Day Trading Robot Review Learn How to Day Trade (even with the help of an automated robot)

The Many Roads to CEO: Second in a Series

By Dan Finnigan

Whether you aspire to be the boss one day or not, there’s a lot to learn from how leaders rise to the top of successful companies. the paths to becoming a CEO may vary, but the people in that position share the qualities of commitment, work ethic and passion for building something new. and every CEO take risks along the way—like ditching Google to work on a Facebook game, putting your life savings on the line to start a software company or leaving a big business to be one of the first employees at a startup.

Yuval Brisker, CEO of TOA Technologies since 2002 (LinkedIn profile)

I grew up in Israel, and always dreamed of creating something innovative from scratch. that is why being CEO of TOA Technologies is exciting. we are revolutionizing mobile workforce management and field service, much like Salesforce.com changed customer relationship management.

I actually started out my career as an architect at HOK, specializing in computer-aided design. HOK invited me to be an alpha tester on their new design (ultimately Autocad) and I was hooked. being part of the extended development and seeing up close the enormous intellectual and creative undertaking, I realized the future world-builders would be in software. In 1996, a colleague and I decided to do more with 3D and started Visual Information Architecture to provide 3D walk-through renderings of building designs. But these were one-off creations with a small audience. After nine years with HOK and VIA, I felt it was time to get out of architecture. so I took a job as managing director at a U.S. subsidiary of MaxBill Inc., an Israeli telecom customer care software vendor.  I learned a lot, but wanted to build software that could really solve a problem and make a difference for people.

Two years later, the inspiration for my future career hit me when I was waiting at home for a customer-service appointment and got frustrated. I had the idea to create a system that would accurately predict when appointments would happen, and in turn let customers know, so they wouldn’t be stuck at home like I was. In 2003, I called Irad Carmi, my friend from MaxBill, to help build the solution. we took all of our savings, and Irad even mortgaged his home in Cleveland, to start TOA Technologies (for “time of arrival”). I actually wrote Irad an IOU for “Half a House,” and with his house on the line, we decided to build the company close to home in Ohio, and we used that money to develop the software prototype. I took on the title of CEO, and designed the Web-based user interface while Irad became CTO and wrote the code. it was a long, uphill battle to get more funding and get TOA off the ground, but we’re now one of the fastest-growing companies in Northeast Ohio and we work with top companies around the globe to manage millions of customer appointments. it feels good to make a difference for people.

Career advice: Accept nothing less than perfection. Accepting 80% won’t get you there, no matter where “there” is for you. If you want to be a success, then you need to strive to bring 110% to every job you do. when I started, I was CEO/Marketing/Operations/Finance and more. For each of these functions, and in every task from the smallest to the most important, I delivered the best that I could. I would recommend that to anyone beginning their career.

Next in the series: Mike Sego, CEO of Gaia Interactive since 2010 (LinkedIn profile)

Previously: Tim O’Shaughnessy, CEO of LivingSocial since 2007 (LinkedIn profile)

—Mr. Finnigan is the former head of Yahoo HotJobs and now runs Jobvite, a provider of software applications that help companies recruit talent. he is a regular contributor to Hire Education.

<a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/hire-education/2011/05/20/the-many-roads-to-ceo-second-in-a-series/?mod=google_news_blogtag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://blogs.wsj.com/hire-education/2011/05/20/the-many-roads-to-ceo-second-in-a-series/?mod=google_news_blogFri, 20 May 2011 13:31:17 GMT 00:00">The Many Roads to CEO: Second in a Series