Rex Kurzius is used to overcoming adversity, at a time when his greatest stress should have been losing a video game. When the now highly successful serial entrepreneur was 10 years old in 1984, his father died unexpectedly, leaving his mother and older brother without any income. They were nearly homeless when her grandparents left New Mexico so the family could live together. Although there was a happy ending, the emotions he had to deal with during that time have shaped his life ever since. “That first Christmas after he passed, I felt so hopeless,” says Kurzius, now 46. “We had nothing, no presents; I sat sulking. At some point I started thinking, I don't ever want to feel like this again . “I saw my father and my grandfather working hard and it instilled this concept of working for myself. My dream became to help my family, and I thought my two strengths were work ethic and creativity, so entrepreneurship made the most sense. Always hustling, selling toothpicks and cinnamon encyclopedias in high school while finding time to become an Eagle Scout, Kurzius was also a good student and earned a scholarship to SMU, where he earned his degree in business and almost immediately put it to use, starting his first company, a recruiting firm called Resulte, at age 23. There he learned his most valuable lesson about managing employees and working with others. “I wanted to empower them, to use their collective wisdom to better myself and the company,” says Kurzius. “One of the most important lessons I learned as CEO is to surround yourself with a team that is better than you in every way. The key to success is having an empowered team that understands the vision and can execute it. Kurzius then sold Resulte and later Timberhorn, an IT consulting firm. It is now part of its sixth start-up, Asset Panda, ground-breaking technology that automates the work of tracking and managing fixed assets for businesses. The Frisco, Texas-based company has grown steadily since it opened in 2012 and now employs more than 40 people worldwide, but the first four years have been tough for Kurzius — not so much because the business doesn't was not growing (after three years it was named the fourth fastest growing company in Texas by Inc. ), but because Asset Panda just wasn't growing fast enough. At some point the risk became too great for the capital, perhaps the golden rule of business, and Kurzius prepared a speech to give to his wife on the way home. When he entered the kitchen, his young daughter asked, “Dad, how is Asset Panda?” Kurzius had thought it would be a good idea to let his three children name the company and even design its panda bear logo. "I took about a second, smiled and said, 'It's okay, honey, it couldn't be better,' and just carried on," he said. “I guess looking back, you have the ability to persevere, to hold on for a long time that most wouldn't. We had to wait for the technology to mature. It was only with the iPhone 4 that we were able to scan barcodes. “Along the way, we kind of reinvented the business model as well. This is another important lesson. Nothing wrong with failure or changing course. You succeed, you fail – that same sun rises the next morning. Patience turned out to be a virtue. Asset Panda's goal these days is to position itself as the dominant global platform for managing assets. The company tracks and manages millions of assets around the world. Kurzius wants his company to rival what Facebook and LinkedIn have achieved in their respective fields. He also says there are no plans to sell the business for at least the next few years and believes his net worth will one day exceed $1 billion. “The vast majority thinks an idea works or it doesn’t, and it just doesn’t,” says Kurzius. “You have to listen carefully, change your approach quickly and keep going through the process non-stop.” This is one of the lessons Kurzius imparts to the young entrepreneurs he mentors. As for his basic advice to any CEO, these are the three Cs:the first is clarity , ensuring that everyone in the company knows what the mission is and what their role is in achieving it. The second is communication – share your vision and track employee performance; he also likes quarterly addresses on the state of the business to keep everyone on the same page. The third is a culture empowerment that values employees and emphasizes that failure is part of the path to success. "You have to take risks to be successful and you have to be optimistic to be successful," Kurzius says. “I had a few early life events that really had a profound effect on my outlook. There is no magic secret to success. It's grit, it's hard work, it's mental toughness, it's wanting to be better every day, for yourself, your family, your employees and your customers. That's all. » Jeff Sullivan + articles Jeff Sullivan is Editorial Director of Panini America and columnist for Dallas Cowboys Star Magazine . He lives in Arlington, Texas. Jeff Sullivan https://www.moyens.net/author/jeff-sullivan/ Matt Light:Blocking the Pain Jeff Sullivan https://www.moyens.net/author/jeff-sullivan/ Sock It to 'Em:Keeping Les warm feet, one city at a time Jeff Sullivan https://www.moyens.net/author/jeff-sullivan/ How the LifePlanner became Jeff Sullivan https://www.moyens.net/author/jeff-sullivan/ Good sports level the playing field of youth sports
