Common Grounds:

1. What’s a food you can’t live without?  Gin
2. What’s your guilty pleasure? Gin
3. How did you make your first buck? I’ve worked all my life. First buck came from cutting my yard; my parents paid me.
4. What’s the best part about your job? Diversity.
5. What is the worst part about your job? I can’t keep up with what I’m doing.
6. What was the last thing you fixed? A broken company. 
7. What is the best gift you ever got? Meeting my wife. She dated one of my fraternity brothers. I found out they broke up and seized the opportunity.
8. What’s the best place to eat in Austin? Barley Swine. Second best – Sway.

“By the grace of God.” I love hearing how people found themselves living in Austin, and for Newt, this is his answer.

Let’s go back to the start, and then we’ll wind our way back to this answer.

Newt grew up on the campus of Mississippi State University, where his father, a Shakespearean and modern literature scholar, was the head of the English Department. He was also the co-founder of the Southern Modern Literature Foundation, so it’s not surprising that Newt became a voracious reader. He enjoyed Shakespeare, Chaucer, and also the modern literature authors as well. What might be a bit of a surprise is that William Faulkner was a guest in their home, and Robert Penn Warren became so close to the family, he was a guest at Newt’s wedding.

College was not a decision for Newt. He says, “I was tired of college by the time I got to college, because I’d been in college my whole life. I thought of it as the 13th grade.” He got his undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University and never even had to change bedrooms. He did make a decision when it came time for graduate studies, and selected Northwestern University. But when his father passed away suddenly, he could not afford to continue his studies there. He was a bit lost and unsure of what to do next.

He called his undergraduate department head and posed the question – “Where should I go?” The department head happened to be married to the sister of Dewitt Reddick, the beloved Dean of Communications at The University of Texas. After one phone call, Newt, who’d never stepped foot in Austin prior, came to town for a visit. By the time he got here, he was enrolled in classes, had an apartment, had two part-time jobs and two scholarships. I decided his original answer, “By the grace of God,” sums it up accurately.

When I ask Newt about the best advice he ever received, he tells me it was this idea to go to The University of Texas. He says, “I had no clue what I was doing, and that decision set my life.” And it’s also where he met his wife of 48 years. His wife, not surprisingly, is what Newt names when I ask what his greatest achievement has been. I’d say so.

Newt had a couple of corporate jobs out of college as he began building his professional resume. Soon his work got the attention of an advertising firm in Jackson, MS, who made Newt an offer he says he couldn’t refuse. A partner in the company had left some shares behind, and they promised those shares to Newt if he met a few benchmarks they set. When he blew the goals out of the water – doubling what they’d asked of him – they rewarded him with a minimal pay increase and ignored the promise they’d made of the company shares.

Newt tells me decided two things that day. One – to never trust anyone without a written contract. Two – he decided if he couldn’t join ’em, he’d beat ’em, and he moved to New Orleans and started his own marketing firm. A serial entrepreneur, Newt says, “I started my first company for all the wrong reasons. But I learned from that experience. Every company I started after the first, I started for the right reasons.”

Eventually, Newt sold that marketing firm in New Orleans, and moved to Dallas. There he started another marketing firm, a software company and a financial services firm. Then in 1991, when he had sold the last of those three companies, he and his family moved back to Austin, where Newt was supposed to retire. He says, “I failed at that.”

Since failing at retirement, he’s been founder, co-founder, CEO and board member of several companies. At this point, he’s pared it back to serving as an advisor to seven early stage start-ups. Newt is the busiest “retiree” I’ve ever met. He’s also one of the most optimistic.

I inquire about the most significant thing that’s happened in the last 30 days, and he tells me he lost his favorite pet – a miniature English Bulldog. Also, he had two squamous cell carcinomas removed and he had a heart scare, which thankfully turned out to be a computer glitch. After sharing those challenges, he says, ‘”But life is good!”

If happiness were the national currency, Newt says he’d do exactly what he’s doing now, which he describes as, “Being nice to people, and expecting them to be nice back…which they normally are,” he says, “about 90% of the time.”  He adds, “I am a ‘see the glass half-full’ kind of guy. I also have a rule to never feel negatively about someone until they’ve done something to me. I never listen to what other people say.”

What qualities does Newt look for and appreciate about others? Honesty and an ability to communicate. He says, “Companies are like illnesses; a lot of people are afraid to hear, or be the bearers of, bad news. If there’s bad news, I want to know as quickly as possible. If someone has cancer you don’t say, ‘Oh, let’s wait until next quarter to do something about it.’ You have to act now.”

Newt names Alice in Wonderland as a book that has a significant impact on him. He first read it when he was 11 or 12, and then at 14, he memorized it. For a long time he could still quote all the poetry in the book. I get to experience a bit of that when I ask him about a favorite passage. He recites for me a few lines of Jabberwocky.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

What does Newt do on a daily basis that he feels contributes to his overall success? First, he takes a 30 minute walk, which includes a few hills, every day. He also tries to eat well, and generally follows a plant-based diet. Finally, Newt tells me he spends time each day thinking through the future of issues – things pertaining to his family as well as the companies he’s involved with. There are bound to be plenty of issues to think about, considering the vast range of technologies those companies represent.

Here’s a sampling of the technology he’s involved with: a lithium-ion battery technology; a security software niche business; an LED technology; and a sales application that promises to turn a non-salesperson into the next David Ogilvy. Finally, the one he’s most excited about, and the one, he says, that is the first thing he’s ever been truly passionate about, is a company that promises to be the first well-capitalized renewable energy company.

Newt tells me they have plans to do for renewable energy what Rockefeller did with the oil industry more than a century ago. He says, “Oil used to be a bunch of little guys doing little things.” Rockefeller came in, bought up a bunch of the little guys and formed Standard Oil. This new company already has the support of 120 of the world’s biggest renewable energy players and supporters. Now they’re working on securing $5 billion a year for 10 years. Newt passionately believes this company can revolutionize energy.

Success or failure, which is the better teacher? For Newt, he says it’s been failure. He says, “Someone once said to me, ‘You know something about everything.’ I told him, ‘Yeah, I made my mind up 50 years ago that I wouldn’t make the same mistake over and over again. In 50 years, you’ve made all the mistakes. And you’ve become very wise.'”

If he had 30 seconds to make a speech to the world, Newt’s message would be: “The most important thing is to have a balanced life. I was speaking to a class of graduate students at Northwestern University.  The instructor had me talk for half the class, and then the students asked questions for the remainder. The last question came from a girl who started by saying, ‘You’ve been so successful in business – that must have been the driving force in your life.’ I told her nothing could be further from the truth. The driving forces, priorities, in my life are: 1) my faith, 2) my family and 3) business, and even then that is tied with personal interests such as golf. It’s true, you spend a lot more time in business, and it provides the fuel. But if you make business the driving force, you’ll have an empty life. I’m heartbroken when my dog dies. I’m not heartbroken when a company fails. It’s about knowing what’s really important.”

At 71, Newt is proof that it’s never too late to find something to be passionate about. In fact, if you’ve played your cards right, and have learned from your failures, you’ll have accumulated so much knowledge that the odds for success will certainly be in your favor. An optimistic approach in life will get you far. And doing so while maintaining balance – being clear about your priorities – will ensure that your life is spent doing what matters most to you.

From Newt’s favorite book:

Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don’t much care where.
The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.
Alice: …So long as I get somewhere.
The Cheshire Cat: Oh, you’re sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.

We’re all going somewhere. Decide what matters most, and then make sure the path you’re on is headed that way.