Episode 6: Million $ Compromise. The Spirit of Innovation.

The Spirit of Innovation tells the story of one man's reaching for the American dream and the lessons learned. Each episode new innovations and lessons.

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, UNITED STATES, May 21, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- In the last episode of the Spirit of Innovation, John F Cruz walked away from issuing a lawsuit against the State for intellectual property violations. Cruz never imagined his wealth would come from a lawsuit. But it certainly could have.

Cruz couldn’t understand why he was not given the opportunity to bid on the new $1 million software development project for software he had previously developed and was considered best in the country. Only one vendor was given that opportunity. Cruz knew how government contracts work. And this wasn’t normal. But he would soon have his questions answered.

Cruz was quickly contracted by another State agency. So he moved on. The assignment was to organize the migration off the minicomputers unto a departmental wide personal computer local area network (PC-LAN). The contract included training every employee and providing support contract computer programming on various projects. It was a natural project for Cruz to get back on his feet.

Cruz hired 15 subcontractor software instructors and someone to manage them. Cruz also hired a couple of subcontractors to support programming work. The State considered Cruz was a reliable resource. Cruz enjoyed the people he was working with and working for. It looked like Cruz was back on track once again to build his company Digital Performance.

There is a saying, never count your chickens before their hatched. Cruz was on top of his company’s contract obligations, but Cruz himself was getting ready to fall into another hard business lesson. Cruz was approached by the contract administrator who complimented Cruz on his organization. Of course, Cruz was happy to receive such a compliment. The conversation continued. The administrator reported he will soon be issuing a multimillion-dollar systems development contract and he plan to award Cruz the contract. Then 18 months later they will issue another multimillion Phase II contract. Cruz was told he would also receive that contract.

Obviously, Cruz listened intently. But he sensed there was a catch. As the conversation continued, the administrator commented how unsatisfied he was with working for the State. Cruz listened. He then informed Cruz, he has the final say for the upcoming contract. The terms he presented to Cruz was after the contract was awarded, he wanted to be hired and run Cruz’s company.

Cruz took pride on positioning himself to win contracts. And he was good at it. Some might consider this recent conversation with the administrator a gift from heaven. This unexpected proposal could have given Cruz access to millions of dollars. But Cruz knew issuing contracts follow a formal legal process, at least in theory. So there was this concern. But mainly Cruz didn’t want to give up running his company. What would he do then?

In the nights that followed, Cruz could not sleep at night. It didn’t feel right. So he followed his gut and rejected the proposal. As a result, Cruz was being pushed out of his contracts with the Department.

Cruz never did disclosed the private conversation with the administrator, but he did fight for his contracts. With rumors spreading about the upcoming contracts, an investigation pursued. Decision makers were replaced and Cruz’s contracts were terminated. It was a hard lesson for Cruz because he followed the path of legally correct and ethical business behavior, but he still was punished.

It was hard to lose the tremendous momentum Cruz had built with his company. But now he realized why only one vendor was given the opportunity to duplicate Cruz’s software with a price tag of $1 million. Now Cruz had the opportunity.

Cruz had been operating at the mentality as a worker. He rolled up his sleeves and got the job done. But that is performance-based thinking. Money-based performance seems to operate at a completely different mentality. Lesson learned.

Cruz, once again had to start over. And in a serendipitous meeting at the University, Cruz’s eyes were opened to his next career path as becoming one of the leading pioneers of PC based multimedia. Perhaps this would be the path to his American dream of financial security.

Look for the next Episode of The Spirit of Innovation, One Man’s Journey.

John Cruz
ImageMind
email us here
Visit us on social media:
Facebook

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.