How Jim Chase Turned his Corporate Background into a Successful Consulting Practice
/Jim Chase is the Founder and Principal at Canosus Ventures, a technology commercialization consulting practice. Jim has spent more than two decades helping IoT Digital Entertainment and high-speed wireless companies deliver connectivity and embedded computing solutions for consumer, industrial and mobile applications. As a longtime Silicon Valley, semiconductor veteran, Mr. Chase has defined and launched dozens of technology solutions, shipped hundreds of millions of units and generated over 2 billion in product revenue. Jim now advises a global client base in driving mass-market adoption of technology products from Carlsbad, California, where he resides with his wife of 28 years.
In this episode, Jim talks about how he was able to “Flip the Script” in his 2nd Half utilizing his past corporate background into a successful technology consulting practice.
“Creating a loyal set of customers, whether internal customers or external customers, that will vouch for you, give you testimonials, bring you referrals. The network that you build over your career is the best source for getting new client business.”
- Jim Chase
Key Takeaways for Second Act’ers on how to get out of the corporate stage and move on to this next point in life?
Know your financial situation. You have to take that into account
Have confidence in your own abilities. Believe you're good at what you do. Jim shares a quote from Jerry Garcia from the Grateful Dead that says, ‘It's not good enough to be the best at what you do, you have to be the only one that does what you do.’
Topics Covered:
01:52 - How ‘Sequoia Venture Capital's ‘Slide-deck Of Doom called RIP:Good Times’ led Jim onto this next stage of his life, moving from corporate to his own consulting practice
03:56 - Jim describing his ‘flip the script’ moment that leads him to reinvent and re-purpose the work he already knew
05:23 - His first dibs into the consulting practice
06:47 - The benefits he enjoyed doing consulting work fulltime: variety and flexibility
07:44- Jim shares the things that were holding people back from pursuing the entrepreneurial route
09:23 - His advice to Second Actors on how to sell and market their service to clients
12:21 Jim’s share who his ideal client and the market he serves
13:24 - Connect with Jim Jim Chase
Connect with Jim Chase
Connect with Tim Hansen
Transcript:
Tim Hansen 0:01
Hello Second Act’ers. This is Tim Hansen, the host of the Second Act Career Coaching Podcast. And today we have our guest, Jim Chase.
He's the Founder and Principal at Canosus Ventures, a technology commercialization consulting practice. Jim has spent more than two decades helping IoT Digital Entertainment and high-speed wireless companies deliver connectivity and embedded computing solutions for consumer, industrial and mobile applications. As a longtime Silicon Valley, semiconductor veteran, Mr. Chase has defined and launched dozens of technology solutions, shipped hundreds of millions of units and generated over 2 billion in product revenue. Jim now advises a global client base in driving mass market adoption of technology products from Carlsbad, California, where he resides with his wife of 28 years.
Thank you, Jim. I appreciate your time on this show and just spend a few moments kind of filling the gaps and tell us a little bit more about you, your family, and your business. And what was the thing that kind of led you to move in on this next stage of your life?
Jim Chase 1:06
Hey, Tim. Thanks very much for having me. As you mentioned, I left Silicon Valley back in 2015 and have now running a full-time consulting practice. You know, my path to this point has been actually a little twisty and turny. I consider myself kind of the Tom Brady of transition when you think about execs who have been in transition. I've been in transition four times in the last 12 years.
The biggest and probably that had the biggest impact on me was, if you can remember back to October 2008 when Sequoia Ventures, the VC firm up there in Sand Hill Road, came out with a slide deck called, RIP: Good Times. And that was basically a warning to the entire VC and startup community of the impending economic downturn that kind of hit a bunch of economic data that foretold that. I was working for a startup at that time. And within two weeks, I was out with zero severance, no paid accrued vacation, at very high leveraged financial situation.
Personally, I have kids in private school, about to go to college, I had a big mortgage, etc., etc. So that was a dark time in my life. That was a period of about 20 months before I replaced my income stream. And during that period, I tried a bunch of different things.
Tim Hansen 2:39
Yeah. So, would you say at that period, that sounds definitely like probably one of the worst career moments. I think people can go through at their life. Sounds like that was kind of the impetuous that was showing you a new way to look for things. So, after that, you know, you kind of leads us into, what I believe, what I'd like to call your flip the script moment.
So, can you tell us a little bit of your story there and how, I think you were starting to allude to that in a moment. But for our listeners, I like to use that phrase, flip the script to kind of let them know help people that are very experienced, have a wealth of knowledge can use that information, moving on to the next stage and make it their biggest asset.
So, with that in mind, can you tell us, go ahead and tell us that story of how you're able to reinvent, repurpose the work you already knew how to do in a different way?
Jim Chase 3:24
Sure. Sure, Tim, I'm happy to do that. So, that day, or I'll say one week after that day I was laid off, was the first time I was not earning a paycheck of some sort since I was eight years old. I mean, I started early my career delivering newspapers and you know, working jobs during high school and things and working for my father who had his own business. So, it was a very challenging and introspective time for me.
I scrambled in a lot of ways; I took a contract job doing some IT work during the graveyard shift so that I can look for a new career during the day. I hung a shingle on Craigslist. And I realized that I was, you know, I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit, but I've kind of the reluctant entrepreneur.
I felt that you know, with the kids and the commitments that having a stable job with good benefits is really, it was the safe path and be able to raise a family and fulfill my responsibilities as head of household. I started a consulting practice, kind of part-time during that period, during the crisis in 2009.
And eventually, through networking and through word of mouth, I landed a consulting assignment. It turned out to be short term because it turned into a full-time position. But it gave me the confidence to know that at some future point that I would most likely go back into consulting.
And my wife and I had made in plans, we recovered fortunately from the crisis, and we end up having a few more years in the valley. But we knew that there would be another inflection point in our lives and in my career where we would probably explore the consulting route again.
Tim Hansen 5:17
Awesome. Awesome. What's the one thing you're most excited about with this new work and income direction for it?
Jim Chase 5:22
Well, so we moved down here in 2015, into San Diego, and I actually ended up doing another W2 gig for a brief period. But now decided to do the consulting thing full time and I, it really fills my need for variety. I'm a technology guy. I've launched, I think, a dozen of products.
And I love the excitement of seeing new technologies and new products come to life. And so, when you're consulting and you're helping clients build a business or develop a marketing plan for new technology, watching it go from the ideation stage, the innovation stage, all the way through commercialization is exciting, being able to move from one to the next is great.
Another path, another piece of it for me is the flexibility, you know, I have no problem I've got clients around the world. So, I can do some of my work early, early mornings or late in the evenings and then be able to take advantage of the sunny weather we have in San Diego during the day and go enjoy that during the daylight hours.
Tim Hansen 6:25
Yeah. Do you find that one of the new benefits of this work style? Do you miss the commute to the office on a daily basis?
Jim Chase 6:33
Absolutely not. In fact, I was up in Silicon Valley last week for a conference and, you know, I felt the traffic was bad when I left four years ago, it's even worse now.
And even the traffic is bad down here as well, but occasionally I have to deal with that for a particular meeting. But most of the time, meeting clients down here, I'm able to shift around commute hours.
So yeah, I have a lot of flexibility there. A lot less stress.
Tim Hansen 6:55
Perfect, perfect. Well, you know, as you kind of started down this path into a new direction, prior to that, what do you think were some of the things that were holding you back from pursuing it a full bore?
You know, I know you're doing it now, but what do you think some of those things that are holding you back that you could share with our audience? Maybe help them if they're going through that, or if that's in their mind. Any tips and advice that you could suggest to give them on how to get out of that stage and move on to this next point in life?
Jim Chase 7:24
Well, sure. There's a couple of things that come to mind. I mean, the first one, certainly, you know, your financial situation, and you have to take that into account. You know, when we were raising kids and living in the big house, you know, your margin for error is a lot lower.
Moving down here, our financial situation landscape has changed a lot. So, I've got a little bit more breathing room, and you have to be able to survive the peaks and valleys of consulting. You know, there's sometimes you're building a lot, other times you may be in client development mode or lead generation mode. So, you have to be able to weather that. I think that the number one thing though is confidence in your own abilities.
If you believe you're good at what you do, and in fact I kind of subscribe to a quote from Jerry Garcia from the Grateful Dead is, ‘It's not good enough to be the best at what you do, you have to be the only one that does what you do.’ And I kind of feel that in my role helping clients get the product to market, I bring a very unique perspective to that. So, you have to have a good personal brand and the confidence that you can deliver on that brand.
And, you know, if you take that approach and really will put in the effort, it takes a lot of time and energy, when you're working your own business, you're not working less hours. I said flexible, I didn't say less. So, put in a lot of time and put in the effort and the results will come.
Tim Hansen 8:54
Awesome. Well, do you have any suggestions for the audience, because I know a lot of them may have been leaving traditional employment where they could do the day to day, whether you're an accountant, an engineer, as far as that skill set, that's one thing. But as you go down this path, you're adding another element here of having to look for clients per se.
Or you may not have had to do that in a traditional employment venue. Do you have any short tips and advice from a client or new business development perspective that you'd like to share with our audience?
Jim Chase 9:23
That is probably the most important area. People tend to forget that they are always in sales. Even if you have a W2 job and if you're an accountant or a software engineer, or human resources professional, you are still always selling your capabilities. And to be cognizant of that and trying to understand ways that you can describe what you do in a unique way that has a lasting memory with your audience.
You now, creating a loyal set of customers, whether internal customers or external customers, that will vouch for you, give you testimonials, bring you referrals. The network that you build over your career is the best source for getting new client business. In fact, this year 70% of the clients that I have reached out to has come directly from referrals over my career, mostly in the valley.
Tim Hansen 10:29
That's an excellent point, as I've been in my career, we always had a saying, your network is your net worth.
Jim Chase 10:36
Precisely.
Tim Hansen 10:36
And I've always tried to encourage people that I've a coach and even just friends of mine, just in general, that you need to take stunt, you know, a big part, especially as you progress in your career.
Sometimes it's almost a given at a certain experience level, you know what you're doing, hopefully, that's established. But the other part is who you know, and how can you help them and kind of have that attitude of a givers first mentality. And I've found that the higher up in the income chain you go in career, if you have that attitude about you, you'll be fine. If that's something you haven't developed over time, that's something I'd encourage people to take a look at doing. It sounds like you've done a wonderful job at that.
And that's definitely, it looks like it contributed greatly to your success. Now, as where, we start to finish up here, you know, can you tell us a little bit more on how our audience could reach out to you, to contact you via your website, your email address, phone number, or any other tips and advice that you'd like to give our listeners on how your service business and expertise can help them? And what would be a good client for you?
Jim Chase 11:42
Great, thanks. So, let's answer the second part first, I think I can set it up a little better. For me, the types of companies that I tend to help the most are ones that are established, kind of middle market companies.
Anywhere from 30 to say $300 million, that have an existing business but are looking to grow in a new sector for whatever reason.
They have an IP strategy in place, they need to figure out how to trend that, leverage that IP into a new market, but they don't necessarily have the resources in house to do that. And they're so busy making the day to day numbers and the business run that they know they need a strategy, but they don't necessarily have a place.
I can come in, I have a good technical background, I can understand what it is that they need, and if there, or what they have. And if they're trying to go into an area like IoT or connected home or high-speed wireless, I can quickly give them an assessment of where their IP stacks up in terms of a product and then how to go commercialize that. And even help facilitate some of the early customer engagements and relationships.
Tim Hansen 12:55
Excellent. So, would you say that the industry with your past background semiconductors, hardware engineering, is kind of your sweet spot?
Jim Chase 13:02
Yeah, primarily. I've been involved more recently in some SaaS companies in that space and connectivity companies. But, you know, in the end, yeah, the hardware is where I've spent most of my career. So, if there's a hardware element to it that's where I probably bring the most.
Tim Hansen 13:17
Excellent, excellent. Well, tell us, and our audience, how we can reach out to you on your website, email address, or any other details you'd like to share?
Jim Chase 13:24
Sure. The best two ways that you can reach out to me are either on the website, www.canosus.com, or through my LinkedIn page, and it's LinkedIn/in/realJimChase.
And either one of those two ways you can send me a note and I'd love to talk, understand what you need. And if there's something I could do to help you either, you know, as a client, or if somebody that's looking to make this transition and wants to spend some time and talk through it a little bit more, I would be happy to share some tips that I have.
Tim Hansen 13:53
Awesome. Awesome. Well, Jim, I appreciate your time today. I'm sure our audience is going to benefit from your expertise and it sounds you've done a wonderful job of using your past expertise and your background in your corporate world. Sound like you were forced into it a little bit, that's how some of us end up here. That's kind of what happened to me, but that's okay. I always say sometimes people have a planned exit, sometimes it's not. But I always say this, your second half can be your best half. And sometimes going through that can be painful, but there's always a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm not talking about the train coming in, it can actually be the best time of your life.
And thanks again so much for sharing. I'm sure this will be an encouragement a lot to our guests.
Jim Chase 14:34
Of course, Tim, you're welcome. Thank you. And I really appreciate the opportunity to talk to your audience and look forward to future conversations with some of them.
Tim Hansen 14:41
Alright. Thanks, Jim. Have a great day.
Jim Chase 14:43
Thank you. You too. Take care.
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