Second Acts: Doing Companies Differently
Dave Whorton spent decades in the Silicon Valley, the land of dreams of going public. His grand next act: creating a community of companies building for the next 100 years—and remaining private.
There’s a whole segment of the population that’s seeking a fresh challenge at the end of a successful career. We call it a “Second Act.” And its potential — for both the Second Actor and the world at large — is a game changer.
For refugees from the corporate world the typical Second Act follows a pattern. Having worked in large, complex organizations, these corporate refugees often look for something smaller, more manageable — becoming soloists themselves.
For his Second Act, long-time tech entrepreneur and investor Dave Whorton is creating an entirely different approach.
As a 16-year-old kid working the line at Hewlett-Packard in the glory days of the Silicon Valley, Whorton was exposed to the HP Way: People first. “This," thought the precocious teenager, “is what it a great company looks like ”
Dave Whorton, Tugboat Institute
Later, while getting his MBA at Stanford, Whorton was “discovered” by legendary venture capitalist John Doerr of KleinerPerkins.
The child prodigy went on to become a founder, a board member, and an investor — working with all of the big names: Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
If the Silicon Valley is the world’s epicenter of innovation, Whorton was in the epicenter of the epicenter.
No one who knew Whorton in his Silicon Valley days could have predicted how he would be investing his energy and passion today — including Dave himself.
After meeting an ambitious founder who explained why she had absolutely no interest in ever going public, Whorton became curious about this part of the entrepreneurial landscape and began seeking out and talking to like-minded founders, which led to his founding of the Tugboat Institute.
With more than 200 affiliated companies, each one committed to building large, profitable businesses while staying private, Tugboat's members are dedicated to embracing people-first values that remind Whorton of, well, the HP Way. Values that too often seem downright quaint today.
We talked to Whorton about the surprising revelation at Tugboat about introverts and leadership, why these leaders are so willing to get up in front of their peers and talk openly about their mistakes and challenges, and about his idea that it’s not the scale of a Second Act that matters — it’s the tribe you surround yourself with.
Show Notes
Dave Whorton on LinkedIn
The Tugboat Institute’s purpose: We believe in the vital importance of humans coming together to create and grow enduring, private businesses that make a dent in the universe.
“How Build a Company That Will Be Around in 2115,” an article about Dave Whorton and Tugboat by Bo Burlingham, published in Inc. Magazine. This is also one of the most interesting and provocative articles about the current state of entrepreneurship in years.
The venture firm Kleiner, Perkins
Legendary venture capitalist John Doerr
David Bonderman and the NHL expansion team the Seattle Kraken, from the Seattle Mariner
An interesting interview with Whorton, with more emphasis on family businesses.
WeWork and the problem with venture investing, from The New Yorker.