FAST COMPANY: How do you change the direction of your business?
Scott Case, CEO, Startup America: So when you're a young company especially, and you reach a point where you have to change your strategy or your strategic direction, it's really critical to understand why you're doing it. You can't just decide that you're going in a different direction. A lot of startups they find shiny objects and they look all around and say "let's got this way, let's go this way" -- you have to be thoughtful about it. The best way go make those decisions is to make sure the network of people around you who can help you make those decisions and help you make them rationally. But you also have to be ready to change, because you may have a great idea, but you may have to pivot it, and I know that's an over-used word, but you should study it -- and one of the best ways to do it is to look at Eric Rees's book, he describes all the different types of pivots and when you should make a strategic direction change. It's a great asset for you.
How do you change the strategic direction of your business?
Scott Case, CEO, Startup America+
Timothy "Scott" Case (not related to Steve Case) is a technologist, entrepreneur and inventor and was founding CTO of Priceline, the "Name Your Own Price" company that was one of only a handful of startups in U.S. history to reach a billion dollars in annual sales in less than 24 months. As Chief Technology Officer, he was responsible for building the technology that enabled Priceline’s hyper-growth.
Most recently, Scott was named CEO and board member of the Startup America Partnership, where he’ll invest his energy to drive American entrepreneurship to create jobs and sustain our nation's global leadership.
Prior to joining the Startup America Partnership, Scott served as CEO of Malaria No More, where he worked to inspire individuals and institutions in the private sector to end deaths caused by malaria. Previously, Scott helped build a portfolio of intellectual property at the Walker Digital Invention Laboratory, and is a named inventor on dozens of U.S. patents including the underlying portfolio for Priceline. Scott also co-founded Precision Training Software, a software company that developed the world's first PC-based simulated flight instructor and photo-realistic flight simulator.
Scott serves as the Chairman of Network for Good, a national nonprofit that has distributed more than $475 million to 60,000 nonprofits and provides online fundraising and communications services to over 5,000 nonprofit organizations. He is also on the Advisory Board of By Kids for Kids, Tickets-for-Charity and ThreeJars.
