Career Day
Mel Baiada • Managing Partner at BaseCamp Ventures • President of BaseCamp Business • Partner at Grapevine Development • B.S./M.S. Drexel University
Mel Baiada Offers Entrepreneurship Advice on Career Day Mel Baiada, a successful entrepreneur and MFS trustee from 2001-2010, was the keynote speaker for Upper School Career Day on March 10. He and his wife, Diane, are Moorestown residents and parents of two MFS alumnae, Caitlin ’06 and Emma ’10. Mel began and closed his address to the juniors and seniors with a simple idea: reach for the stars but keep your feet on the ground. “Your path will never be a straight journey,” he said. “Nobody has an immediate level of success, but you should always head in the direction of your dreams and eventually you will end up in a good space.” Like many of the students sitting in the Meeting House, Mel wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do for a career. After spending two years at Burlington County College, he transferred to Drexel University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering with a focus on computers and control theory. “I always liked solving problems and figuring things out,” said Mel. “But I knew I wanted to start a business. My father and brothers had businesses, and business was what I eventually wanted to do.” He explored a few different industries, working for a number of companies, including RCA Government Systems (now Lockheed Martin), ADP Brokerage Service in Mount Laurel, and his brother Mark’s company, Bayada Home Health Care. He also returned to Drexel to earn a master’s degree in communication. “In the early stages of my career, I did a number of different things to see what I liked and what I didn’t like,” said Mel. “After getting a solid education, figuring out what you don’t like is just as important as discovering your interests, and that’s something 14
AMONG FRIENDS
that only comes with experience. Working for large companies is valuable because it teaches you structure and the basic moving parts of the business. These lessons are beneficial when you do something on your own.” Mel then shared with the Upper School students a key concept in business that helped him attain success with his companies Bluestone Software and Bluestone Consulting. “Reading books and trade magazines and websites is imperative to understanding where the markets are going,” said Mel. “Bluestone did well only because I picked a good market and the company did a good job of meeting commitments and keeping customers happy. Technology and computers were trending in the late 80s and the Internet was the next thing in the mid 90s. We were providing software services and IT programming in the online space, and that’s where people were spending their money. I was driven, but the most important factor was selecting the right market.” In 1999, Bluestone Software went public, and it was purchased by Hewlett Packard the following year. With those earnings, Mel and his wife, Diane, provided the lead gift that made the Moorestown Friends Field House complex possible. Additionally, later in 2000, Mel reinvested his earnings from selling Bluestone to establish the venture capital firm BaseCamp Ventures in Moorestown, where he has hosted numerous MFS students for their Senior Project. To conclude his keynote address, Mel shared one more thing with the students – reading material. “There’s this book by Brian Tracy called 21 Success Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires,” said Mel. “He offers great advice, like develop your unique talents, dream big dreams, work longer and harder. If you refer to this list once a year and work on one to two things, it will benefit you greatly. Strive to reach for the stars.”
SPRING 2016