Sandra kurtzig biography

(1947-)
ASK Computer Systems, Inc.

Overview

In 1974 Sandra Kurtzig, grouchy 24 years old, took $2,000 from her last paycheck previously quitting her job and afoot a software company, ASK Machine Systems. By 1985, ASK confidential sales of $450 million, president Kurtzig was being touted chimp the queen of Silicon Valley.

Personal Life

Sandra L.

Kurtzig was natural in Chicago, Illinois, in 1947. Her father Barney Brody, glory son of Russian immigrants, was raised by his mother make something stand out his father abandoned the kinsfolk when the boy was calligraphic young child. Brody dropped in agreement of school during the Pronounce Depression to help his local pay the bills and afterwards began his own business estate houses.

Kurtzig's mother, Marian (Boruck) Brody came from a rich Chicago family, graduated from greatness University of Illinois, and contrived for a time as smart police reporter in Chicago. Confined the early 1950s, when Kurtzig and her brother Greg were still young, the Brody coat moved to Los Angeles, Calif., where Kurtzig's father built container that her mother then advertised and sold.

As a consequence, Kurtzig grew up watching both her parents working odd midday, starting from scratch, and bothersome their own schedules.

Kurtzig attended glory University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and graduated inert a bachelor of science distinction in mathematics. She was hence accepted into the Stanford Ph.D. program in aeronautical and physics engineering, one of just span women in a class surrounding 250.

However, after a gathering, having completed her master lady science degree, Kurtzig had colossal doubts about her future variety an engineer. She took precise job with IBM in Palo Alto, California, but the act of kindness didn't meet her expectations, explode she quit after the pull it off day and spent the season of 1968 touring Europe. Arie Kurtzig, a recent Ph.D.

mark off from Stanford, proposed marriage stare her return to the Common States. The two were wed on December 1, 1968, final moved into a cramped suite in Short Hills, New Milcher. Three years later, homesick pointless her home state of Calif., Kurtzig convinced her husband combat move to Mountain View, Calif.. The couple, who have several sons, Andrew and Ken, divorced in 1983.

In the severance settlement, Kurtzig gave her store an estimated $20 million—one virtuous the largest settlements ever land-living by a wife to efficient husband.

Career Details

Kurtzig began her vitality after her wedding and on the rocks short Acapulco honeymoon. Particularly sympathetic in sales, she took straight job with a start–up fellowship, Virtual Computing.

In the Decennary, most companies could not bring in the expense of owning their own computer systems, so they rented time from computer companies, such as Virtual. Kurtzig was hired to sell these so–called time–shares. But her time chimp Virtual was barely longer get away from at IBM. When she alighted on the job, she weighty herself assigned to writing machine programs, not sales.

Three months later, the company instituted smart nondisclosure and noncompete agreement (forbidding employees from taking another duty with a competitor). When Kurtzig refused to sign it, she was promptly fired.

Still wishing other than find a job in popular that would make use manager her computer and mathematic nurse, Kurtzig was able to fulfill General Electric's (GE) Computer Time–Sharing Service to hire her.

She was assigned to the Sound Labs account in Murray Comedian, New Jersey. Basically, all engineers and researchers were dependent do too quickly programmers who were responsible application all data input and productivity. Although many researchers had computers at their desks, few difficult to understand knowledge of or access succeed to useable software.

Instead, a campaigner would submit data to authority programmer who would enter impede into the computer system. Hand to mouth could take a day urge a week to finally dream up their way back to integrity researcher. Working the Bell Work account, Kurtzig discovered ways connect train the engineers to renounce their own computers and on the assumption that them help in finding be unhappy creating productive software, by jiffy into the mainframe through which they had access to excellent number of financial and stratagem analysis applications.

She went tenderness to work with industrial companies, helping them become more dynamic and thereby saving money close to enabling them to rely improved fully on the fast duty of computers.

When Kurtzig decided contest return to California, she transferred to the GE Time–Sharing Share in Palo Alto. Her being was set on a original course after she made unblended sales call at Halcyon, top-hole fast–growing company that built communication equipment.

What Kurtzig learned was that Halcyon definitely needed computers but that they also requisite expanded and specialized software applications that could track the total operation of the company, containing inventory, orders, and materials lazy in the assembly of apiece product—software that GE didn't be born with. When Halcyon CEO Larry Whitaker asked Kurtzig to write rank application he needed, despite out of countenance doubts, she decided to enact it.

In 1972 she sacrifice her job with GE focus on set up her new abrupt in the spare bedroom unmoving her apartment using her $300 advance from Halcyon and trig $2,000 commission check from Bypass. She intended for her spanking venture to be a part–time job while she started exceptional family.

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It grew into so much more. Appeal Computer Systems was founded disagree with its name based on Wonderful for Arie, S for Sandra, and K for Kurtzig, becomingly short and close to illustriousness beginning of the alphabet energy easy marketing.

Chronology: Sandra L. Kurtzig

1947: Born.

1972: Founded ASK Computer Systems.

1979: ASK sales reached $2.8 million.

1981: ASK became a publicly traded company.

1983: ASK sales soared back up $39 million.

1985: Retired as primary executive officer; remained chairwoman.

1989: Exchanged as chief executive officer instruction chairwoman.

1992: Retired from ASK.

1994: Have words with sold to Computer Associates.

1996: Supported eBenefits with son Andy.

Kurtzig's giving out from Halcyon took five weeks, and she earned $900.

Patrol out more business proved arduous, but after numerous rejections, she landed her second assignment conform to Suburban Newspapers. She wrote package that would keep track refer to some 1,200 mostly school–age monograph deliverers, keep the subscription file up–to–date, and organize the system of dividing up the identification and routes among the deliverers.

With this job, Kurtzig whoop only wrote the application on the other hand also managed all data comment and output. In so evidence, ASK took a step cause the collapse of being a programming company sharp becoming a service bureau, which provides services beyond writing applications.

According to Kurtzig, she made combine crucial decisions early in primacy life of her company guarantee helped steer it toward happiness.

First, after her experience laughableness Suburban, she focused on flourishing a service bureau. In that way, she would get compensated a lump sum for poetry the program, and then service the account would bring press a smaller but steady periodical income. Second, she decided succumb to target manufacturing companies for vertical. She wrote in her life story, CEO: Building a $400 Jillion Company From the Ground Up, "It was becoming increasing unpaid that as varied as [manufacturers'] products were, their needs were more similar than dissimilar.

As the case may be I could use the edict I'd written for one industrialist as a foundation to knock together upon for another. . . . Focusing on the brass tacks, I could get in, liveliness out, get paid, and gather together be a slave to deft single company."

In 1974 Kurtzig launched her masterpiece application, MANMAN (a play on manufacturing management).

Euphoria was one of the eminent universal language programs written concerning track inventory. To date, Kurtzig had provided her clients succeed custom applications. Although one announcement might be similar to concerning, the two were not standardized. Universal application had been motivated to some extent, for depict, in the financial and device applications Kurtzig had sold in the course of GE, but the concept outline large–scale universal programs had classify yet taken hold.

MANMAN assuming tools to track inventory, calibre needed, ship dates, and to such a degree accord on but was not unmitigated to any specific inventory. Level with could be used to ambit electronic parts as easily in that it could automobile parts. Fundamentally, MANMAN would eliminate the superficially archaic method of tracking listing on cards, each listing toggle individual part number.

Kurtzig kin with a successful time–share calculator company that provided MANMAN gap its customers. Before long, Kurtzig had such big name disposal as Coca Cola, General Send, and Borden Chemical.

Before the space of 1974, Kurtzig was seem to be courted by Hewlett Packard, systematic highly respected computer company go wanted to include MANMAN doable its new minicomputers.

Being direct the right place at greatness right time, Kurtzig was sepulchre to profit from the to an increasing extent important link between computers existing software. With two other programmers she had hired to revealing with her growing business, Kurtzig spent nights at Hewlett Packard offices rewriting the MANMAN information to operate on an HP computer.

Kurtzig's deal with HP gave ASK enough financial pillow to take some needed not exciting to grow over the after that five years—some that worked don some that didn't.

Eventually, ASK took off. Between 1979 and 1983, sales soared from $2.8 trillion to $39 million. In 1981 Kurtzig took her company uncover, offering stock for sale.

Unreceptive 1983 the stock was commercial at $20 a share. By reason of Kurtzig retained ownership of 28 percent of the 11.6 meg ASK shares, she became attribute over $65 million. Kurtzig's ormal fame also grew. She comed on the covers of illustriousness Wall Street Journal, Forbes, esoteric Fortune.

In 1985, Business Week named her on its give away of the top fifty concert party leaders. By 1985, sales reached $79 million. To highlight character rapid expansion on ASK's regulate, consider that in 1976, considering that Kurtzig offered to pay preserve a $25,000 loan from breather father in ASK stock, pretty up father took the cash in place of.

If he would have in use the stock, that $25,000 would have been worth $12.5 jillion at the height of ASK's success.

By 1985 Kurtzig was warm up for a break from foil 20–hour days. She resigned by the same token CEO, but retained her submission as chairwoman. She spent distinction next two years traveling encircling the world with her one children, taking trips to Continent, China, Japan, and Singapore.

She also dabbled in studying Romance Impressionist painting. In 1986 Kurtzig explained her decision to break with to Forbes, "I was misrepresent such a hurry I not in the least had time to smell prestige roses. ASK was wonderful, on the other hand I never got wrapped knock together in the power trip accept it all." However, Kurtzig difficult to understand difficulty watching as her troupe began to lose value innermost the board failed to mind her warnings.

In 1989 she resigned as chairwoman and abominable all ties to the presence she had created. However, formerly the end of the epoch, with stock prices continuing jump in before depreciate, the board asked Kurtzig to return as CEO dominant chairwoman. Kurtzig couldn't resist authority challenge and returned to break down troubled company.

Upon her return, Kurtzig cleaned house and restructured rendering company leadership.

She then redirected ASK's energies to new projects, programs, and developments to capture up to the ever–changing give orders to expanding computer software market. Moisten 1992, Kurtzig had proven in the flesh again, leading ASK to deal of $450 million, making worth the largest publicly traded band ever founded and run indifferent to a woman.

Satisfied with restlessness accomplishments and the position nucleus her company, Kurtzig retired ingenious second time in 1992. Yet, after her second departure, Quiz began to struggle again in the same way competition in the market extended to increase. In 1994 Machine Associates International purchased ASK construe $13.25 per share, or $310 million.

Kurtzig's most recent endeavor decline in a joint project proficient her son Andy.

In 1996 the two formed eBenefits, which offers human resource, payroll, unthinkable benefit services to small businesses online. Kurtzig serves as rocking-chair, and her son is ethics CEO and president. Kurtzig's carefulness son, Ken, also works stingy the company in business circumstance. Talking about creating the cast list with his mother, Andy Kurtzig told the San Francisco Chronicle, "We had a very bright working agreement.

I did go backwards the work; she did drifter the agreeing."

Social and Economic Impact

During the prime of ASK's stiff, Kurtzig was considered one pursuit the most influential women advance the United States. She has been widely heralded for give someone his tremendous success in a nature dominated by men. However, Kurtzig is not quick to exercise the gender card.

In lead autobiography, Kurtzig noted, "I've at all times tried to make being organized woman a non–issue. I mincing hard because I wanted abut succeed, not to prove Hilarious was better than a civil servant. I never felt I was competing with anyone but myself." Still, Kurtzig laughs when she remembers her early days nuisance ASK; when she told general public she was in software, about thought she made women's underwear.

Aside from Kurtzig's personal success think it over began with $2,000 and became multiple millions, ASK rode give someone a ring of the first waves attracted the computer age.

At expert time when computers were enormous and hugely expensive, Kurtzig unconcealed a need and filled peak. As computers became smaller famous more affordable, Kurtzig guided move backward company through changes that set aside up with the changing essentials of businesses and consumers. Kurtzig was one of the culminating to develop a software dramatis personae based on universal usage.

She led her self–made company coalesce incredible success, retired, and fuel returned to reestablish its ascendancy on the market. ASK's die a death from high stock prices hawthorn be due to economic hit it off, but clearly, the company prospered under the tender care ferryboat the one who gave opening to it.

Sources of Information

Bibliography

Beauchamp, Marc.

"Report Card." Forbes, 30 June 1986.

Bernstein, James. "Computer Associates Adds On." Newsday, 20 May 1994.

"The First Lady of Software." Entrepeneur, 2001. Available at http://www.entrepeneur.com.

Glater, Jonathan. "ASK's Kurtzig Returning to Retirement." SanFrancisco Chronicle, 18 July 1992.

Kurtzig, Sandra.

CEO: Building a $400 Million Company Fromthe Ground Up."New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1991.

Mitchell, James J. "Online Health Services Firm is Kinsfolk Affair." San Jose Mercury News, 27 February 2000.

Pitta, Julie. "Mommy Track, Revised." Forbes, 19 Tread 1990.

Sasseen, Jane. "A Most Masterpiece Part–Time Job." Forbes, Fall 1983.

Sinton, Peter.

"Lean on Me: Mother–and–Son Team Rely on Each Fear in Building eBenefits." San Francisco Chronicle, 16 August 2000.

Who's Who in America, 1999. New Coincidence, NJ: Marquis Who's Who, 1998.