Lessons from an MBA: Starting a business Stonegate Mortgage

During March Venture Club meeting,I had the pleasure of listening to Jim Cutillo, the CEO of Stonegate Mortgage talk about how his company went public. His story is interesting in that he took a commodity- mortgage business- and was able to be so successful that he could go public. He talked about having passion and building a great work culture and brand name that engenders loyalty. Some advice on starting a business:

• Focus and execute: Many lack focus. Many don’t execute. That’s why many  are not successful
• Invest in People: When hiring your people, invest in them and don’t get the cheapest guy out there. You will always have talent in your court
• Let go of control: To go public, he literally let go of control of the company. However he was far more successful than he would be alone.
• Have personal assets to live on: In the first 2 years, he and his wife had no earnings because they reinvesting in the company. So have personal assets to live on while building up your business. Also known as don’t quit your day job
• Get to critical mass before going public: If you go too early, you give up too much too early
• Why did he wish he knew then that he knows now? That he was a tad bit too conservative and should have taken a few more risks.

Venture Club Indy: Lessons from an MBA

I'm in this entrepreneurship class called venture club, part of which involves attending the Venture Club of Indianapolis. We were advised by our professor to wear formal attire. I thought he was trying to be safe as I have found that such “formal” meetings end up being very casual. Well, he was right… ties and jackets galore! In my experience of business casual, I haven’t seen this amount of formal wear since my career fair in undergrad.

We stood outside for 20 minutes, talking to anyone who happened to stare at us. We were advised us to try to mention our companies not that we were students, probably so we can work on getting professional contacts. We are to do the one thing my introverted self hates… network. Really?? I hate networking. I usually just stare at my thumbs, talk to someone I already know (which we were asked NOT to do) or painfully pull out my teeth.

I get fortunate, I spot a Kelly student who I’ve never seen before (and I belong to 2 cohorts at the same time…long story). We talk a bit about the Indiana University Technology Transfer which I have never heard of (that’s for yet another article). I was excited to hear of something that mixes academic biological research with business.

So after a surprisingly sumptuous lunch (I will definitely come back to these meetings, if just for the lunches…oh wait… I have to come. This is a class), we sit for a few spotlight presenters who give pitches that are like a tame version of Shark tank. And that’s what my other articles are about.