Tech 2020

April 12, 2010 we had the pleasure of visiting CEO of Tech 2020, John Morris. Our discussion with John followed a theme of decision points and how these decisions shaped his life. John is a preacher's son of Southern Baptist. He completed his high school diploma at Rhea County High School where early on he wanted to pursue a career as a high school band director. From this early decision he attended the University of Tennessee and majored in music education for one year before he changed his mind. Soon after he chose to attend Chattanooga State and obtained an associate degree in Electrical Engineering which followed a 5 year span working with TVA. The next decision point in John's life was his choice to go back to UTK and complete his bachelor's in Computer Science where he then worked for ORNL for 4 years with a "Q" level security clearance. During this time the desire to work for a small business resided in John but like most first time entrepreneurs he had his fears. After leaving ORNL he took a job with a small business called Consultec Scientific Inc. John was the 3rd employee of a 3 people company which gave him a chance to learn everything about a business and named the CEO after 4 years.
Later on John began two companies: Net Learning and Micro-systems that raised $660,000 and $16,000,000 respectively. The more successful between the two was Net Learning and in 1997 he became the CEO from what started as an idea. Net Learning is a software based learning management tool that was implemented in 500 hospitals clients. This company consisted of 43 employees and sold its first system on December 31, 1997. The main competitor of Net Learning raised over $16,000,000 whereas Net Learning began with $660,000. Net Learning was sold to Thompson Corp in 2004 which left John with the decision as to what to do next. John worked with one other company before he made the decision to stay in Knoxville and become CEO of Tech 2020, which is a business incubator with access to $50,000,000 in venture capital. In 2008 Tech 2020 assisted 214 innovative companies. John is currently working on making the transition from mentoring to actively being involved in start up companies in the area. In closing John believes that "Luck is the intesection between coincidence and preparation."

Event Booking

John Platillero is the CEO of EventBooking.com. This business venture has the most unique start in comparison to the previous businesses seen this semester. John's passion and love for music sparked the interest behind this business concept. He began as a concert promoter where he booked church events locally in Knoxville then eventually started booking concerts for the Bijou Theater. While working as a small time promoter, he came up the the concept of having online booking to have musicians stop through Knoxville on the way to Atlanta or Washington D.C.

As a student in the MBA program he wrote his business model for an entrepreneur class. Even though he was debt free he needed capital to begin Eventbooking.com. So he talked to friends and family and was able to raise enough money to hire a programmer and two salesmen. He struggled initially because of the relative newness of the internet. He was attempting to sell a product to consumers that was internet based before people knew the internet. An early client was the Staples Center in L.A. where he was determined to pick a market and stay focused on it. In the year 2000 the idea was derailed because the users of his software didn't integrate the software to their business. Through his struggles he managed to have 200 of the 450 arenas across the country booked to use his software. His motto was to bring today value to the company, with application based software. Clients at this point were charged a usage fee of $10,000 or $2,000 a year.

Presently the software books conventions in addition to tours, John never thought the software would reach the level of growth it has over the years. The software currently has an application on the Iphone and Droid cellular phones. The company is now in a great position for growth and is fortunate to have a industry giant such as Disney as a user. This company has shown that anyone can have a great idea but a combination of timing i required.

Pro 2 Serve

The name Pro 2 Serve stands for Professional, Product, and Services. The engineering firm sells solutions in the form of technical and engineering services. Dr. Goss started Pro 2 Serve 14 years ago after leaving SAIC which was at the time the largest employee owned company. Dr. Goss utilizes his educational training as a Phd to solve problems. Dr. Goss was the VP of Marketing during his time at Battelle where he was able to explore the US and Europe. Through this training as VP of Marketing he learned how to stay half a step in front of the market by noticing trends that occur in the market place. Dr. Goss is a great business leader that is able to detect a trend a make it a companies goal. Another trend he noticed was that long term employment with a company is becoming extinct through the means of work changing to project oriented assignments. Under SAIC he learned how to run a business but under the a corporate umbrella.

Dr. Goss believes that every good company has a core set of values that never change in a changing market. He wanted to start a company with values and build from. With his company he set in his by-laws to give back to communities in which employees live and work.

The core competencies of Pro 2 Server are engineering, nuclear weapons, material, waste, and energy. The four major business units are: design, physical security systems, and complex security systems. Due to the nature of the work performed by the company over 75% of the employees hold high level securities.

Pro 2 Serve is the largest corporate giver locally to the United Way for 3 consecutive years.