Welcome to SL #23! Jerry Bostelman, founder and CEO of VACO, joins us for a discussion of entrepreneurs vs. employees. VACO was just named the 33rd fastest growing company in the Fortune 5000. Additionally, Jerry was recently named Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Southeast for 2007.
And the bus is back – this time burning a hefty 12 gallons of $4.25 gasoline to pile-drive over 4 groups of people that just don’t get it.
Sponsors for this episode:
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Shownotes and Interview Questions:
As usual, we had lots of related followup questions, but here is a good sampling of the discussion:
- Give us your 30-second elevator pitch for VACO
- When you founded Vaco, what was the market need you identified?
- Your site says you started with a $200 software package. What was the package?
- How did you finance the incubation of the company?
- Was the economic environment back in 2002 a deterrent to founding Vaco? Did it make your life harder?
- Talk a little about being identified as a potential Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
- Why do you think you were named Entrepreneur of the Year for Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee?
- Talk about why “without a Master” is key to understanding Vaco.
- Vaco is the named the 33rd largest growing company in America on the Fortune 5000 list (to revenues of $100 MM in 2007). What is the key to achieving that rate of growth and what is the greatest challenging in managing such rapid growth?
- The press release announcing Vaco’s being named to the Fortune 5000 list says that “Vaco was designed to attract and retain the best team in the industry…” What were the elements of that design?
- How did you define “best team in the industry”?
- Lots of companies talk about enthusiastic culture and zealous pursuit of only the strongest players. How do you create that enthusiastic culture?
- How do you characterize “zealous pursuit of only the strongest players?”
- Do these values contribute to the low (5%) turnover at Vaco?
- Late last year Vaco opened an office in Atlanta. Why was that the right time to do so?
- If there’s an important lesson that Vaco can teach entrepreneurs, what would it be?
Guest Bio:
Jerry Bostelman is the founding father of VACO, LLC in Brentwood, TN. The company began in October of 2002, merging with Continuum Search in 2004 to become a 100 million dollar company with 18 offices nation wide in less than five years.
Jerry graduated Cum Laude from the University of Tennessee, with a Bachelor’s degree in accounting. His professional career began with six years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Following his time in the military, he worked in the audit division of Arthur Anderson for four years. From his accounting platform, Jerry made a strategic career move in the consulting and placement industry, successfully proving his multi-talent in a multi-billion dollar national firm. As an individual producer, he consistently managed over 20 consultants on multiple projects. As a divisional Director in Nashville, his team consistently maintained over 55 consultants on key projects. Jerry’s experiences, ranging from a national business development director to a regional manager, have served to encourage his entrepreneurial spirit and has lead him to his most recent success as founder and CEO of VACO, LLC.
Jerry serves on the board of the Boys and Girls club in Nashville, TN, where he lives with his wife Angela and three sons, Max, Will and Luke. His most recent award is the 2007 Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the year award for the Southeast region.
Miscellany:
Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player.
Links referenced within this episode:
- VACO
- Adams Capital
- Appcelerator
- ATDC (Advanced Technology Development Center)
- Baker Donelson (Technology Intellectual Property)
- Chrysalis Ventures
- Habif, Arogeti, & Wynne
- Hill, Kertscher & Wharton
- PeachPodStudios
- Southern Capitol Ventures
- Startup Council
- Technology Association of Georgia
- VACO
- William Leonard and Company
Podsafe music used within this episode:
- Sundial by Bill Derome
-
Changes by Robert Lund
- American Girl by Power Salad
Our format is a little out of the norm as far as podcasts go. We treat our efforts as a true “show” rather than a super-concise (limited) vehicle for delivery of information. Therefore, the podcasts can run a bit long (actually, it is largely driven by the guests and their responses.) While we try to have very substantive discussions, we also try to have a lot of fun along the way (and that tends to elongate the programming a wee bit.) 
Our theory is that if we are having fun during the show, hopefully, you will be having a little fun listening as well.
Here is the breakdown for the show, in case you want to hop around.
| Intro | 00:00 to 02:00 |
| Smalltalk and introductions: | 02:00 to 07:38 |
| Under the Bus | 07:38 to 24:29 |
| Mailbag: | 24:29 to 33:43 |
| Event Roundup: | 33:43 to 35:40 |
| Commercial/Comedy Break: | 35:40 to 39:04 |
| Main Discussion Topic | 39:04 to 61:45 |
| Break: | 61:45 to 62:18 |
| Analysis/Wrap-up: | 62:18 to 65:00 |
A special thanks to Jerry Bostelman for coming in and hanging out with us!
We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor (hint, hint), have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.
And don’t forget – the StartupLounge.com message forums are a great resource for fast-growth entrepreneurs. If you need help with any aspect of your venture, we welcome you to jump in and get the help you need!
Enjoy!
