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Mark Melliar-Smith
Founder and President of MSC, a venture capital firm based in Austin, TX.
Former President and chief executive officer
International SEMATECH
"Every bit of bad news is also really an opportunity to succeed, just a different way."
Q. What does your typical (if there is one) workday look like?
A. There really isn't anything typical about my day, which makes it nice since I am likely to be doing something different everyday, facing new issues or problems. One thing my days do have in common is that they tend to be long (like 6.30am to 6.00pm), pretty much filled up with new issues ranging from technology, to marketing to people issues. Since I run a global operation, I also find it lots of fun to talk to people from around the world - either directly or via email. About half my days are in the main office; the other half of the time I tend to be traveling - also around the world about 6-8 times per year.
Q. What do you like best about your job/career?
A. Really the excitement of driving new developments and technologies every day, and dealing with people from all over the world. Each day brings new challenges - planning new projects, fixing unexpected problems, or celebrating good results. I also enjoy providing leadership to the SEMATECH team. We have a great bunch of people to work with.
Q. What do you find most frustrating?
A. Not very much - obviously I occasionally run into an unexpected problem, or some result is not what we wanted. But in general every bit of bad news is also really an opportunity to succeed, just a different way. The excitement of the job and the technology just about keeps me from ever getting "frustrated" - a term I use that means that I cannot do what I want to. Well in my job I just have to find a different way.
Q. What kinds of experience and coursework should a student focus on to pursue a career like yours?
A. You will need a good background in math and science, along with computers. This will give you the technical skills you need. In addition, being able to express your ideas clearly is important, so English and Social Studies are important as well.
Q. What is your all-time favorite Web site and why?
A. I must admit I used Napster quite a lot while it was available! The other
site I use a lot is the www.google.com search engine - it provides access to
just about anything I want.
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