Engineer Into The Workforce

Engineer Into The Workforce
Engineering 499 Capstone Project , Winter 2016
©David Mayes 1

David Mayes, Global Internet Group LLC
©David Mayes 2

Engineer into any engineering role
Large Firms all the way to Entrepreneurship
©David Mayes 3

Lecturer Introduction:
ENGR 499, Engineering Capstone Project, Winter 2016
©David Mayes 4

Lecturer Introduction
David Mayes: Global Internet Group, LLC
Personal blog: http://mayo615.com/
LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mayo615
Email: mayo0615@gmail.com
Mobile: (250) 864-9552
Twitter: @mayo615
Experience:
Adjunct Professor, UBC Faculty of Management
Canada Foundation for Innovation Grant Reviewer 2012 to present
Executive management, access to venture capital, International business development,
sales & marketing, entrepreneurial mentorship, technology assessment, strategic
planning, renewable energy technology. Engineering Capstone Judge, 2007-2015.
Intel Corporation (US/Europe/Japan), 01 Computers Group (UK) Ltd, Mobile Data
International (Canada/Intl.), Silicon Graphics (US), Sun Microsystems (US), Ascend
Communications (US/Intl.), P-Cube (US/Israel/Intl.), Global Internet Group LLP (US/Intl.),
New Zealand Trade & Enterprise
©David Mayes 5

Agenda
• Introductions: You and Me
• A Short “Who Is” Quiz
• Engineer Into The Workforce:
• Common Business Misperceptions
• The need for Competitive Advantage
• UBC Library “entrepreneurship” resources
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Introductions:
You and Me
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About Me
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What About You?
©David Mayes 9

Toastmasters International
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www.toastmasters.org

Agenda
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A Short “Who Is” Quiz
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Who is Ada Lovelace?
1. Mathematician in WW2 whose discovery
helped break the Nazi Enigma Code
2. 18th Century biologist who pioneered
modern animal husbandry
3. 19th Century computer science pioneer
who wrote the first computer program
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Ada Lovelace
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Born two centuries ago, Ada Lovelace was a pioneer of computing science.
She took part in writing the first published program and was a computing
visionary, recognizing for the first time that computers could do much more than
just calculations. A programming language, “ADA,” is named in her honour.

Who is Grace Hopper?
1. U.S. Navy Admiral who developed the
mainframe computer language COBOL
2. 20th Century mechanical engineer who
helped Joseph Strauss design the Golden
Gate Bridge
3. Civil engineer who designed the first U.S.
interstate freeway system for President
Eisenhower
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Admiral Grace Hopper, US Navy
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Computer programmer Grace Hopper helped develop a compiler that was
a precursor to the widely used COBOL language and became a rear admiral
in the U.S. Navy.

Who Is Meg Whitman?
1. Hydraulic engineer who led the design team
of the California Water Project that delivers
water > 500 miles to Los Angeles
2. Founder of Ebay and CEO of Hewlett-Packard
3. Astronautical engineer who helped Werner
Von Braun build the Saturn V moon rocket
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Meg Whitman
©David Mayes 18
Founder of Ebay and CEO of Hewlett-Packard

Who is Jeanette Symons?
1. U.S. Olympic gymnast at UCLA in 1980
2. Founder of Ascend Communications,
pioneering Internet connectivity company
3. Notorious Silicon Valley jerk
4. Executive jet pilot
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Jeanette Symons
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All of the above. I worked for Jeanette. Jeanette was a genius intellect and
business visionary comparable with Steve Jobs. She and her adopted son were
killed in the crash of her Citation jet in 2008.
Jeanette Symons: Silicon Valley Conundrum

Agenda
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Engineer Into The Workforce:
Common Misperceptions
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Engineer Into The Workforce: Common Misperceptions
Misconception # 1:
“Everybody Loves “Cool New Technology”
• Not exactly!
• Assess commercial viability first!
• Listen to potential customers
• Validate with third party market research
©David Mayes 24

Misconception # 2:
“I need to go-it-alone to insure quality &
design elegance”
• Working alone or only with other
engineers sounds good, but…
• You need a team with diverse skills to
build a thriving business
• Think “business management” from the
outset
©David Mayes 25

Misconception # 3:
“Marketing is fluff and selling is black magic”
• If you build it, they will NOT necessarily
come!
• In reality, many “best designs” lose to
competitors with better marketing
• The legendary microprocessor, the Intel
8086 was a “DOG!”
©David Mayes b

Misconception # 3:
“Marketing is fluff and selling is black magic*”
*UBCO Library
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Davidow, William, (1986); Marketing High Technology: An Insider’s View, New York, The Free Press

Misconception # 4:
“We need to maximize functionality before
we focus on customers”
• You can’t engineer the right functionality
UNTIL you focus on listening to
customers
• Customers will buy only the functionality
they need and want…nothing more
©David Mayes 13

Misconception # 5:
“A good engineer hates unpredictability and
risk”
• A good entrepreneur embraces risk
• Engineer driven solutions are often too
little, too late…if they ever ship!
• Managing risk is good; trying to eliminate
risk is bad
©David Mayes 29

Misconception # 6:
“We can’t worry about making money until
we get it built”
• If you can’t make money, it isn’t a business
• Business and market constraints are key
determinants of “getting it right”
• Getting it right at the wrong cost = failure
©David Mayes 30

Misconception # 7
“Outside financing causes loss of control
and undue pressure to deliver”
• Funding turbocharges a startup company
• “Smart money” adds management value
• Canadian gov’t grants focus on pure R&D
• “Grantsmanship” is bad business strategy
• Angels and VC’s focus on making money
©David Mayes 31

Suggested Reading*
Uppuluri, Krishna (2011), Engineer Into The Workforce, The First Flight, self-published, Krishna Uppuluri
* UBCO Library
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©David Mayes 33
Mullins, John. (2010) 3rd Edition. The New Business Road Test. Harlow, UK:
Prentice Hall, Financial Times
Suggested Reading:

Agenda
• What is Entrepreneurship?
• UBC Library “entrepreneurship”resources
• UBC Small Business Accelerator
©David Mayes 36

What is
Entrepreneurship?
ENGR 499, Engineering Capstone Project
©David Mayes 37

What is Entrepreneurship?
Entrepreneurial Opportunity
• An economically attractive and timely
opportunity that creates value.
• The best opportunities exists only for the
entrepreneur who has the interest, resources,
and capabilities required to succeed.
©David Mayes 38

The First Consideration: Your “Character”
• Self-analysis: Do you have what it takes to be an
entrepreneur?
• Discuss your personality, capabilities, strengths
and weaknesses with a mentor who knows you.
• Listen!
• Are you a visionary leader?
• What about the chemistry with your team?
• Investors will focus on three things:
• “The team, the team, and the team.”
©David Mayes 39

Entrepreneurial Incentives
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Drawbacks of Entrepreneurship
• Hard work
– Finding new customers and markets
– Frustrations with financing, government, tax,
technology, and employment issues
• Long hours
– 20% work more than 60 hours per week
• Emotional loneliness
• Strong possibility of failure
• Disruptions to personal life
©David Mayes 41

Causes of Business Failure
• Lack of managerial and financial abilities
• Fail to adapt to competitive environment
• A broad based study found the following:
– 32% inadequate research and development
– 23% lacked competitive advantage
– 14% uncontrolled costs
– 13% poorly developed marketing strategies
– 10% poor market timing
– 8% succumbed to competitor activities
©David Mayes 42

Characteristics of Artisan Entrepreneurs
• A person with primarily technical skills and little
business knowledge:
– Paternalistic approach
– Reluctance to delegate
– Narrow view of strategy
– Personal sales effort
– Short planning horizon
– Simple record keeping
©David Mayes 43

Characteristics of Opportunistic
Entrepreneurs
• A person with both business skills and
technical knowledge:
– Scientific approach to problems
– Willing to delegate
– Broad view of strategy
– Diversified marketing approach
– Longer planning horizon
– Sophisticated accounting
and financial control
©David Mayes 44

Four Routes to Entrepreneurship
Entering a family
business
Opening a
franchised business
Starting a new
business
Buying an existing
business
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The Need for Competitive
Advantage
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The Need for Competitive Advantage
Creating a New Business
Entrepreneurs may start a new business from
scratch due to several reasons:
• A new product or service
• Favourable conditions such as location,
equipment, employees, suppliers or bankers
• To capitalize on competitors’ weaknesses
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Evaluative Criteria – Market Factors
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HMKNT, Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Competitive Advantage
• A firm offers a product or service that is
perceived by customers to be superior to those of
competitors, thereby promoting firm profitability
• To establish competitive advantage, a business
owner needs to understand the nature of the
environment
– External – what business potentials exist
– Internal – what the firm is able to do
©David Mayes 53

Sustaining Competitive Advantage
• An established, value-creating industry
position that is likely to endure over time
• Markets are dynamic and in constant flux
• Results include superior profitability, increased
market share, and improved customer
satisfaction
©David Mayes 54

Assessing the Environment
• The Macroenvironment
– A broad environment with its multiple factors
that affect most businesses in a society
• STEEP – Sociocultural, Technological, Economic,
Environmental, Political/Legal
• Industry Environment
– The combined forces that directly impact
a given firm and its competitors
©David Mayes 55

Strategies That Capture Opportunities
• Broad-Based Strategy Options
–Seek an advantage in cost or marketing
• Cost-Advantage Strategy and Options
Requires the firm to be the lowest-cost
producer
» WestJet began as a low-fare, no-frills airline
• Marketing-Advantage Strategy
Emphasizing the uniqueness of the firm’s
product or service
» WestJet is moving to differentiate based on quality service
©David Mayes 56

Core Competencies and Assessing
the Organization
• Core Competencies
• Value-creating organizational capabilities that are unique to
a firm
• Resources versus Capabilities
• Resources are basic inputs that a firm uses to conduct
business (capital, technology, equipment, employees, etc.)
• intangible and tangible resources
• Capabilities are the integration of several resources
which are deployed together to the firm’s advantage.
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HMKNT 401, Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Venture Feasibility Assessment Model
• Stage 1: Back-of-the-Envelope concept
– Potential customers, technology available, match to
entrepreneur, financial feasibility
» Decision: go or no go
• Stage 2: Research and Verification
– Detailed analysis of customers, competition, HR
required, technical and financial feasibility
• Stage 3: Refine the Concept
– Detailed business plan
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Taking the Plunge
• A Precipitating Event
An event, such as losing
a job, that moves an
individual to become
an entrepreneur.
Job termination
Job dissatisfaction
Unexpected opportunity
©David Mayes 60

UBC Library “Entrepreneurship”
Resources
UBC-O Library Resources:
• UBC Library, Industry Research Resource Guide:
http://guides.library.ubc.ca/new_enterprise_development#tabs-6
• UBC, additional Industry and Market Research Resources:
http://toby.library.ubc.ca/subjects/subjpage2.cfm?id=660
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http://www.slideshare.net/mayo615/engineer-to-entrepreneur-070813
My Personal Blog
http://mayo615.com
Additional Reources
This lecture may be viewed & downloaded on
SlideShare:
©David Mayes 69

• entrepreneurship@ubc
• http://www.entrepreneurship.ubc.ca/
• UBC Industry Liasion Office (UILO)
• http://www.uilo.ubc.ca/pages/entrepreneurship/voucher
Additional UBC Resources
©David Mayes 70

Engineer Into The Workforce

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