Relaunch!

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6.... We have ignition. We have liftoff!" And sometimes we have relaunch. Whether you're talking about a brand, a company -- or your own career -- the new economy features the art of the relaunch. Sooner or later, what goes up must, well, go up again. Here are 17 experts in the art of returning to orbit ... 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....

Scott Cook

Cofounder
Intuit Inc.
Mountain View, California

Change is never easy. So when you decide to take a company through a major relaunch, you can't do it halfway. It will require all the passion that you can bring to it -- and the best communication skills that you have.

Until late 1996, Intuit made software that was sold only in stores. We still do that successfully and will continue to do that. But we are also transitioning Intuit to the Net, because what became clear to us in 1996 was that the Internet was going to change forever how people handle their finances.

Any transition means enduring a period of uncertainty, and our move onto the Internet has been no exception. Passion gets you through it. Transformation puts you up against strong forces of momentum; the only effective counterweight is either disaster or passion. Luckily, we had no disasters. Instead, we've been able to change by identifying our most passionate people and by letting them set our course. And then we have acted as cheerleaders for them, protecting them, encouraging them, and empowering them with every resource that they need to succeed.

To lead our company through all this change, I had to become passionate as well. If you can't speak from personal experience, you're not going to convince anyone. You're not going to be a good leader. So I attended Internet conferences and had our company's Net-savvy people teach me. After about six months, I could speak passionately about the Internet and teach people about breakthrough ways that we could use it to solve problems.

If you want to communicate with people about effecting change, you first have to be changed yourself.

In 1984, Scott Cook and Intuit cofounder Tom Proulx shipped the first version of Quicken -- a product developed after Cook had observed his wife paying bills by hand. Cook has since guided the $847.6 million company into such areas as small-business accounting software, tax-preparation software, and Internet businesses, including Quicken.com, online mortgages, and online insurance. Quicken TurboTax for the Web recently announced its one-millionth tax return completed.

Sally Ride

President
Space.com Inc.
New York, New York

When you think about it, a relaunch is about risk management. You must weigh the risks of your new venture against that venture's potential rewards. Whether you're relaunching a shuttle into space or relaunching yourself into a new career, you go through a process; you acknowledge, internalize, and accept risks that are associated with that relaunch. If you can't do that -- or if the risks are unacceptable -- you don't relaunch.

Astronauts have a pretty good understanding of the dangers that are associated with space flight. We're all aware that it's a risky technology. When training as an astronaut, you have to reach a level of comfort with that risk, or else you won't stay in the program. Even before the Challenger accident in 1986, if you'd asked any astronaut whether there would be an accident someday, every one of us would have said yes. During the two and a half years before NASA attempted another shuttle mission, it took time to understand and to correct the problems in its process and in its technology that were uncovered during the investigation. That eventually resulted in a kind of psychological catharsis, which allowed NASA to relaunch. NASA took a good look inward, minimized the risks as much as possible, and got back on the horse.

Sally Ride, a former NASA astronaut, was the first American woman in space. At NASA, she was director of strategic and long-range planning, and she served on the presidential commission that investigated the 1986 Challenger accident. Her books include "To Space & Back" (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1986) and "The Mystery of Mars" (Crown Books, 1999). Space.com (which launched July 20, 1999 -- the 30th anniversary of Neil Armstrong's first step on the moon) is a free-content Web site that is dedicated to space-related news, education, and entertainment.