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DEL.ICIO.USWhat would you do?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mike McQuary, 47, who used to be president and COO of MindSpring and Earthlink, left the internet services provider in 2002.
Although it was a decision that was made for him, it gave McQuary an opportunity to explore many new ventures - from electric cars to a starting his own record label.
“I made enough money to do anything, but not enough money to do nothing,” McQuary said. “It’s allowed me the luxury to work on things that didn’t have an immediate payout…”
If you had enough money to do anything, but not enough money to do nothing, what would you do?
To read my full business column, see below.
f you ask Mike McQuary how many ventures he’s been involved in since he left Earthlink in 2002, be sure you have enough time on your hands.
McQuary’s ventures have ranged from an Internet-friendly record label, a merchant bank/private equity firm that invests in emerging companies, an Internet billboard company, real estate, a restaurant, a California television station, and most recently, an electric car company.
It’s been an eventful career for someone who spent about 10 years working for Mobil Chemical before becoming president and COO of MindSpring to help his friend Charles Brewer manage the then-fledgling Internet services company.
Actually, McQuary helped Brewer write MindSpring’s original business plan. But he kept his corporate job until Brewer said he needed help. As Brewer told McQuary: “You report to me, and everybody else in the company reports to you.”
The executive team of Brewer-McQuary, the idealist and the pragmatist respectively, “built a company from zero to being a billion-dollar company.”
Then Earthlink acquired MindSpring in 2000, and Brewer left the company soon after. McQuary stayed on, feeling obligated to help the company through the merger.
But by 2002, it became clear there was not enough room at the top for McQuary as president/COO and Garry Betty, Earthlink’s CEO, who has since passed away. (By the way, the now struggling Earthlink is holding its annual meeting this afternoon).
“I wasn’t ready to leave when I left. I was pushed out,” McQuary candidly said. “In retrospect, it’s been wonderful. It’s one of the best decisions that got made for me.”
At first the change was a shock. “It was an odd experience to go from having 1,000 e-mails to return to having two, or having 40 voicemails to two,” McQuary said. But the timing worked.
On a personal level, McQuary and his wife had just had triplets in addition to their three-year-old daughter. “The fertility drugs they tell you about? They work,” McQuary said.
And on a professional level, the separation with Earthlink left him free to explore new business ventures.
“I made enough money to do anything, but not enough money to do nothing,” said McQuary, 47. “It’s allowed me the luxury to work on things that didn’t have an immediate payout, but that I believe have a long-term payout.”
It also gave him an opportunity to invest in ventures that he believes in.
His partners in most of these ventures are Bert Ellis, a long-time media and technology entrepreneur who started iXL, and Bahns Stanley, formerly of the Weather Channel.
In talking about the new electric car company, RTEV, McQuary began talking about “three macro-societal issues.”
The price of oil is skyrocketing, which is changing the way people think about transportation. Climate change and global warming are giving rise to new environmental concerns. And there’s “a huge awareness that our foreign policy has largely been dictated by our dependence on foreign oil,” McQuary said.
McQuary then begins talking about the lack of a U.S. energy policy as well as his lack of fear in taking on the major automobile manufacturers.
“In the days of MindSpring, our competitors were IBM, AT&T and all the baby Bells” he said.
His record label, Brash Music, has a similar theme. Discover the societal trends, and figure out how best to respond.
“The Internet was severely undermining the music industry’s business model,” he said. “I became convinced that we could create a record label that would embrace technology, keep its overhead low and make deals with artists that would have them participate in career decisions and share financially in the reward of their success.”
The label has worked with all different kinds of music, from alternative rock with the now defunct band, Jump Little Children, to Christian rock.
All his new ventures have made it easy for McQuary, who refers to himself as McQ because there are so many Mikes in the world, to distance himself from MindSpring/Earthlink.
“I don’t recognize it as mine anymore,” McQuary said. “It’s not the company that Charles and I built.”
Squawk Box coming to town
The Squawk Box will be squawking in Atlanta on the morning of May 16. CNBC will broadcast live from the Georgia Aquarium and the new World of Coca-Cola from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. that Friday morning, interviewing some of Georgia’s top executives.
Those that have already signed on include: Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson; Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart; Aflac CEO Dan Amos; Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus; SunTrust CEO James Wells; developer John Dewberry; Chick-fil-A President Dan T. Cathy; Southern Co. CEO David Ratcliffe and Invesco CEO Martin Flanagan.
The show’s co-anchors - Joe Kernen, Becky Quick and Carl Quintanilla - will all be on site to interview local executives. It is part of CNBC’s “Squawk Across America,” which is being sponsored by American Century Investments. The show visited Miami in February, Washington, D.C. in March and will end with Boston in June.
Comments
By Randall
May 8, 2008 8:28 AM | Link to this
I play bass in a classic rock/R&B/soul cover band. I’d focus on that: the advertising and marketing, the promotions, etc. If I didn’t have to work a day job, I could spend much more time getting corporate and private gigs, which would easily net myself and the other members of the band enough money to handle our monthly expenses.
By Jane
May 8, 2008 8:55 AM | Link to this
A vehicle - insurance totalled mine yesterday.
By Cammi317
May 8, 2008 9:44 AM | Link to this
Purchase land. It’s the most valuable commodity a body can ever retain.
By reservoirDAWG
May 8, 2008 9:44 AM | Link to this
Windfall is a liberal democrat word. I call it a profit.
By bronco
May 8, 2008 9:53 AM | Link to this
I would give it to my daughter but I would keep $100 and fill my tank up
By mamaj
May 8, 2008 10:12 AM | Link to this
Wow, I would make sure that my mom was taken care of; make arrangements for my grandson and my goddaughter to go to the college of their choice, and lastly, I would do all the things that I have been wanting to do for people in need since I was in my twenties, but did not have the resources to do so.
By T
May 8, 2008 10:13 AM | Link to this
It ain’t gonna ever happen, so I don’t bother myself with silly things like this…….
By lovelyliz
May 8, 2008 10:39 AM | Link to this
Ever tried to buy a pair of pretty strappy summer sandal to fit a size 10W foot?
I would get into the shoe business designing beautiful shoes for women with wide feet.
I would also get invovled in designing affordable, beautiful clothing for women over 25 and above a size 4. I am so tired of muumuus.
By Voice of Reason
May 8, 2008 11:51 AM | Link to this
if I came into some big money—like Mega Millions, etc.—I would take a leisurely, over time, around-the-world trip, to see some of the exotic places Matt Lauer gets to with “Where in the World…” Otherwise, I wouldn’t change my life at all, and I wouldn’t want ANYONE to know of my newfound wealth. I presently live in a lovely home in North Fulton, drive a nice car, etc., I don’t need anything else, really. Just more fun travel. Oh, and a husband :-)
By linny
May 8, 2008 11:52 AM | Link to this
lovelyliz, i love your ideas, LOL!!! that’s one of my dreams too… or rather that someone would do it, i’m not a clothing designer, LOL!
and i agree, “windfall” is when you win the lottery or your unknown rich uncle leaves you a bequest you never EVER expected — “profit” is when you work and reap the reward of your efforts.
So. While I understand why you might call a “forced retirement package” a “windfall”, i KNOW that Mr. McQ earned every bit of his — Mindspring WAS a fabulous company in its day!
so…what would i do if i suddenly had “enough money to do anything, but not enough money to do nothing” ??? I’d buy some land, put aside money for college for the kids, treat myself to a spa experience and a brand new car (only one i ever had was a Yugo in 84) and get involved in working with young people again in some capacity.
oh yeah, a complete makover for my house and give it to my 3 sons
By Phi dough
May 8, 2008 11:52 AM | Link to this
I would buy a whole bunch of attack dogs, wait until Vick got out of prison and then sic them on him — so he could feel what it’s like to “fight to the death.”
By It's all about me
May 8, 2008 12:09 PM | Link to this
I’ll tell you what I WOULDN’T do & that’s help the “poor”. Sorry but I’ve worked long & hard for everything I’ve got; no one ever gave ME anything so why enable lazy addict bums?? I’m serious too!
By Homeschool Mom
May 8, 2008 12:28 PM | Link to this
Move to Canada
By catlady
May 8, 2008 12:30 PM | Link to this
Endow a low-cost spay and neuter clinic,
By Brian
May 8, 2008 12:36 PM | Link to this
Wealth is not made, nor does it exist, in a vacuum. Some of the comments in here represent everything that is wrong with capitalism, not what is right. Keep fooling yourselves, though.
By Noelle
May 8, 2008 1:26 PM | Link to this
All of this depends on just how much money we’re talking about, of course. :)
I like my job, and it’s federal, so the benefits are good. I’d keep that, but I’d buy a house close enough to work that I could walk most days. No more rent, a lot less gas. I’d also hire some part-time help for housekeeping (which I hate) and cooking (which I don’t hate but don’t always want to do).
Then I’d put my sister through graduate school, pay off her debt, and buy her a better car. I’d pay off my parents’ debt and buy them a better second car. And I’d give some money to friends who are on shaky financial ground. Then I’d invest some and donate some to various charities.
If there’s any left, I’d pay off my student loans (my only debt), buy a new car, and upgrade some of my personal belongings: clothes, shoes, kitchen gear, computer, TV, etc. And I’d travel a lot more. But if I bought a house with no mortgage, I’d save enough on rent to take care of those things anyway. :)
By dc
May 8, 2008 2:07 PM | Link to this
I would take it all in cash, never pay a bill by check or credit card again, that way the government would not be able to easily track what I want to remain private.
If you give $ to folks, they often later stab you in the back, and most are never long term grateful, it’s all in the moment.
By Dianne
May 8, 2008 2:08 PM | Link to this
I would purchase a cemetery lot so that I could bury my sister. She died without insurance, but I was able to carry out her wish of cremation. I would like to provide a decent burial for her.
I would then pay off all of my debts, put money in the bank to ensure we could remain debt free while we live….and take care of our postdeath details so that no one has to go through a similar situation for us. It’s hard.
By Gaye
May 8, 2008 2:20 PM | Link to this
For the first time in 53 yrs, have worry-free fun! No limit, (but within the guide lines of the law) unadulterated, no holds barred FUN!
By robin
May 8, 2008 2:38 PM | Link to this
Hey Lovelyliz,
I will be your first customer!!!
PLEASE start designing those sandals!
By jb
May 8, 2008 4:02 PM | Link to this
Dianne - sorry for your loss.
By lovelyliz
May 8, 2008 4:16 PM | Link to this
Of course I could always do the upstanding thing and run a school in some rather needy area.
By Charlie
May 8, 2008 5:54 PM | Link to this
I would make all products sold with fake chemical smells to be pulled from the shelves. Nothing but unscented products would be available to the public. This is a SERIOUS health issue that no one wants to tell you. For example: Tide Laundry Detergent. Most people like the smell of their clothes but don’t realize the phosphates they use in the product to get that smell cause cancer. But people still use it. I would also ban perfumes/colognes as I would rather smell someone’s normal body odor than these fragrences that people cover themselves in. People wake up, these scents are slowly killing you and your sinuses.
By Sybil
May 8, 2008 5:54 PM | Link to this
no shoe will ever look cute and strappy in a size 10wide…
By Charlie
May 8, 2008 5:55 PM | Link to this
I would make all products sold with fake chemical smells to be pulled from the shelves. Nothing but unscented products would be available to the public. This is a SERIOUS health issue that no one wants to tell you. For example: Tide Laundry Detergent. Most people like the smell of their clothes but don’t realize the phosphates they use in the product to get that smell cause cancer. But people still use it. I would also ban perfumes/colognes as I would rather smell someone’s normal body odor than these fragrences that people cover themselves in. People wake up, these scents are slowly killing you and your sinuses.
By Lynn
May 8, 2008 9:38 PM | Link to this
After putting money aside for my family, I would build a sanctuary for my church and a home for foster children, and put money in a trust to hire people who would really love and care for these forgotten children. Also, scholarships for students of the Arts. This is alot of money, but why not think “big”.
By CP
May 8, 2008 10:13 PM | Link to this
After staying at home with my children for several years now, if I had the money available, I would go back to college & finish my education to become a midwife. I’ve wanted to do that for years but it’s not possible now with a 7 yr., 5 yr., 4 yr., & 2 month old. But if I could afford childcare…
By Robin Schmidt
May 8, 2008 10:33 PM | Link to this
Get my daughter a TOP private tutor so that she could learn math and would not become frustrated with the subject. I would also pre pay her tuition to University of Florida. What was left over I would like to put some aside to invest and then move to Rome. Ciao.
By Robin Schmidt
May 8, 2008 10:34 PM | Link to this
Get my daughter a TOP private tutor so that she could learn math and would not become frustrated with the subject. Donate to my church. I would also pre pay her tuition to University of Florida. What was left over I would like to put some aside to invest and then move to Rome. Ciao.
By Lee
May 9, 2008 8:48 AM | Link to this
A cashier at the grocery store where I shop needs major dental work - I’d like to pay to have her smile restored. I’d like a personal trainer to get myself in good physical shape. A great vacation. A house or townhouse with a garage. My own business. I could go on, but that’s plenty to wish for now.