Overnight Embark on the USS John C. Stennis

Our partnership had one of the coolest experiences ever when we got a rare opportunity to spend a night on a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, the John C. Stennis. Six of us gathered with 11 other guests at the Coronado Naval Air Base in May, and were flown out to the carrier in a COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery), a cargo airplane designed to land on and take off from aircraft carriers. We flew about 100 miles off the California coast on Tuesday and returned the next day after 26 hours on the carrier, during which time the ship engaged in a training exercise preparing the crew to deploy in the Persian Gulf in July.

While there are plenty of details of our visit that we are all happy to share with anyone over a beer, or glass of wine, what was most remarkable about our experience was to discover that the ship is run by a crew of about 5,000 sailors and pilots, average age 22, who are through and through the most enthusiastic, polite, well-trained, and motivated group of young men and women you can imagine.

Alsop Louie Partners is familiar working with young adults.  We manage a Campus Associate Program, where we target key technically oriented campuses and hire motivated 19-22 year old undergraduates to be our eyes and ears on campus.  In addition, we often invest in companies started by highly motivated young entrepreneurs. (Right now, we have [six] companies whose chief executive officers are under the age of 30, and as young as 22.)

In fact, part of our investment thesis is that the most interesting new companies are often started by people too young to know any better.  Young entrepreneurs who are extraordinarily smart and prescient, and who don’t even know they are breaking the rules. We didn’t expect to find thousands of youngsters with similar traits living their lives full-time on a ship that weighs a hundred thousand tons, goes to sea for months at a time, and is constantly under threat of attack when deployed.

The sailors were disciplined, well trained, and followed orders.   We found their passion and dedication equal to any young, fearless entrepreneur with a new discovery.

As we toured the USS Stennis, it was made clear that the greater good always takes precedence. For instance, a young lady briefing us on the fire-fighter squads outlined that they were trained to sacrifice individuals when it was a choice between saving one or two people, and closing a hatch to keep a fire contained  – fire is a terrible threat on a ship carrying tons of jet fuel and thousands of missiles and bombs.

Of course, the analogy to business was very clear to us.  Entrepreneurial companies also have to focus on the greater good. However, in practice it is often more difficult to determine what should be done when trying to grow a business.  On a ship, determining the priority of which hatches to open and which to close is clearly known and understood.  And, that precedence can be routinely taught until the reactions of fire-fighting teams are automatic.

Unfortunately, in business, knowing whether to invest in that apparently singular opportunity, or continuing on the path to the more broadly generic solution is more difficult.  Advisors often tout trite answers, such as “maintain focus”, or “develop optionality”.  Which is it?

You can’t routinely follow an established precedence, since the path to the greater good isn’t known, and can’t be preordained. The particular circumstances will dictate whether that singular opportunity will in fact drive a new paradigm causing a change to the entire market, or whether it will be a one-off solution that should be discarded, as it will only distract and delay.

As active board members with years of entrepreneurial experience, we help companies understand the consequences of capturing apparently singular opportunities, or investing resources to leverage broadly generic market solutions.