A Jinx?

Over the last four years, I have felt there could be a bit of a "business-jinx" following me throughout my career. That's right... a curse, if you will. Those of you who know me, have shared many a laugh talking about this phenomena, but in the end we have always put it off to coincidence saying, "well, it couldn't happen again." However, it just keeps happening and then happening again and with each occurrence it gets more and more bizarre.

Today it was the announcement of the FDA's warning to Medtronic on their external defibrillators... external what??? ... we'll get back to that.

Let me explain (the short short version):

IBM
(The build-up)
- After graduating with a degree in Computer Engineering, I was offered a job with IBMs Enterprise Storage Division
- They were so excited to find a Computer Engineer who had already spent 3 years at IBM and was willing to sell, that they offered to move me wherever I wanted to go
- Focused on jump-starting my career I asked them to place me in the "best possible opportunity"
- They came back with an opportunity in their hottest new enterprise storage venture (Network Attached Storage) - putting me in charge of Enterprise Storage Networking Sales for the entire Pacific Northwest
- I then got the opportunity to work on the largest IBM NAS proposal in the country (worth $1.6M upfront and a potential to produce $1M per year in revenues over the next few years)

1 year later (The knockout)
After a complete exercise in Murphy's Law...
- IBM ceases any further development on the IBM Network Attached Storage line
- My job, as well the nation wide sales team, management, and development team are out (including my Mentor - IBM Vet of 25 years)
- The entire Enterprise Storage Division is dissolved
- IBM now Sells the competition's product


Unnamed Startup
(The build-up)
- Get hired as the youngest sales rep in a newly venture backed and red-hot startup
- Land one of the first true installations of our flagship product

(The Knockout)
- Things start to get shaky we lower the price point of our product line by 50%
- People begin to leave and be forced to leave...
- Sales continues to falter
- We lower the price point again to .. uh free
- VP of Engineering leaves
- VP of Sales leaves
- CEO leaves
- Company cuts back to 50% of peak employees
- Wages get cut
- Product is discontinued and development is halted indefinitely.
- Fuller leaves...


Marsh Mclennan
(The build-up)
- Get hired with a division of Marsh that is called MAA

4 Months Later (The knockout)
- MAA gets dissolved
- Hiring manager and manager's manager leave (another 25 year vet), as well as most of my colleagues

(More build-up)
- I am able to get on board with the Marsh side of the business

3 Months Later (The knockout continues)
- My new division, Marsh, gets sued by Elliot Spitzer and the SEC
- Marsh Stock drops 50% in 3 days
- We get hit by nation wide layoffs and start the largest corporate restructuring in the company's history


Flip to present:
Marsh has actually been a great learning experience and now I'm moving to yet another company under the MMC umbrella called Mercer HR Consulting - nothing bad to report yet.


Other tid-bits that happened along the way...

IBM again
(The build-up)
- Interviewed and got offered a position selling IBM PC's - specifically the IBM Thinkpad line
- I turned the offer down, however, the curse was already rolling...

One Month Later (The knockout)
- Chinese Firm (Lenovo) buys IBM's PC business
- IBM PC sales rep positions are dissolved across the nation



... and the latest

Medtronic
- FDA warns Medtronic over their Lifepak External Defibrillators
"... FDA said an investigation found the medical device maker did not correct damaged pins and broken wiring in the medical defibrillators' cable connectors."

I was offered a job with Medtronic last year to ... you guessed it, sell their Lifepak External Defibrillators. I would have been in charge of Enterprise Sales for the Pacific Northwest and was told by the head hunter and hiring manager quote, "This is huge opportunity that you just can't turn down... " I turned the job down, but it looks like it was too late, the curse was already in motion.


.... always just waiting to see what's next.