- Chief executive officer and co-founder, BlueCat Networks, Toronto
The tech company might be called BlueCat, but Michael Hyatt knows he's riding a tiger.
Since co-founding the company with his brother Richard in 2001, he has watched BlueCat become one of the 50 fastest-growing technology companies in Canada. It has taken the lead in its field of Internet-address management after going toe-to-toe with the likes of Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco Systems and even British Telecom. BlueCat recently was designated best in its field by NetworkWorld magazine.
The privately held company has 125 employees in offices across Canada, the United States and Europe. It doesn't release sales figures, but he does allow that sales are in the "millions per month."
BlueCat is actually his second tech success. His first was Dyadem International Ltd., which he and Richard founded in 1993 (in "suite two of our parent's home — our bedroom"), selling software they had created for their engineer father while Michael was still a student at the University of Western Ontario. The brothers still own Dyadem, which is on a similar trajectory to that of BlueCat, boasting rapid revenue growth and 125 employees.
Remarkably, both companies operate without typical venture capital support or debt. "But we have very, very good advisers," Mr. Hyatt says. "We look for smarter people than us."
The trick to being a good entrepreneur is "giving up authority as quickly as you can to people who are smarter than you. I try to become the 'dumbest guy in the room' — quickly — and empower people to make sound decisions and take total ownership for them," he says.
"If you're going to be successful as an entrepreneur, what you're constantly doing is downloading responsibility and giving up authority. The challenge is always 'letting go' and allowing the best people to run your business," he adds. "Leadership is all about empowering people to be the best that they can be — and not controlling every stage of the game."
A bachelor, he laughs that "there are probably people who like entrepreneurs, but I'd have to make the time to meet them."
Special to The Globe and Mail
