Ric (Ricardo) Elias is a successful entrepreneur, perhaps a model for what I would like to do in my own business career. Elias is the CEO and founder of a high tech market service company, Red Ventures. He founded this company while working at RedF.com, a discount and loyalty company he created with a partner, Dan Feldstein in 1999. RedF.com almost failed during the Internet bust in early 2001, but Elias and Feldstein reorganized the company and its business model so that it was ultimately successfully sold to its management in 2005. Elias now devotes himself full-time to running Red Ventures.
Elias was born in Puerto Rico and went as an undergraduate to Boston College. He came to the United States knowing very little English, so college was real challenge for him in a way that it will not be for me. After college Elias applied to the well-known General Electric financial management program and was accepted. He had two years of rigorous training with GE, working in the U.S., Japan, and other countries in Asia. After working for GE, Elias got his Masters of Business Administration degree at Harvard. While I may not be so fortunate as to get accepted into a formal management training program like GE’s, Elias’ experience speaks to the importance for a prospective business career of getting a job first at a well-run company that can provide a solid training ground for an entry-level employee, before going on to business school for an MBA. After Harvard, Elias worked for CUC (now Cendant), another large company that gave him direct hands-on experience in doing what he enjoys doing: running different businesses in different places. That is the aspect of working in business that really appeals to me.
Interesting, Elias’ TED talk is not about business at all, even though his biography focuses heavily on this aspect of his life. Elias’ talk is about his life-changing experience during the near-crash of a plane on which he was traveling in January 2009. This was Flight 1549, the one that had to make an emergency landing on the Hudson River and avoided total destruction only by the miraculous skills of its pilot. Elias has three revelations from this near-death experience: (1) “It all changes in an instant”, so “don’t postpone anything”; (2) “Don’t waste time on things that don’t matter”, “eliminate negative energy from life” and “don’t be right, be happy”; and (3) “the only thing that matters is being a good dad”. These are profound insights, but I think that I do not yet have the perspective to appreciate them fully. The joy of having children is something I cannot relate to at this point in my life. However, I can understand the importance of living life fully every day and being happy with my own life, not comparing myself (negatively) to others. We have seen examples of how disaster can strike in an instant, for example, the sudden traumatic car accident of our classmate, Caroline Hansen. The love of family is the most important, truly lasting thing in our lives.
My plan is to graduate from Butler University, where I am headed this fall, with a degree in business, probably with an emphasis on economics. One of the great appeals of Butler for me are the internship opportunities that are built into the school’s business curriculum. After college I would like to get a job at a company that will enable me to further see the inner workings of real businesses. I would like to be a part of the business itself, not just an administrator or technician. I imagine myself returning to California to get an MBA. Elias’ story tells me that it is important to be flexible and open to new opportunities and possibilities. You need to make the best of a bad situation, as he did with the near-failure of his Internet company, RedF.com. Elias’ talk warns me that in addition to my business aspirations, I need to be sure that I never lose sight of the fundamental importance of happiness, love, and family.
http://www.ted.com/talks/ric_elias.html
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