From Corporate Finance to Creating Software

While a fast-paced position in sales and trading, corporate finance or brand management may be the perfect job at the moment, some of us may eventually find ourselves in jobs we never dreamed of during our years at the Michigan Business School. As we approach graduation, the possibilities of where we may be in the next ten to fifteen years seem endless. Translating these possibilities into opportunities is the challenge.

This is how one MBS graduate translated his desire to move from a steady job at a large corporation, his first job after graduating with his MBA, to an entrepreneurial challenge. A transition surely many of us will make some day.

Steve Klein received his Bachelor and Master of Architecture degrees from the University of Michigan in 1976. After graduating, he worked on computer modeling projects with an Ann Arbor company, as well as the University of Michigan, while he pursued his MBA in the night program. In order to gain access to companies recruiting on-campus, Klein transferred to the day program. Upon graduating with his MBA in 1982, he headed off to a job in corporate finance at Chrysler. Klein explained, "This was the traditional corporate finance position, where I received valuable training and had the advantages of a large company structure. However, I was also able to create an atypical career path for myself by moving around to different departments, such as marketing."

At one point, Klein worked in the racing division, a position envied by many of his co-workers. Klein, however, did not find the position as interesting as it sounded. The job involved traveling with racing teams to events around the country. This was exciting, but involved a lot of travel -- twenty weekends a year.

After ten years with Chrysler, Klein felt it was time to make a transition. The search began for a position with more responsibility, control, and involvement in the business operations, along with less commuting. As with many job opportunities, networking and community contacts, as well as timing, played a crucial role for Klein. Through community contacts, Victor Rosenberg, the owner of a local software company, approached Klein about the position of Vice President of Sales and Marketing at his company. Rosenberg's company, Personal Bibliographic Software, Inc. (PBS), is an industry leader in developing information management software programs, such as Pro-Cite and Biblio-Links. These programs provide methods of organizing data resources and information from a variety of sources and enable users to easily create bibliographies.

After about a two year negotiation process, Klein left the structure and predictability of Chrysler to become the Vice President of Sales and Marketing, and soon thereafter, the Chief Operating Officer of PBS, a growing entrepreneurial venture.

The transition from large company to small has been an enlightening and gratifying experience for Klein. This transition seems to occur more frequently in recent years, not only as a result of personal initiative, but also as a result of corporate down-sizing. Whether the transition is self-initiated or not, some degree of culture shock is unavoidable.

Klein commented that while working at Chrysler, he was a specialist, focusing on a very specific and predictable function. Now, as the president of PBS, he never knows what the day at work might bring. He is the proverbial "Jack of All Trades." The training he received at Chrysler, however, has been invaluable in providing solid financial and business skills upon which he constantly relies in his new situation.

The most difficult aspect of the transition, Klein believes, is the lack of a peer group at a small company and the reassurance these colleagues provided. This disadvantage is greatly outweighed by the advantages he experiences on a daily basis. "At a small company like PBS, I know that what I do has a direct impact on the every day operations of the company. I can see the impact of the energy and time I dedicate to the company."