Interview with Jon Fjeld(1)

2007-02-12 18:04:09 Zong Xing[ Big Normal Small ]

　　
　　
　　About Jon Fjeld:
　　Jon Fjeld has spent over twenty years in marketing, engineering and general management in start-ups and public companies, as well as five years in academia.

　　From December, 2000, until July, 2004, he served as vice president of engineering for Align Technology in Santa Clara, CA. Between 1995 and 2000, he served as CEO of two RTP venture backed firms: Geomagic, a 3D software company and NetEdge Systems, a data networking equipment company. Prior to that, Fjeld spent 13 years at IBM, where he served in a number of management and executive positions within the networking and software business units. He began his professional career as an assistant professor in the philosophy department at Duke University.

　　Fjeld holds a Ph.D. and MA in philosophy from the University of Toronto, an MBA from Duke University, an MS in computer science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a BA in mathematics and philosophy from Bishop's University.


　　Z: Hi,Jon. Thanks for speaking with me. You are right now the executive director and professor of practice of management at Duke. What role has academic education played in your own life versus the role of experiential learning and what has been the relative importance of the other?

　　F: If you worked at my background, you would realize that my goal was in the academia. I got a Ph.D before I had a real job. The idea of knowledge and study is very important to me. So I would say that academic side has been very important to me just from my own interests in many subjects.
　　 My academic background also helped me in my business career, by making me more disciplined and more analytical about how I approached business problems. On the other hand, my business experience is also wonderful. I met wonderful people, and did something I am proud of. I don’t know how to rate the relative importance, but both sides are very important to me.

　　Z: Entrepreneurs are driven by a lot of different things—fame, fortune, ego, frustration with corporation life, a desire to change the world… What’s your number one motivator to do what you do?

　　F: I think most entrepreneurs I know are interested in building something. They are driven not so much by money or, certainly not glory, but they have a desire to build something and to leave their personal imprint on an organization. For people who are drawn to entrepreneurship, it’s much more satisfying to shape an organization the way they want to be shaped rather than they have to live in an organization defined by someone else. I think that’s a more important driver for most entrepreneurs than some external factor.

　　Z: How essential do you see an undergraduate degree or MBA being for an entrepreneur? In other words, how important a MBA or professional knowledge is to the team?

　　F: I think education is very useful. The fact that someone had succeeded without it doesn’t mean everyone can succeed without it. I think Bill Gates is an extraordinary person, he is very smart, very driven, and he was able to succeed without any formal education and did very well.
　　 Also most entrepreneurs will tell you that an important ingredient in their success was luck--- being at the right place at the right time. Bill Gates was driven, very capable, and also very fortunate. Things work out for him at the beginning. I wouldn’t recommend you try your hand on entrepreneurship without a pretty solid educational foundation. Certainly an undergraduate degree. Certainly some knowledge of the industry you are in, whether it’s life science, or technology, whatever you have. I think business degree gives you tools to help you to get over the times when you are not doing very well. So a business degree is very useful as well.