Interview to Entrepreneur

INTERVIEW TO ENTREPRENEUR: DR. GEORGE HUANG

On November 15, I interviewed Dr. George C. Huang, Chairman and CEO of Award Software International Inc., based in Mountain View.Award, a leading provider of desktop system management software(SMS), one of the fundamental layers in PC providing an essential interface between a PC's operating system software and hardware. The company's share accounts for approximately 40% of worldwide desktop motherboard production. Its principal SMS product is Basic Input/Output System software(BIOS). On October 24, 1996, Award went public with its initial public offering of 1,850,000 shares of common stock at $8.00 per share(NASDAQ:AWRD).

Born in China and Raised in Taiwan

Ken Uchida: First of all, I would like to ask you about your background. Would you tell me where you were born and about your coming to the United State?

Dr. George Huang: I was borm in Fukien Province, China and grew up in Taiwan through college, National Taiwan University. I came to the States in 1965 to attend the University of Washington to take my Master's degree and later Ph.D.

Start-up in Silicon Valley:"The Younger You Get Started the Better of You Are"

Would you describe what it was like to initiate a start-up company in Silicon Valley?

GH: I started GCH System, a parent company of Award, in 1984. It was a communications product comany. With no capital, I just had experience of product design. With help from relatives and friends, th company dealt with PC semicondutor design, PC system design. Come to think of it, it was a good experience. I also had some desire to be independent in the US as an entrepreneur. In terms of becoming an entrepreneur, the younger you get started the better of you are

Would you tell me about Award? What was the initial goal?

GH: In July of 1993, I purchased Award. At that time, the company was not well managed, and needed restructuring, so my goal was to turn it around. I moved the company from Los Gatos, hiring more people and letting some people go. I managed to turn it around, and made it public.

Silicon Valley Is a Hotbed

Did the location "have to be" in Silicon Valley on starting your company?

GH: Silicon Valley is a hotbed-- an ideal place to start your own business with skilled labor and venture capital around. Most of the venture capital companies have a branch office here.

Now your company went public, but, before coming to this point, what kind of difficulties did you go through?

GH: GCH, a hardware company, bought Award, a software company. Our managers were mostly hardware related. Therefore, I had to focus on Award and downsize GCH. Also, Award was third-rank at that time. I managed to increase the staff from 15 to 50 in the US, and 20 to 43 in the Taiwan office. In three years, the organization grew and the business grew as well.

Cultural Background and Heritage as an Asian:Advantages and Disadvantages

Did you find any advantages and disadvantages having a venture company here in the Valley as being an Asian entrepreneur?

GH: I think advantages will be my cultural background and heritage as an Asian. The ethic of hardworking, the connection with Asia made the recovery first happened in Asia. Also, with the access to immigrant engineers pool, I found easy to hire them because of cultural backgrounds, Taiwanese, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian.

There are disdvantages too. We have to fight a barrier of entry into American society as an engineer. We are very well respected, but, when trying to be a manager or a president of a company, a little bit of question about how capable we are. We have to fight the system and make people believe that a company in a start-up stage with a lot of Asian engineers can make it.

That's a slight problem. By far, American society is much more open society as far as you are working hard and follow the system of rules, you can make it in the US. This is not available overseas, open society with access to money and people, which is not available in Taiwan, for example

What do you think about SV as an entrepreneur?

GH: Exciting place, with a lot of activities and oppotunities. As an entrepreneur, I think this is probably the best place to start my own business. Labor, money, market, product ideas, the connection, hundreds of companies in the similar business technology hightech business, close vicinity geographic advantages here. Also, it's close to the Pacific Rims, to Tokyo with one-flight nonstop, Taipei in the same way. It is very convenient and important because Asia-Pacific is really growing.

Silicon Valley: Ideal Place to Start Your Company

What is "Silicon Valley" for you? Do you like it?

GH: Silicon Valley represents an opportunity for me. As an immigrant coming to the US, it offers many possiblities, say, this climate, you could do outdoor sports, waterski, sailing in the bay, ski within three hours to go skiing to Lake Tahoe. Also, we have cultural activities in the San Francisco Bay Area, Berkeley, for example, opera, theaters, music, and so forth. Besides, a lot of technical seminars are going on. Computers ideas, business opportunities hardware ideas, venture capitalist activities around. This is an ideal place to grow the company.

How did it change your life?

GH: Living in Silicon Valley gave me a lot of experiences. Coming here has been good for me. I encourage people to come. I even did not expect to be here for the rest of my professional career. Instead, if I were in Taiwan trying to go through my professional life there, I probably would have ended up teaching. It certainly changed my life.

What Needs to Be Successful in Silicon Valley

As I believe Award is one of the most successful companies in the Valley, What are the keys to success for Asian entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley?

GH: You need to be very hardworking, pay attention to details. To run a business and try to make it successful, there are many many details ---focus on the market and customers, what the market wants, what the customers are saying to you, listen to customer. ----The Asian connection, yes, helps and enables me to penetrate the market in Asia and make Taiwan becoming the customer. -And the financial connection, I accepted investment from venture capitalists and bankers which made the company public.

Do you have any "motto"?

GH: Hewlett-Packard company has a very good motto for companies to follow. Very well run managed company, it creates the fairness, treat the people well, respect the people on the other hand, had the balance, treating the employees with respect also growing the business, these two don't necessarily mix very well.

In terms of people, Andrew Grove, CEO of Intel, is my role-model, demonstrated what one can do to grow the major company so successful.

Newspaper columns in San Jose Mercury News. His management style and philosophy focuses on business, telling his people to be hardworking and watch out for the competition and not to feel that you are successful today can guarantee your success tomorrow, always watch out for the unexpected.

He's a technical guy with Ph.D in Chemical Engineering with technical skills and management skills.

Future Dreams:"A Small Microsoft"

Would you tell me about your future plans or future dreams?

GH: Award is just at the beginning of the long, long road. Award needs to grow more, I'd like to see Award become the leader in a software field System Management Software, it's going to be more important. Grow it as fast as we can, become successful, even more international. You know everybody is using a PC around the world. PC is going to be a tool helping you out in productivity, in competitiveness, and in innovation PC is the tool that is going to be used by everybody in the world. To dominate the SMS market, it's going to bring a lot of benefit to Award. We want to dominate, capture this to be the leader of SMS.

My future dream is to make Award another Microsoft, only two products can claim. Every PC needs one copy of the product. Microsoft OS is needed by every PC. Also, every PC needs a copy of BIOS. When you push turn on the power of the PC, BIOS manages the diagonistics of PC. If you compare that requirement of OS, we are just as successful. I want it to be 90%.

I want my company a smallscaled Microsoft.

On Being an Asian

What kinds of challenges or barriers, visible or invisible, if any and in general, are there for Asians (Chinese) to do business and to be successful in the States and especially in the Valley?

GH: I came here without capital and the US education. There is the establishment of 200 years. I felt barriers, in terms of promotions, "glass ceiling" phenamena, invisible barriers, "Society of WASP fratanerty" feeling.

What relationships do you have with Taiwan/China, Taiwanese/Chinese people, and Taiwanese/Chinese business community?

GH: The relationship was helpful in recovery. For the business, associations such as Chinese Engineering Association, Asian American Manufacturing Association (AAMA) were helpful. Also, knowing more people, more company helps hire partnership, sell products and product development.

Any last comments you would like to add?

GH: It has been a good experience for me. I encourage people to come here. This is a very open society. And I feel the world getting very small, communications faster, and easy to double exposure to Asian culture and American culture.

I would like people not to forget about the heritage. Work hard and you'll be successful.

The 21st century is Asian Pacific century. I believe the connection with Asia, with a large population of hardworking people, developing and industrializing, it makes people successful. It has huge potential market growth at the rate of 2 or 3 times a year. Therefore, you need to pay attetion to Asia, trading of cross-fertalization, the impact of Asian culture on US, and Europe, work ethics on Western society.

Going through changes all the time, I believe that the main frame-- minicomputers -- PCs are necessary writing, creating not only for technical people making movies, publishing, writing books. It will a tool for everybody. PC phenamena will continue and become bigger.

Finally, I would like to thank Dr. George Huang and people at Award for sparing me their precious time before the Comdex and giving me this great opportunity of the interview.