BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : SEPTEMBER 4, 2000 ISSUE
COVER STORY Capellas: From Gridiron to Podium to Home The Compaq CEO's determination and energy show up everywhere he goes An "Unmatched" Desire to Succeed Football was the epicenter of Michael Capellas' life growing up in Ohio. The 1971 game between his Warren G. Harding High School and perennial powerhouse Massillon is still fresh in people's minds. It was a crisp November night with 22,000 people in the stands at Massillon. Both teams were undefeated, but Harding was behind. Capellas played a key role in his team's win. A pulling guard when he played offense, he made the crucial block -- freeing the end to dash into the end zone for a 2-point conversion to win the game. That set Harding up to be state champ. "He was probably not the most gifted, but he has a determination and a desire to succeed that was unmatched," recalls Tom Batta, his head coach and now an assistant coach on the San Francisco '49ers. With Capellas as Compaq's CEO, the old exhortation to execute on "blocking and tackling" takes on new meaning. "Everything to the Internet!" At Compaq, Capellas is part coach and part revival preacher. The company's Strategy Communication Day, last Nov. 22, was his attempt to rally the team. With the song I've Got a New Attitude playing on the speakers he did high-fives with employees as he dashed up on the stage -- and then paced back and forth like a man possessed. He spoke to to 2,000 managers in a Houston auditorium and thousands more by satellite TV. "It's Day 110 of my tenure, not that I'm counting," he quipped, making reference to the fact that he had promised to lay out a clear strategy in 100 days. His plan is to focus the company on creating powerful servers for running Web sites and personal Net access devices. Capellas had placed laminated cards bearing the new company slogan, "Everything to the Internet," on every chair in the hall. After he laid out the strategy and his four top lieutenants filled in details, he told the managers to go out and meet with their direct reports in the next 24 hours and tell 100 people the news within a week. By the end of the year, he said, he wanted to be able to walk up to any employee and ask them what the strategy is and hear it parroted back. Then he led his managers in a raucous chant. "What's the strategy?" he bellowed. "Everything to the Internet!" they shouted in return. "You Don't Look Back" Capellas loves giving speeches -- often unscripted. He's all nerves and crazy energy before he goes on. Before the company's introduction of its new high-powered Alpha servers in New York City's Rainbow Room on May 16, he was positively wired. After he was made up on the 64th floor, a producer signaled him that it was time to go upstairs. He gave people high fives on the way out of the room, said "cool!" and "alright!" and danced a few steps in the hallway. After climbing the back stairs to the Rainbow Room, he was told to wait in a kitchen hallway. Capellas needed some water. He foraged in the kitchen and found a fresh bottle on a shelf above a sink. "How do you deal with the tough questions at times like this?" he was asked. He said he answers every question but tries to steer the conversation toward the future. "People always want to talk about the past -- was it a mistake to buy Digital. My attitude is that's over. You don't look back." He gets the high sign from the producer and dashes on stage. "He Stood His Ground" Sometimes Capellas' sharp competitive edge comes off as combativeness -- and that can rub people the wrong way. Brendan Ryan, the CEO of FCB Worldwide, Compaq's new advertising agency, ran into a Texas chain saw when he was in Houston with his team on Apr. 23, making a bid for the Compaq account. Ryan could see that things weren't going well. Capellas was fidgeting. Just five minutes into an hours-long creative pitch, he interrupted the presentation and said he didn't get it. "I got a little testy," recalls Ryan. "I said, 'Just a second. Let us present the damned campaign.'" Ryan and Capellas hashed out their differences and in a big surprise for Ryan, he won the account two days later. "This is the kind of guy I like to work with," says Ryan. "He's not afraid to speak up for what he thinks his brand should be and how it should be presented." When Ryan pushed back, "I had a great deal of respect for him. He stood his ground," says Capellas. "I thought, 'These are some people who can help.'" After the deal was done, Ryan went out and bought 1,000 shares of Compaq stock. "A Hands-On CEO" Life is sweet beside the links. Capellas and his family live in a Houston suburb beside a golf course. It's got unusual hazards: Alligators sometimes crawl out of nearby swamps onto the fairways. But no matter. As long as you're wary you won't get hurt. The other neighbors are social animals too. When the Capellases threw an impromptu party right after they bought their house and before they furnished it, Michael hardly blinked when a neighbor drove his golf cart up the front steps and into the marble-floored foyer -o so they could listen to music on the radio. And when Leonard Ramirez, who lives nearby, had a problem with his Compaq computer, Capellas dropped in to help him out. "He's a hands-on CEO," jokes Ramirez. By Steve Hamm _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS Compaq's Rockin' Boss COVER IMAGE: Compaq TABLE: Capellas' Turnaround CHART: Sales Growth Is Reviving...Producing Healthier Profits...And Boosting the Stock Price RESUME: Michael David Capellas Thinking Big by Thinking Small ONLINE ORIGINAL: Capellas: From Gridiron to Podium to Home INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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