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ExecutiveBiz: Tell us about your company in terms of size, how you got started and where you are today.
Mike Chasen:
A Blackboard makes enterprise software for colleges, universities and high schools not only here in the U.S., but around the world. If you were to go back to school now, you'd still go to class twice a week, but you'd get your course syllabus online, course material online and you can take tests and quizzes online. Our software powers the experience to the universities and students. Blackboard as a company, we have just about five hundred people, last year we did $111 million in revenue, just over $10 million in earnings and we have been profitable for sometime. We started back in 1997, my partner Matthew Pittinsky and I used to work at KPMG, in the higher end technology consultant firm and we noticed that universities were investing money in their hardware infrastructure, connecting all the dorm rooms and classrooms to the internet but there was no software that made it useful in teaching and learning. We decided to leave and start Blackboard to create software that allowed schools to put their education online and here we are today.
ExecutiveBiz: What is a typical day like for you?
Mike Chasen:
It's probably hard to define a typical day. What I found is that just about every single day in the last eight years has been different but, certainly each day I spend part of it talking to clients closely and taking a look at recent developments on our product and working on our financials and our ideas. My days are kind of different than those focus areas, talking to clients, working on our products and examining the numbers.
ExecutiveBiz: How do you find the business climate in terms of employees and the regulatory hoops that you have to go through to operate in DC?
Mike Chasen:
I think of one the great aspects of our company is that our location is in downtown D.C. I am surprised that other companies start in D.C. and move out. We are a company that started in D.C. and plan to stay in D.C. It's great, we are able to access people, which of course is our greatest resource, not only from the D.C. area but the Maryland and Virginia area equally. We are metro accessible, which even gives us a broad range of talent to be able to tap into because the office is easy to get to. I think actually being downtown creates an atmosphere, that people often go out to dinner after work, to a local social event and could later in the evening come back to the office and work. So I think that being in D.C. allows you to create a talent pool but also enables you to create a great social environment for your company.
ExecutiveBiz: What is something new that most people don't know or realize about Blackboard?
Mike Chasen:
I think a lot of people think Blackboard is a company that primarily supports allowing institutions to support courses online but, we are actually seeing a transformation worldwide, that institutions are really talking about a network learning environment and putting more than just their course information online but their communities online, their student and school services online, nearly the entire campus online and looking to enable that type of transition is what Blackboard is focusing on technology.
ExecutiveBiz: Are you hiring and what positions?
Mike Chasen:
We are constantly hiring. We probably have over fifty open positions. We are looking to hire great people in product development, consultants who are interested in working with colleges, universities and high schools in doing technology integration and looking for good sales and marketing people as well.
ExecutiveBiz: What advice would you give a CEO that has an idea on the back of a napkin? What do you find in your ride to success in such a short period of time?
Mike Chasen:
I often tell other CEOs or entrepreneurs that what has made Blackboard successful is that I feel fundamentally as a company, we have a very, very strong mission. We are working to help universities improve teaching and learning. It's not only a mission; it's an incredible vision, and having a passion about what you do can help ensure that you are successful. So I always tell people to go in an area that you love and people just give you a great chance to turn that into a success.
ExecutiveBiz: In terms of the competitive landscape, whenever you have a successful company like Blackboard, a lot of companies try to follow you. How have you dealt with that and how competitive is the landscape?
Mike Chasen:
Of course there are strong competitors; this is a fast growing market. Right now Blackboard is a market leader and we really focus on investing a lot of money and time and a lot of people in our customer service, our support, and our research and development, in making sure that our technology stays ahead of where clients needed to be. It's just the combination of focusing on the clients needs and client support and focusing on new technology to help ensure that we are keeping our market lead.
For more information about
Blackboard, visit
www.blackboard.com.
Interview with Mike Chasen conducted by JD Kathuria.
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