I met Dan in 1958 at TRW which had developed the first ever industrial digital process control computer. This venture was a technological success but not an economic one. We both left TRW and ended up at a new computer company called Scientific Data Systems. SDS got to $100,000,000 in revenue faster than any industrial firm in history. It was a fabulous experience for us all and Dan eventually became its president.
Dan Hassett, a favorite salesman of mine, told me one day: “Rig, I’d follow Dan McGurk into the very jaws of hell!”. I pondered a bit and replied: “I know what you mean, Dan, I’ve done just that on several occasions….”.
In January of 1970, not long after the acquisition of SDS by Xerox, As VP of Sales I was meeting with the regional managers to plan the forecast and budget for that year. All of them were most pessimistic since our three primary markets - NASA, Universities and Timesharing were all headed south. We rolled up the forecast and went into report to President McGurk. The title of our flip chart presentation was “DEEP SHIT”. WE had not gotten very far into the discussion when Dan abruptly stopped the meeting. He told us in no uncertain terms to "get the hell out of here" and “don’t come back until you have a plan I can accept”. So we came up with a wildly optimistic plan which we knew we could not achieve. Not long after, I was replaced and sent to Corporate Xerox, Dan was fired and the IBMers took over: Joe Flavin, Bill Glavin, Don McKee and several others. They did no better and we were out of the computer business not long afterward.
Dan McGurk was a unique and extraordinary man. He stands large in my life and I am ready to follow him again……wherever he is.
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