After working at PeopleSoft, Oracle, and Ingres for the previous decade, I had a desire to experience playing a major role in building up a small. energetic startup company.  Umair Khan and Wasiq Bokhari introduced me to Clickmarks and offered me a position there basically with pretty much the title of my choice, so we tried to choose one that most accurately described what I did.  However, as Clickmarks was a startup with so many needs, like so many others there in management, I would really earn just about every title that could be thrown at me appropriately.

Some called me the Chief Systems Architect, and I definitely filled that role.  Umair came to me and told me I could work like a crazy man and try to do all the work myself or start staffing up and build the IT Department, so I hired the appropriate staff to get the work done, and I served as the Director of Information Technology and Operations.  I also helped build, staff, train, and furnish the QA and Support Departments having experience in those areas as well.

My part of the company was responsible for internal systems used for corporate communications, development, and QA as well as for external web sites used for the public and sales demonstrations to prospective clients.

And our company went from about 11 employees to about 85 while I was there.

We had weekly informal meetings where Umair would go to the white board and write down the action items from last week and get a status from all the VPs, Directors, and Managers, so we had to be on our toes and ready to give an answer and be on top of our game.

Our CEO, Umair Khan, was much more competent than he gave himself credit for being.  One case in point was that I had made two bad hiring decisions and hired one windows system administrator who simply did not have the depth of experience and knowledge to do the job well, and we had to let him go.  And, then I hired another windows administrator who was gung-ho and intelligent but too cavalier and renegade, and after some serious errors in judgment on his part, we had to let him go.  Umair blamed himself as some of the mistakes made were during a time of my absense during a family tragedy.  But, the mistake was not his.  It was mine.  I had been really proud of myself feeling I had never made a bad hiring decision and that I had always hired great employees.  But, pride so often comes before a fall, and I now had two bad hiring decisions on my record.

Later, as the company was reaching 85 employees, Umair discussed having another CEO step in — one with experience taking the company from about 85 employee to 300 or 400 employees.  He did not feel competent to bring the company through that next phase of growth.  I tend to disagree.  Another CEO stepped in and brought his sales staff with him.

The new CEO seemed to be a good man to work with though it seemed my interac.  But, one of his sales folks in particular seemed to be a rather assertive and meddling individual with a somewhat lofty view of his superiority.  Some of the demands he made initially were good, healthy communications of the needs he had for demonstrating our products to potential customers.  But, then he quickly began insisting that all custom made systems be replaced with name brand systems so that we could look  respectable to potential customers who might tour our facilities.

requirements were good.

One salesperson seemed rather proud and kept telling me I had to get rid of the “clones” in the data center and replace them all with brand name machines like Compaq and Dell so that our company would have a more bonafide image before our potential customers.  It was amazing how he could tell others what they were doing wrong but never seemed to be able to make a sale and always seemed to be able to pass the blame for his lack of sales onto the more inferior beings in his sight.