|
|
ONLINE FEATURES
Book Reviews
BW Video
Columnists
Interactive Gallery
Newsletters
Past Covers
Philanthropy
Podcasts
Special Reports
BLOGS
Auto Beat
Bangalore Tigers
Blogspotting
Brand New Day
Byte of the Apple
Economics Unbound
Eye on Asia
Fine On Media
Green Biz
Hot Property
Investing Insights
Management IQ
NEXT: Innovation
NussbaumOnDesign
Tech Beat
Working Parents
TECHNOLOGY
J.D. Power Ratings
Product Reviews
Tech Stats
Wildstrom: Tech Maven
AUTOS
Home Page
Auto Reviews
Classic Cars
Car Care & Safety
Hybrids
INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads | |
MARCH 31, 2005
Steve Case on Life and Lessons [Page 2 of 2]
Q: What did you learn about your management abilities? A: I was a better builder than a manager. I'd rather focus on maximizing the opportunities swinging for the fences than minimizing the risk with bunts and singles. Large organizations are complicated. Some of it may have been this issue of not having that much real authority. Some of it also is maybe I'm just not good at that. So, why don't I focus on stuff I am good at? Q: What were the good lessons from AOL? A: What I liked about AOL was that it was always about building a business that happened to be profitable but also happened to empower consumers. Of course I was hoping it would make money. But it was as much about changing the world. Even though it sounds a little hokey, it's true. Q: At Revolution, why aren't you focusing on investments in the Internet? A: Frankly, I like new things. I feel like I made a contribution to building a more interactive world. And I'm proud of that. Now the opportunity is to do different things and leverage that. Health care and the Internet make sense. Q: Taking on the health-care system is an ambitious goal. What are the chances you'll actually make a change? A: Maybe 10 years from now, I will have wasted a lot of time and money, and it's a great embarrassment. But I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is. It's silly for me to raise expectations too much, but I think I'm right on the basic trend, which is shifting power to consumers. Q: Why are you taking on the health-care industry? A: Three years ago, my brother Dan was ill. I went to the hospital once with him because he had to have a weekly blood test. Standing in line, waiting around just seemed so inhumane. It's a blood test -- can't he do that at home? I also remember looking at a Web site listing different specialties to pick a doctor. I didn't understand what to click on. It reminded me [of when] the Internet got started. CompuServe thought it was easy because they were selling to hobbyists. I thought it was hard. We spent a lot of time making it easy. To me, it's the same sort of thing in health care, which is monumentally complex, confusing, inefficient, and inconvenient. Meanwhile, it's the biggest industry in the country, and everybody hates it! Can I fix it? I don't know. But I do know the best contribution I could make would be to attack that problem through the prism of building companies. I believe 20 years from now the health-care system will be fundamentally different. It will be organized with consumers at the center as opposed to the periphery. I just believe that. Q: What do you want to do with your wealth? A: If you can build a company and make money, great. But eventually, my intention is to give all my money away. I told my kids that. [Wealth] is not particularly helpful to kids. It's almost a burden. It's better to allow them to do their own thing and have their own successes. Q: What do you think your reputation is today in the business world -- the guy who helped build the Internet or the guy who messed up a big merger? A: I don't know. There are lots of cycles to markets -- boom and bust -- and also in perceptions of people. The conventional wisdom of Steve Case as genius or fool was highly cyclical. The truth was always in the middle.
 Edited by Patricia O'Connell
BW MALL
SPONSORED LINKS
Buy a link now!Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.  Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed. Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video. To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here. Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page  | | |
 Copyright 2005, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of Use | Privacy Notice |
Printer-Friendly Version
