Daniel Lundy

Don’t be afraid to take a risk and try something entrepreneurial. Be careful with the word “failure”, the fact that you tried also defines success.

 

Daniel P. Lundy is a Sales Executive with over thirty years of experience selling both software applications and database services in the information technology industry. A native of Liverpool, New York, Daniel graduated with a bachelor’s degree (with a focus in finance) from St. Bonaventure University (Olean, NY) in 1984. He began his career as an accountant working for his father’s CPA firm but quickly realized that his main talents resided in his knowledge of technology and people skills. Realizing this, he made a career change to sales. Daniel P Lundy has lived and worked in New York, Colorado, California, Texas, Connecticut, and Massachusetts over the course of his career. Daniel has been recognized repeatedly for his leadership in sales, earning awards such as “Sales Leader of the Year” and “Teammate of the Year”, along with receiving “Club Excellence” status consistently. He is currently an Area Director of Sales at Oracle Corporation, where he has spent most of his career. Daniel resides in a suburb of Boston with his wife and children and in his spare time, enjoys golfing and skiing.

On top of it all, Daniel P Lundy also has a strong passion for problem solving and creativity, which has sparked several entrepreneurial attempts over the last decade. His business ventures include startup businesses in the e-commerce and telecommunications industries. Daniel has enjoyed the process of formulating a business or consumer need into an idea and further into a prototype or functioning business. Though he is still waiting to get a big entrepreneurial “hit” he maintains that the entrepreneurial process is effective, and he considers all his ventures to be successes. In addition to his business ventures, Daniel P Lundy has also taken the initiative to write three movie scripts, motivated by stories in his own experiences or those close to him.

Where did the idea for your company come from?

The idea for Zip-Zap Mobile came to me as a way to satisfy a need in society. People need to stay connected. With a dead phone, you are basically out of business until you can charge up again. I wanted to make it easier for people to charge their phone in restaurants, bars and other public places.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

Being in sales, there really is no “typical” day. My schedule is largely shaped by my client’s needs. I have a fair amount of travel in the New England area, so often I will have a day trip to New York City or Hartford. Occasionally I will have to fly to San Francisco for meetings. Some days end with a client dinner, while some days enable me to be home early. There really is no routine with my schedule. I stay productive by ensuring that my schedule accommodates my client’s schedule.

How do you bring ideas to life?

The most important thing is to believe in your idea unconditionally and to display your enthusiasm when discussing it. I aim to deliver dynamic presentations with powerful visual aids to stimulate discussion. I find that having a prototype to pass around or some other way to simulate the experience is very effective as well.

What’s one trend that excites you?

Cloud streaming for music, shows and movies is one of the greatest new trends. The fact that we no longer need to own CD’s and DVD’s or use space to store this media locally on our devices is amazing.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Being an early riser! Getting up early in the morning and taking time to browse the news headlines with a cup of coffee before any chaos begins is important to me. It gives me time to organize my thoughts and goals for the day, and plan how to get everything done efficiently.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I would tell myself that everything works out the way it is meant to work out. When I was younger and starting out in my career there were a lot of pressures working in large cities like San Francisco and New York. Everything was so expensive, and it was very overwhelming as a younger professional on a limited income. There were times where I wondered if I would ever be able to save a dime. But with hard work and career progression, I was able to work my way into some well-paying positions and it all worked out.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

Dumb and Dumber is the greatest movie of all time! It is such a funny movie with great actors, and at one point I had memorized almost every line.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

I over-prepare for everything. If I am going in for a client meeting, I have done my homework and am incredibly knowledgeable about the people I am meeting with; their business, their customers and their competitors. I am also very prepared to discuss my own competitor’s strengths and weaknesses as it relates to the customer’s overall needs. I have prepared a great presentation and am ready to field any question.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

My network has been an important part of building and maintaining my business. After being in the software business for nearly thirty years, I have met hundreds of professionals and have built great friendships with many of my clients and colleagues. I have helped connect many of my friends and colleagues over the years with deals and career opportunities. I have always enjoyed meeting new people and I learn something from everyone I meet. People are fascinating if you take the time to get to know them.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

I once wrote a movie script, also referred to as a “treatment”, and submitted it to the Project Green Light Screenplay Contest. The script was called “To the Fullest” and was about one of my best friends from college who was walking to his office at the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001. I didn’t win the contest, but I still considered writing an entire screenplay a success. I overcame the “failure” of not winning by writing another treatment called “The Boardroom”.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

I will tell you about one of my previous entrepreneurial endeavors. It was called iOccasions.com and it was an e-commerce business that would send you emails and links for all of your special occasions. My service would remind you to buy your mom a birthday gift, or flowers on your wife’s birthday. It had links to all kinds of merchants that you could buy from. A small group of friends and family became customers, but it eventually became too expensive to maintain and I had to shut it down.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

I would have to say renewing my Amazon Prime membership. It has really changed the way I buy things and I love the speed and convenience of it.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

Google Hangouts is great! I have used it for meetings when a business partner is working remotely. It is great for video conferencing and enables screen sharing during a work meeting. A Google Hangout is much more dynamic than a normal conference call.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

The Creature from Jekyll Island by Edward Griffin is an excellent book about the Federal Reserve and the money supply. It is interesting that the Federal Reserve is not even part of the Federal Government. I learned a lot by reading this book!

What is your favorite quote?

“The harder I work, the luckier I get.” It is true in my opinion. I have always lived by that quote!

Key Learnings:

• Don’t be afraid to take a risk and try something entrepreneurial. Be careful with the word “failure”, the fact that you tried also defines success. It takes a lot of swings to get a hit.
• Things in life will always work out the way they are meant to. Trust in the process, work hard and good things will happen.
• People and relationships are a vital part of being successful both personally and professionally. You will learn something from everyone you meet.

Connect: