Success didn't come easy for Dennis Barsema; he took a low-paying job out of college, carefully planned out a "road map" for his future, and -- in spite of several challenges along the way -- became a successful tech CEO.
Barsema says sticking to the plan he mapped out for himself was essential, especially after going through a divorce and a period where he was flat broke. He says having these goals in writing, and keeping them in mind even at his lowest, helped him to stay on course -- leading his company to one of the largest initial public offerings (IPO) of stock in American history.
He has since donated two buildings to the Northern Illinois campus, and taught in one of them on a regular basis; he founded a course in social entrepreneurship -- using business methods to deal with social concerns -- and NIU is now one of the few colleges in the country which offers this as a major.
Earlier this year, he was appointed to the NIU Board of Trustees; that meant giving up his teaching position, but he still sneaks back in to give the occasional lecture...to inspire tomorrow's entrepreneurs to follow their own road map.