Serial Entrepreneur with Tom Noonan

The Adrenaline Zone

Risky Business with Serial Entrepreneur Tom Noonan

In today’s episode of The Adrenaline Zone, Sandra and Sandy Winnefeld welcome serial entrepreneur Tom Noonan to the podcast. Tom shares his experiences starting businesses from scratch and offers insights and lessons learned for those interested in taking risks to achieve success. He discusses the importance of having a good idea, the value of surrounding oneself with a strong team, and the need to adapt and pivot in the face of challenges. Tom also touches on the importance of giving back and helping others learn from his experiences.

During their conversation, Tom talks about the challenges he has faced and how he overcame them, including the dotcom bubble burst and the 9/11 attacks. He emphasizes the importance of maintaining culture in a business as it grows, and the need to evolve the culture while still holding onto core values. Our guest then shares his experiences with the culture at Internet Security Solutions as it experienced significant growth, and the contrast between the culture at ISS and the culture at IBM. He also shares his thoughts on the importance of having a strong vision, and the role of leadership in building and maintaining culture.Tom concludes by emphasizing the importance of pursuing risk and opportunities, the value of keeping the "child inside" alive, and the power of having a strong vision

The Finer Details of this Episode:

• Tom’s entrepreneurial background
• Skills and traits necessary for successful entrepreneurship
• The story of Internet Security Solutions
• The role of risk-taking in successful entrepreneurship
• Withstanding uncertainty and fear
• Tom’s experience as an investor and mentor to entrepreneurs
• The importance of having practical experience in managing and operating a business
• Maintaining and evolving company culture as a business grows
• The difference in culture between IBM and ISS
• Keeping the ‘child inside’ alive
• Having a strong vision

Quotes:

"I guess it all started at a really young age...I got my first paper route when I was about seven years old and delivered the paper before school."

"I really think those early experiences put me on the track to say, 'Hey, this is kind of fun to do it yourself.'"

"I think having a good idea is important, but it's not the whole ballgame."

"I've learned that you've got to have a good team around you...I think it's one of the key success factors in starting and running a business."

"You've got to be willing to pivot and change course."

"We started Endgame in response to the 9/11 attacks...we saw a need in the market and we were able to fill it."

"I think it's important to give back and help others succeed...I've enjoyed teaching and mentoring a lot of young entrepreneurs over the years."

"I think the age-old principles of leadership and culture apply regardless of what you're building or operating."

"The culture has to evolve."

“I think some of the age-old principles of working as a team and leaning on one another for support, putting customers' interests first, focusing on solutions and how to improve, as opposed to dwelling on obstacles or reasons why you can't get done, all those are founding tenets of great culture."

"When we got to IBM, it was very clear to me how different that culture was, because at ISS we were always pursuing opportunities, which meant we were pursuing risk."

"The difference in what a 120-year-old bureaucracy is like as opposed to a 15-year-old bureaucracy."

"Some of the early shenanigans that occurred in companies, I spent three decades trying to forget."

Links:

The Adrenaline Zone Homepage

The Adrenaline Zone on Instagram

The Adrenaline Zone on Twitter

The Adrenaline Zone on TikTok