was growing restless. Jamie had been a marketing executive at a number of companies, most recently as the marketing VP at ProClarity, which had just sold to Microsoft. Having recently turned 40, Jamie was thinking about “hanging up my corporate badge and having my own business where I could leverage what I’ve learned in my career.”
Bill knew Jamie and was impressed with his thoughtful approach. According to Bill, “Jamie was a client of the firm while at ProClarity, and a tough one. Succession planning was now at the top of my priority list. I wasn’t ready to retire but I was ready to stop and smell the roses a bit more. Because of the extended nature of Jamie’s proposed earn-out, I’d be able to slowly ease out of the business and pass along the knowledge I’ve gained along the way.”
Its a good read, and worth the time to take a look at it.
Also, if you’re in a similar position, something for you to think about: What plans do you have in place in the event that ‘you get hit by a bus’?
Nothing like some heavy thinking on a Friday…