vol. XVII no. 2

				Page 3 Page 1 2 3 4 BRINING GOOD IDEAS TO THE MARKET Although he's only been on the job at ActivCard for a few months, Barnes is already adept at explaining the technology. He can talk the uninitiated through ActivCard's solutions, which encompass secure remote access, single sign-on and enterprise access cards. These solutions include smart cards, WLAN, virtual desktops, USB key devices and keychain security tokens. His communication expertise comes naturally from his experience with a long list of software companies, from smaller ventures such as Intraspect and Sagent to the giant IBM. "Many of these companies have a common thread," Barnes says. "They were started by brilliant engineers with brilliant ideas. Eventually, they needed a sales and marketing force because rarely does a product sell itself." That's where Barnes comes in. He's been developing those sales and marketing skills since what he calls his "epiphany sophomore year" at Georgia State when a professor at the Robinson College of Business steered him to a marketing major. Barnes hadn't planned to attend college at all. His dad died when Barnes was only 16, and there was no money for college. But after a few years of working at dead-end jobs, he decided to find a way to go to school. He attended Georgia State by working full-time and going to class at night. Just prior to graduation, he landed a sales job with Burroughs Corporation during campus recruitment. Barnes liked the job and Atlanta so much that he thought he'd die and be buried here, he says. However, he then got placed on the fast track at Burroughs and transferred to Detroit to work for the company's president. From there, he created and led a new regional sales and support organization for the company in Dallas. When Unisys Corporation bought out Burroughs in 1985, Barnes was recruited by the parent company to develop and manage a new product management organization. He created a network systems division that provided systems integration services to the federal government and Fortune 500 firms, generating $200 million of new business and recruiting customers such as the National Security Agency, the U.S. Army, the Federal Aviation Authority and the CIA. In 1987, Barnes joined Teradata Corporation, a small software company, as senior director and general manager. He built a marketing organization from five professionals to more than 60 and created product vision, pricing, positioning, and sales support for Teradata's parallel supercomputer. In taking on strong competitors such as IBM, Teradata saw revenues grow from less than $40 million to more than $400 million, placing it among the largest Fortune 200 enterprises. Previous Page | Top | Next Page

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