Vlad and CEO challenges

A friend of mine told me about a couple of snide comments about my competing in the CEO challenges competition from someone named Vlad. i don't know who Vlad is but would appreciate he post his personal info and stop being anonymous. I'd like to call him out on this. Anyways, Vlad was whining about how he had to work a lot and it wasn't fair that I entered as a CEO when I really wasn't one--implying that I was cheating or something.

Anyways to clear that up, the CEO challenges organization's rules are: "The events are open to CEOs, Presidents, or Owners of companies with over $2.5 million in annual gross revenue ($5 million for C-Suite Executives)."

At the time I entered I qualified in 4 different ways:

1. Chairman of the Board of iQor, a $400MM BPO company that I have been chairman of for 6 years--leading 4 successful financing rounds of this private LBO.
2. Executive chairman of the Board of Starcite, a $50MM SAS Meeting planning company
3. Chairman of the Board of fine Stationery.com, which is a $20mm intetnet retailer where I have worked as part of the executive team since it's founding 7 years ago
4. Managing Director, CEO and founder of MIOGA Ventures, LLC an investment and management consulting company that I founded and have run for the last 9 years. My current clients include TPG Capital, Texas Pacific Group Venture Capital, Opera solutions, Harrah's, Sears, and Avaya and others.

I am no longer with Starcite but I continue in the other 3 positions.

I should point out that I've been eligible for CEO challenges for almost 20 years by their rules. I've know about them for the last few year--I think they started in 2004 or so. I've never entered as a CEO because of the demands of my job(s). I chose to enter this year NOT because of Kona but because it was a way to get entered into IM Canada without traveling there--which is tough for me to pull off in August. My son and i were going to go there and then register again for 2009 (although his plans have now changed).

Anyways, as I was not successful at some other qualification opportunities this will turn out to be my last shot at Kona this year. with my father's brain tumor diagnosis I've decided if I was fortunate enough to qualify then I would go so that he might be able to see me race there (he has travelled to IMFL twice and IMWI to see me race in the past).

While I'M blessed to not have to sit at a desk and whine about crap i don't know anything about (like Vlad), rest assured the above jobs do require a great deal of my time to manage. I've worked hard over the years (I was a partner at Bain & company, a BU president at american Express, the president of first USA and the CEO of Walker digital) and have created a business that allows me to remain actively (and lucratively) involved in business and still devote a lot of time to my other interests including triathlon.

Now Vlad who the heck are you and how dare you imply the BS you did in your comments? I suggest you crawl back under the bridge with the rest of the trolls.

rc