Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference (July 22-24 in Aspen, Colo.) regularly brings together the best and brightest minds in tech innovation. Each week, Fortune turns the spotlight on a different conference attendee to offer his or her own personal insight into business, tech, and entrepreneurship. This week, we asked Alfresco CEO Doug Dennerline to answer 10 questions about life outside of work, the best advice he ever received, and industry tips for young entrepreneurs. His responses follow.
What is the best advice you ever received?
Work harder than the next guy and think and behave as an owner of the company you work for.
What would you say to a group of young people looking to enter the tough job market?
Be persistent and don’t be afraid to ask to be introduced to people. Work your network, find people at the companies you want to work at and ask for introductions to leadership.
What would you do if you weren’t working at your current job?
Open a restaurant with my grown daughters that served high-end sandwiches. I’ll cook and they can run the business.
How do you get your news?
Entirely the web, Fortune App, AllThingsD, Tech Crunch, NYT, USA Today.
If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?
Home, I have spent 60% of my adult life on the road. I cherish the moments at home.
What is your greatest achievement?
Being at Cisco running U.S. Enterprise Sales when the company went from 14,000 employees in 1998 to 48,000 employees in 2 ½ years and keeping the Cisco culture alive as we brought in 5000 new employees every 90 days.
What technology sector excites you most?
SaaS, of course! Enterprise software is being developed at the pace of the web with 4 to 5 releases a year compared to 1 every few years for on-prem. On-prem alone just can’t compete.
What do you do to live a balanced life?
It’s not balance, it’s work life integration. Balance is old school. Technology allows you to work wherever and whenever you need to and to be with the family whenever you need to.
What is one characteristic that every leader should possess?
Passion.
Is business school necessary for entrepreneurs?
Many successful people never went to business school including me. If I had to do it all over again I would have gone shortly after undergrad school.
