Science
Weaver Gaines shares his experiences as the CEO of several startup companies in terms of the highs, the lows, the expected, and the unexpected: "So I think you can inculcate a culture from the top, from the beginning, that says, 'We don't lie. We don't cheat. We don't steal. And we're not going to tolerate people who do those things.' You can make that happen throughout your company, regardless of its size. But the other stuff, the commitment to the task, the belief in what you're doing, all of that stuff, has to be established when the company is small and then you hope it will permeate the company as it grows."Gaines has served as the CEO of Evren Technologies, OBMedical Company and Ixion Biotechnology. Additionally he has been the chairman of several companies and non-profits, and is a member of the Keck Graduate Institute's Corporate Relations Board.In this episode, Weaver shares with host Richard Miles the importance of a CEO's role to encourage teamwork, foster trust in a company, and grow -- in a way that's not just about the money. TRANSCRIPT: Intro: 0:01 Inventors and their inventions. Welcome to Radio Cade, a podcast from the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention in Gainesville, Florida. Starting in running your own company -- It's not for everyone. For those who have done it, it can be exhilarating, exhausting, and easily the hardest thing they've ever done. We decided to go out and talk to some of those people and find out what they've learned, what they'd repeat, what they'll never do again, or hear stories from their first year, then from the period when they realized they're going to survive and how they intend to position their companies for the future. We'll find out what a CEO's normal day is like, how they build and manage their teams, what it's done to their personal lives. And finally, when is it time to move on? Join us for CEO 101, a limited series of deep looks at people who are their own boss -- for better or for worse. Welcome to another episode of CEO 101, a series of special episodes in which we talk to and about CEOs of startup companies. I'm your host, Richard Miles. Today my guest is Weaver Gaines , the CEO of several companies, including Evren Technologies, OBMedical, both of those are medical device companies, as well as Ixion Biotechnology. He's also served as a chairman of numerous companies and non-profits, among other things. Welcome to the show, Weaver. Weaver Gaines: 1:18 "Well, thank you for having me here," I think is the formulaic response to-- Richard Miles: 1:22 That's right, there's only one right answer. You're not going to be here. Weaver, you've done a lot of stuff in your life and your career. So why don't we just start with a short overview of your career? Weaver Gaines: 1:31 Okay. Well, one way of thinking about my career is, "here's a guy who obviously can't keep a job." I went to law school primarily because even though I was an ROTC commissioned officer, everybody else was trying to avoid being drafted into the war in Vietnam. And they were all going to law school and they were on the debate team at Dartmouth, so I went to law school too , with about that much forethought about it. And when I graduated from law school, I went on active duty and I spent two years in the army -- one year in Europe, in Heidelberg and Berlin. And one year in long been Vietnam -- an experience for which I will be always grateful. The whole experience was extraordinary. I'm glad I did it. I can't talk anybody into doing it now, but I think it's really one of the formative experiences of my life. And I'm glad I got involved in it. Richard Miles: 2:17