Guy Paul Nohra’s Post

You were a great mentor in my career and your are so right about developing that toughness. I want to thank you for giving me a chance, and supporting me into my position as a successful entrepreneur! Hope all is well with you. 😊

Part 1 In the fall of 1992, I had just been fired from my job at a large public company where I ran one of their four operating divisions. I had only worked there for seven months - seven miserable months. I suspect my boss, the founder and CEO, was just as miserable working with me as I was working for him. It was a historically bad match. Because I had just been fired from such a high-profile position, I had trouble finding a new job. In fact, I had trouble even getting an interview. The one exception was meeting Guy Nohra who at the time was a new partner at Burr Egan Deleage. Guy and I met for breakfast at a restaurant on El Camino Real in Palo Alto and he told me about a new interventional cardiology company he had just backed in Southern California. The two founders - a father and son team - had an incredible idea and an excellent surgeon advisor but had little business experience. He thought it would be a good fit for me.

Great message

Part 2 It was good fit because just seven months later, we sold the company to a giant healthcare company. It wasn't the biggest transaction in dollars but it was one of the best returns on investment for any deal that year. Most of that seven months is a blur but I do recall that Guy was a investor who cared, did his homework and always showed integrity. The company was sold so quickly that many of our 30 employees and some advisors hadn't even vested their stock options. I proposed leveling off employees by position and accelerating the vesting of everyone's stock (back then you could do that...). Not everyone was supportive but as our largest investor, Guy made it happen. After that sale, those VCs who wouldn't even give me an interview suddenly had lots of deals the wanted me to see. It was a great lesson in humility because we know that I was exactly the same person I was seven months earlier. Having a big exit changed things. I often think how different my life and career would have been had not Guy taken a chance on me after we met for breakfast 30 years ago. I went on to run or start almost 15 companies and returned more than $1 billion to investors. For giving me that chance, I will be ever grateful to Guy.