By Susan Caba
Scott Zajac is senior managing director of Advantage Capital Partners, a private equity firm with more than $800 million under management. In the past decade, Advantage has invested over $80 million in Missouri businesses and entrepreneurs. Zajac was recognized in 2006 as Entrepreneur of the Year, for his leadership in not only investing in companies in high-growth industries, but also his dedication to economic development and community service.
What is your inspiration or motivation?
My primary inspiration/motivation is working with entrepreneurs and seeing people realize their hopes and dreams by providing capital.
We’re a double-bottom line firm. One of them is providing return on investment and the other is giving back through the community. We have a social mission in which we fulfill by improving economic opportunity.
What is the most creative aspect of your work? What is the least creative or least satisfying?
Virtually every deal that we do has some nuance or element of creativity or engineering. By definition, we’re coming into areas where creative resources are needed. We’re basically trying to link Wall Street with Main Street, investors who have a lot of money to put to work and a lot of entrepreneurs who need capital. That’s what we have the most fun with.
Saying ‘no’ is not something we enjoy. There are a lot of worthy entrepreneurs who have a need for capital and, for whatever reason, they don’t fit the parameters of what we’re doing. Unfortunately, we have to say ‘no’ more often than we say ‘yes.’
What’s the most efficient or productive time of day for you?
I get up early and I exercise in the morning. I need it, and I’m better able to serve my stakeholders if my mind is clear. I exercise on both weekend days. During the week, I typically have to miss a couple days a week because of meetings or phone calls.
My most productive work time is later at night. I do a full day of work during the day, taking calls, attending meetings, making calls. After work, I try to spend time with my family. And then, after the kids are in bed, or my older son is doing homework, I spend three to six hours catching up on e-mails or reviewing business plans. That late evening time is very productive.
How do you use and manage e-mail?
Is it a hindrance or a tool?
For me, e-mail has been a tool. We’re early adopters of PDAs and cell phones, and I recently got an iPhone, so that I can manage everything remotely. I find I can get a lot more done in a day—getting answers and decisions and follow-ups—that simply wouldn’t be possible with a phone call. I can’t imagine being without it. I do try, in the evening time with my family, to put my PDA in the office and stay away from e-mail for a few hours.
What is the most distracting element
of your workday/workweek?
How do you manage it?
I get a lot of incoming phone calls and we have a lot of pre-arranged meetings, so I don’t own large portions of my day in terms of flexibility. It’s essential to my business, people coming in for feedback or input or a decision. I’m going to be interrupted in order to be responsive. If I’m not accessible, we’re not going to be as successful in what we do.
If there is one thing you would like to
do differently in the average workday, what is it? Why don’t you do it?
I would prefer to exercise in the middle of the day, but it’s hard, because of meetings and phone calls. I would really like to be able to get in the office earlier, and have that nice clean break in the middle of the day. If I could add another 30 minutes to that planning time in the morning, I’d be more productive.
Do you work differently while traveling than in your office?
There are periods when I travel two to three times a week. I still follow the basic structure of uninterrupted work in the evenings. I try to stay away from e-mail and the cell phone during the day, so that I can be responsive to whatever I’m doing that day.
What are some of your rules for success?
We always try to do what we tell people we’re going to do. We don’t create an expectation that we can’t fulfill.
Being honest and ethical with colleagues, coworkers and stakeholders. Making sure we’re keeping true to our principles.
Albert Einstein once said, “Try not to become a man of success, but become a man of value.” Success to me is not an end, it’s a process as we try to become more valuable to ourselves, our family and our community.
We tend to think about the economic benefits a lot, but a lot of what we do in technology saves lives. Our work is a lot of fun, and there’s really nothing more fulfilling than seeing a company be successful.
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