Nan Chen, Co-founder and Executive Vice-chairman of CENX, talks ethernet and martial arts in our latest executive profile
What was your first job?
My first real job was with SynOptics/Bay Networks in the Silicon Valley as an engineer and marketer. It was a unique opportunity for me to appreciate the thrills and challenges of both delivery and sales. It permanently engraved the entrepreneur spirit in me and made me realise that changing the world through technology start-ups is fun, satisfying and is my destiny. It set off a journey which I am still on today.
What led you into a career in telecoms?
I was working on 10Gbps Ethernet standards when Nortel acquired Bay Networks. I realised 10Gbps Ethernet had the potential to transform telecoms forever. That spurred my career in telecoms, starting with Atrica, the industry-first Carrier Ethernet equipment maker; then founding MEF (the Metro Ethernet Forum), the defining body of Carrier Ethernet standards worldwide; and now driving CENX to lead the service orchestration market to transform the telecoms industry once again.
Without naming and shaming, tell us about your worst ever boss.
My worst boss, a CEO of my venture, was smart, driven, hot-tempered and very accomplished but he was risk-riddled and the growth-first venture philosophy did not sit well. He had been running, and successfully exited, multiple mature businesses where profit is paramount. Our clash was so profound and so insane that we would challenge each other for a fight to the extreme degree. We were trading stories of how many people he had killed in military conflicts with guns and how many legs I have broken in street fights with my martial art skills! Luckily we didn’t resort to such tactics because that particular war of words was over a telephone. I have no one else to blame except me because I hired him.
Ironically, he was also my best boss, who inspired me to be my absolute best, intellectually and spiritually. He saw no hope and wanted to shut down my venture, whereas I envisioned great potential and fought every inch to grow the business while inspiring people within the company. We were staring at death in the face; however, we not only survived but thrived, and became a leader in the new market we had pioneered.
What has been your worst business travel experience?
I was stuck in an elevator in Istanbul in Turkey, so I picked the phone in the elevator and dialled the emergency number indicated in the elevator.
“Hello, I am stuck in an elevator!” I yelled at the phone.
A man with a heavy accent answered, “You got the wrong number!” He hung up.
I redialled the number and the same guy answered.
“I am sorry, but I am stuck in an elevator in Turkey,” I said.
He answered, “We are a meat processing company in Italy but we don’t process turkey.”
What has been the proudest moment in your career?
My proudest moment was in 2012 when worldwide Carrier Ethernet service revenue reached $50 billion, surpassing all other data revenue combined in telecom. When we started MEF and Atrica, Carrier Ethernet service revenue was practically zero and people didn’t even know what Carrier Ethernet was. So, achieving this level of industry adoption was momentous.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
In five years I may still be building CENX to grow its position as the dominant player in service orchestration, in providing solutions which are changing telecom and the internet, by enabling agile, assured and orchestrated services worldwide across any service provider network. If that vision is realised earlier, I could see myself starting some new venture.
