April 28 --
Meeting Synopsis
Spotting talent necessary on the baseball diamond,
corporate boardroom-- Breakfast with Padres owner, serial entrepreneur John Moores --
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By David Oates
ContentOne Innovation, Inc. |
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The debut of Petco Park notwithstanding, John Moores' status as a San Diego icon came nearly a decade earlier when, in the middle of a Major League Baseball player's strike that lead to the first cancellation of a World Series in 90 years, he did the unthinkable.
He purchased the Padres.
"It was out of a general love affair with sports and San Diego that I did it," said Moores at the April San Diego Venture Group breakfast meeting. "My son, then 30, talked me into it when he said 'if you are thinking of getting into baseball, now's the time to do it."
Moores was no stranger to America's Finest City when he opened his checkbook to become then one of only 28 Major League Baseball franchise owners (the league since added two more teams in Phoenix and Tampa Bay). He and his family already owned a home in San Diego, and admitted that the city brought him to the Padres - not the other way around.
Purchasing the team in 1994 appeared to many outsiders as ludicrous. Moores saw it as another opportunity in what can only be called a remarkable business career. After attending law school at night, Moores ventured away from the oil and natural gas industries that dominated his Texas Gulf Coast surroundings and tried his hand in the software business. His first company, BMC software, provided a personal return of more than $400 million - most impressive considering Moores almost gave the business away before it started.
"I developed a program that could improve corporate response times to customers, and sent a letter to IBM offering them the program for nothing," said Moores. "I got a form letter back thanking me, but declining my proposal.
"Then it hit me like a ton of bricks - people will buy this stuff!"
Moores' entrepreneurial spirit soared, as did his fortunes. His "Midas" touch appeared to hold no boundaries in the wide array of endeavors he undertook - from baseball to high tech. The common thread to all of Moores' successes was surrounding himself with exceptional talent; his venture into baseball was no exception.
"(Padres Manager Bruce) Bochy and (General Manager Kevin) Towers have forgotten more about baseball than I have ever known. I could only draw on my experience in software, and that was to look for the people who really make a difference - those who are 10 to 1,000-times more productive than the rest of us," said Moores.
Like in high tech businesses, Moores believes behind every great product lies one or two "idea generators," people whose passion and foresight develop solutions that provide intuitive benefits without spending a great deal of wasted energy in long range planning, group decision making or focus group research. Fortune 500 companies work in the same manner, said Moores.
Challenging the process is another characteristic of the Padres owner. He desires to become more involved in helping the San Diego Chargers secure a new football stadium, and proposed to convert the downtown 10th Avenue ship terminal land into a state-of-the-art facility for the NFL franchise as well as a showcase home for the San Diego State University Aztec football team and NCAA Division I Holiday Bowl. Moores also advocates for a change in local government with the implementation of a strong mayor-form of council government, indicating the negotiations for Petco Park would have been streamlined. "It's hard to negotiate with no one," said Moores.
But don't look for Moores to run for elected office soon. He'd rather play for the NBA Los Angeles Lakers. "Think about the marketing value; a fat, 60-year old white guy making three-point shots," said Moores.
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David Oates is the strategy and planning manager for ContentOne Innovation, a public relations agency serving high tech industries based in Carlsbad, Calif. He is available at david@contentone.com or 866-479-1380 Ext. 109.
