Business People Magazine Article

Business People Magazine: December 2003 Issue
(Article Reprinted with Permission)
Kevin P. Erb, Editor

Wave of the Future

Two of Fort Wayne’s most respected and accomplished figures have joined forces in FourthWave, a new venture aimed at making Fort Wayne a technological hotbed.

Alvin Toffler wrote “The Third Wave” in 1980 based on his theory that historically, the “waves” of agriculture, industry and knowledge/information have shaped the relationships of business, economics, politics, religion, global affairs and social power through the course of history.

Today, Fort Wayne businessman and entrepreneur Don Willis recognizes the “fourth wave,” one based on a management style he describes as first documented in 352 B.C., a time when the ancient Athenians were looking for guidance.

“Essentially, when the Athenian republic was in decline, the Athenians asked Demosthenes for advice,” Willis explains. “The sage replied, ‘Do not do what you are doing now.’”

Willis says a fourth wave question might be, “In the economic development wars among cities, how does Fort Wayne gain an advantage?”; the answer would be, “Operate ahead of the pack by focusing on a spectrum of small controllable increments of effort. This allows rapid change and redirection. Maximize agility and minimize inertia. Constantly prioritize effort against probability of success.

“Fourth wave projects or companies constantly prioritize effort against the probability of success,” Willis continues. “This behavior creates a strategically responsive organization with a spirit of agility in the face of real-time competition. When we started FourthWave, we committed to that philosophy of evaluating effort and success — and then changing when all the signs say to do so.”

Through FourthWave and its three subsidiaries, Willis and a strong board of directors use experience and successful business skills to “provide solutions using innovative technology to enable clients to create better business and a better community for us all.”

Founded in April 2003, FourthWave is based on the belief that Fort Wayne has an “extensive technical base that is underused and filled with ‘imagineers’ who are invisible and unsought,” Willis emphasizes.

“Our organizations need to re-engineer delivery systems for improved efficiency instead of just decreased cost, and we need to improve innovation and venture-building opportunities as we also mentor entrepreneurs.”

As a business, FourthWave is a high-technology holding company with operating subsidiaries. The company is built on a business model centered on the development and acquisition of innovative software, with the potential for global commercialization. In addition, the company provides integrated data interpretation, performance measurement and other analytic consulting services using next generation software management tools.

Willis met businessman and former state senator Tom Teague at a meeting. Teague says he “saw energy, vision and business insight in Don. After only a few minutes, I saw the opportunities for the company he was talking about, and I knew his technical background and his achievement-oriented attitude would make it successful.

“Here we are now, well on the way to providing a new model and fresh, innovative thinking.”

Willis and Teague, FourthWave’s president, say they are interested in “giving the community’s businesses ways to encourage innovation and venture building. We’re giving them opportunities to try, and we’re teaching entrepreneurs that it’s OK to make mistakes. The key, we tell them, is to then either fix the problem or recognize that further effort may not yield ultimate success.”

“Fort Wayne has a wealth of genius-level talent buried in companies here; we need to discover these people and encourage their thinking,” Willis says. “We also have a reliable, dependable work force that can produce things. The challenge is to change our work force from one comprised of ‘thing’ workers to one comprised of ‘think’ workers. Doing that will increase our local resources for developing companies here.”

Willis admits that many entrepreneurial ideas will be “off the wall”; instead of laughing at the ideas, however, he says leaders need to offer support and guidance. One way Willis does that is through the entrepreneur-in-residence program, started in 2003 at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW). Willis is the founding entrepreneur in-residence and brings, he says, “compelling stories, expertise, insight and encouragement to students and faculty. We’re encouraging, mentoring and spawning student entrepreneurs.”

FourthWave’s “adVenture Fund” equity pool also aids in funding economic development opportunities that are discovered and can be nurtured.

“The adVenture Fund is a way to encourage viable technological ideas and determine what can be done with them. I know there are others like me, people with a mix of ideas, technical support staff and concepts who are just stubborn enough to fight it out. They simply need the support and financial commitment to start up the company, just like I did with Command Systems in 1989,” Willis says. “If we help start 100
companies and 95 fail, that’s OK, because we’re doing what needs to be done to encourage new targeted business growth in our community.”

In doing this, Willis is committed to building Fort Wayne as a powerful base of operations. He wants the city to be the place where those with ideas move to work together. Willis says he wants Fort Wayne to be the best place in the world to be an “imagineer.”

“I want to build a community which becomes known as a hotbed of technology, a place where we are integrating our efforts and building relationships,” Willis says.

“Our growth will be fueled by the partners we bring to Fort Wayne, quality people who will make it all possible,” Teague adds. “With Don’s technical expertise and contacts and my connections in the business world, we’re motivating people and making Fort Wayne great as we take on challenges together.”

“Overall, FourthWave is committed to making a positive difference in the local community through technology, innovation, economic growth and job creation,” Willis says. “In addition to making a difference at home, FourthWave is dedicated to becoming a worldwide leader in the management of emergency and non-emergency operations for governments, universities and the health care industry.” - BP