Bill Nussey's Notes

I want to thank all my friends and colleagues at Silverpop and IBM. This has been the greatest journey of my career and I will deeply miss working with all of you.

For those of you that couldn’t be at the Silverpop meeting in Atlanta or in the Corporate Strategy meeting in IBM’s headquarters, I wanted to reiterate some of the thoughts I shared:

Over the last 15 years, we have done something amazing — something that only one in a thousand companies have a chance to do — we created a hundred million dollar business from scratch that ultimately touched hundreds of millions of people across every corner of the planet.

We made a dent in universe and the world is a better place for it.

Both Silverpop and IBM’s Corporate Strategy group have amazing cultures. I have five requests for all of you that will help keep these cultures thriving for years to come. If you find yourself in a new division, or even in a new company, I ask that you carry these requests with you wherever you go.

(apologies if this sounds like a graduation speech)

1. Invest in people. Bet on them. If you surround yourself with extraordinary people, there’s nothing you can’t do.
2. Have fun. Laugh. It’s OK to take a break and have fun at work once in a while. And, of course, never, ever take yourself too seriously.
3. Make products worthy of being made. Invent ideas worthy of being invented. And always remember that the greatest privilege of our work is to make our clients and customers wildly successful.
4. Devote some part of your life to making the world a better place.
5. Even though we are all just tiny fish and the giant pond of IBM, always be proud of being in that pond and always treat it as if you were an owner

Whatever you do… Wherever you go… Whatever you make… Do it with intent. Do it with passion. Do it fiercely. Make it worthy of ever precious and irretrievable hour of your life that you give it.

As I set off on my new journey, I wish you all tremendous success and happiness.