In this Podcast Episode
Rob McNealy takes time out at a recent TiE Rockies event to interview serial entrepreneur and former senior officer for Qwest Communications, Guy Cook, about TiE, serial entrepreneurship and mentoring.
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Guy Cook’s Bio
Guy Cook was President and CEO for SuperNet, Inc., the dominant provider of Internet services in Colorado. From 1992-1997, SuperNet grew to over fourteen thousand Internet access customers. The company also provided web hosting, consulting and web development services with a staff of over 80 people, gaining a national reputation with accounts such as Gartner Group and the Discovery Channel. Mr. Cook had reporting responsibility for all aspects of company operations and also served on the Board of Directors. The company was profitable with over $12 million in recurring annual revenues.
Cook led the negotiation team that sold the company to Qwest Communications in 1997 for $24 million dollars. He then served as a senior officer for Qwest Communications, responsible for design, rollout, operation and sale of Data Products, including Internet Services (residential access, business access, hosting, web design services). In this capacity Mr. Cook managed the P&L statement for each individual data product and reported directly to the Qwest CEO. Mr. Cook led the Qwest Internet business to become the 5th largest Internet traffic provider in the United States. Mr. Cook was a key member of the Qwest acquisitions management team that examined roughly 20 companies for acquisition from 1997-2000. In this capacity Mr. Cook was responsible for due diligence for the successful acquisition of EUnet, the largest business ISP in Europe with over 60,000 aggregate internet access business customers.
From 2000-2002, Mr. Cook was responsible for the strategy Qwest International Data Products, with an emphasis on Internet Services in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, ROC, Singapore and other Asian countries. Mr. Cook was a key member of the Qwest Asian venture and acquisition team, which reviewed approximately 40 companies for acquisition or Internet joint venture opportunities during this time. He was also a key industry representative in the effort to create “Internet 2.”
Cook has lectured worldwide on Internet related topics in over 100 forums, including Keynote speeches at ISPCON and the Next Generation Networks conference (McQuillin). He has been quoted extensively in Internet related and business press.
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Rich Littlehale is one of the founders of YouRenew.com, a website that pays you to sell back or recycle your old electronics. Rich took time off from Yale to work on developing and running YouRenew.com full time. He also was a varsity rower at Yale. He’s originally from outside of Boston, MA and a devoted Red Sox fan.
