The Boss: The Urge To Go Global

MY father worked for Union Carbide on a joint venture with Nippon Steel in Japan. We moved to Tokyo in 1970 when I was 5 and stayed for three years.

Kurt Schneider

*KURT SCHNEIDER*

Chief executive, the Harlem Globetrotters

BIRTH DATE Aug. 20, 1965

RESIDENCE Wilton, Conn.

SPORTS HE PLAYS Paddle tennis and softball

FAVORITE FOOD New York strip steak, rare

RECENT VACATION London and the Cotswolds, England

Instead of attending an American school, I went to an international school, which exposed me to different cultures. We were taught in English but took Japanese classes three times a week. I remember playing hide-and-seek in the house of a classmate whose father was the British ambassador to Japan.

Every summer, Union Carbide would pay for the ex-pats to return to the states, but my family traveled instead. We went to India, Thailand, Egypt, Nepal and an island named Yap, near Guam, where they still used stones, with holes in them, for money. I saw a leper on a street in Katmandu in Nepal. When we traveled to the Nepal countryside, we learned that they used cow dung as a medicinal salve on wounds.

My first job after college was in advertising, working for Saatchi & Saatchi. At 23, I was an account executive with a 22-year-old assistant. By age 26, I was an account supervisor. I realized early that there were more ways to reach a goal than just my way. I found that the more control you give up, the more you end up getting. Give people the vision and hold them accountable, but let them do it their own way. They’ll be more fulfilled and the work will be better.

I also worked for Disney and Fox Sports Net. My biggest risk was becoming C.E.O. of Asimba, an Internet start-up that provided physical fitness training programs over the Web. The programs had won awards, but the Internet bubble burst and in 2001 the board directed me to shut the company down. I had to let the entire staff go except for about six people.

I arranged a purchase agreement with Weider Publishing and left on vacation with my family to the south of France. I’d dial in every night to perform due diligence.

Then came Sept. 11, 2001. I returned and the sale fell through. I renegotiated the deal, but it ended up being a lot less lucrative for us, though we considered it a victory because of the environment at the time.

Before joining the Globetrotters in May, I was executive vice president for marketing at World Wrestling Entertainment. That position allowed me to hone my operational skills much more than I could have in a bigger company.

The founders, Vince and Linda McMahon, took the sport out of the smoke-filled arena of the past and created stars you could interact with on every platform. You can now buy DVDs and T-shirts and download the wrestlers’ voices as ringtones.

I realized that the international business wasn’t what it should be, so one weekend I wrote an international business plan. Vince approved it in April, and I had things up and running by August. The international business tripled. Today the program is on TV in 100 countries and the wrestlers tour internationally on a regular basis.

The challenge is to create a similar business model for the Globetrotters. We need to move from once-a-year live events in people’s hometowns to extending the brand to a daily presence.

We’re keeping the confetti water trick and bringing back the string ball and the battles with the Washington Generals, but otherwise we’ve developed a new show that honors the tradition.

The team recently did a dress rehearsal at the Harlem Armory for 2,500 school kids, and the kids loved it. It meant I got approval for the changes from the team and the coaches. We need to put the best players on the court — they’re our product.

As told to Patricia R. Olsen.

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