Craig Elliott Lecture (2003)

Craig Elliott Former CEO of Packeteer

In April of 1996, Craig Elliott joined the Packeteer Company in Cupertino, California, as employee number three. Packeteer is a provider of application traffic management systems that enable enterprises, service providers, and other organizations to align network resources with business priorities. Elliott has raised more than $20 million in private funding, served as President, Chief Executive Officer, Director, and has led the company to a successful Initial Public Offering. On April 2, 2003, he spoke to a group of over 100 people attending the annual Reiman Entrepreneurial Speaker Series Luncheon hosted by the ISU Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship at the Memorial Union Sun Room.

Elliott related his early employment experiences, including his start in sales with Beacon Microcomputers, after graduating from ISU with a B.S. in animal science. In 1984, he worked to become the top sales person of Macintosh Computers earning an opportunity to have dinner with Steve Jobs, who also presented him with a new Porsche 944. This trip to California led to a job in marketing, sales, and product development lasting 10 years at Apple Computers, Inc.

His lecture revealed that he is an advocate of networking. One of his first angel investors was the ex-C.E.O. of Apple. He stressed that key networking strategies provided information sources, validation of concepts, investor introductions (the key to providing needing start-up money), and the critical element of "name dropping". Another added bonus of networking is being able to identify external people to bring on board early. If you can get the right people on board with stock options then they will be committed to the company's success.

For offering a clear synopsis of a business plan, Elliott believes that PowerPoint is a great method of communication. During his presentation, he shared a version of a PowerPoint presentation that he often gives to venture capitalists. He modified the lecture and interjected "this is what this means to the company" comments to clarify key points. This was a great learning opportunity for the audience of students, faculty and the business community, many of whom had never seen an investor presentation.

"The best time to get more money is when you don't need money!" Elliott stressed the need to be pro-active and to make a move before the till is empty and you are desperate.

Elliott pointed out that the ultimate measure of validation is people who write checks.

Later in the lecture he explained the process that led to success of Packeteer's IPO. The "IPO Road Show" consisted of 77 national and international meetings in 11days. This excursion proved to be extremely successful, ending in more investors than shares of stock on the day of the initial offering, raising an additional $66 million.

In addition to his public lecture, Elliott was a guest lecturer for the New Venture Planning course as well as for a graduate level Marketing class. He attended a round table luncheon at the ISU Research Park with several information technology companies and visited several start-up companies within the park.