The finalists for WashingtonExec’s Pinnacle Awards were announced Oct. 13, and we’ll be highlighting some of them until the event takes place virtually Dec. 8.
Next is Intelligence Executive of the Year (Public & Private) finalist George Zoulias, founder and CEO at Perfecta. Here, he talks achievements, what made him successful, career turning points and more.
What key achievements did you have in 2020 / 2021?
My key achievements for ’20-’21 are the establishment of a U.S.-based manufacturing capability for our products, the successful implementation of a product management process in our company and the awards of two prime contracts with the Defense Department for products we’ve been internally developing for the past 6 years.
What has made you successful in your current role?
My experiences as a camp counselor while I was an Eagle Scout. In the Scouts, I had to lead others, make plans, brief adults, manage projects, monitor logistics and care for members of my team. When I became a Cub Scout camp counselor, the camp administrator brought in a training consultant. I still vividly remember the consultant standing next to an easel with posterboards in the dining hall during a rainy summer day explaining to my cohort that the Sprite tag line at the time of “Image Is Nothing” is the opposite of what we should practice.
We needed to understand that we, as counselors, were ambassadors of the Boy Scouts and that the children and their adult chaperones will look to us to form their beliefs as to how Boy Scouts look, act and interact with each other. Until then, I hadn’t realized how significant it was to have the responsibility of representing a group that I cared so much about.
Every day, before I fall asleep, I still ask myself if what I did that day reflects positively on the organizations and people who have given so much to me throughout my life. That drives me to improve when I fall short.
What was a turning point or inflection point in your career?
As I was walking to a battle update briefing three months into a 1-year deployment from the old Iraqi Army Building in Mosul that I was using as an office for my Tactical Human Intelligence Team, I distinctly remember coming to the realization that all of the “talk” about the “reach-back resources” we would have once we deployed was nothing more than time wasted sitting through PowerPoint briefings and that if my unit actually wanted to change the environment that led us to being attacked five times a day, trying to stop suicide bombers from entering our base and vans loaded with Iranian-shaped charges from maiming our friends, I had to get creative.
I was a 23-year old staff sergeant and that realization back in 2004 still drives me as I strive to imagine, design, fund, build and then sell the products I believe will keep our soldiers safe.
What are you most proud of having been a part of in your current organization?
Each time a customer tells me they used our product, I am proud of our team for aiding the warfighter.
What are your primary focuses going forward, and why are those so important to the future of the nation?
Our primary focus areas going forward are automating cyber defenses through machine learning and educating our market on how our tools can help them operate in our world of ubiquitous persistent surveillance.
How do you help shape the next generation of government leaders/industry leaders?
I am working to shape the next generation of government and industry leaders by volunteering to serve on the boards of government contractors. Perfecta is a part of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce Innovation and Technology Executive Committee who works to understand and shape the policies of Virginia to serve Virginians and foster a business climate which supports entrepreneurship, empowers our world-class educational system to provide for the overall well-being of our students beyond mere job placement and to provide a forum for the business community to understand and support the initiatives of Virginias elected leaders.
In addition, I am a member of the Nationwide Bunker Labs CEOCircle and we meet with other CEOs, presidents and founders to share insights, experiences, support and most often, the scars of business.
What’s one key thing you learned from a failure you had?
Invest in a people and culture department. When my company was less than 10 people, that was the time when we had a team who were comfortable enough to talk through and debate the processes and documentation that we could have used as we grew.
Once the company was big enough to “need” a people and culture team, I felt too busy holding everything together and the team was too stressed with work to allocate the time and attention we should have.
Most employees and partners will ask for more compensation, more benefits, more of things that cost the company. I was in the military not for the pay, but for the mission and the culture. I should have realized sooner that through focus and communication, I could have shaped the culture earlier so our new managers would have adopted it versus trying to bring their own.
Which rules do you think you should break more as a government/industry leader?
None! Don’t break rules. Bend them, interpret them differently, question them analyze them, debate them professionally, but meet the intent of the rule always. When there is a specific rule you understand very well and — most importantly — are able to articulate, suggest modifications so at the least your local advisers agree that the change is not self-serving and could advance the greater good, fight the rule.
But the outcome of the change must be important enough to your client, users, employees and stakeholders for you to risk the opportunity costs associated with your allocation of effort.
What’s the biggest professional risk you’ve ever taken?
When I decided that I would quit the Army after 9 years and use my life savings to fund a company that would try to help the military get better technology in their users hands faster. I had enough money to fund the payroll for 60 days as long as I didn’t pay myself.
That was 13 years ago and I still chuckle at how crazy that was.
What was your biggest career struggle and how did you overcome it?
My biggest career struggle was and is still balancing what I know our products can be with what customers need them to do now. At Perfecta, we try to imagine what our market will need in the next 5 years. Once we’ve war-gamed and analyzed our theories, we research the problem and design a solution. Then, we break the solution down into what we hope are easy to understand subcomponents, plan the rollout and begin building.
Usually around two years into this cycle, we will begin getting sales of one or many of the subcomponents. This throws a wrench into the planned rollout — as markets and customers tend to do — but that’s the whole point in my opinion: Lead the market until it catches up and then ride along with it.
If we were a larger organization or didn’t operate as lean as we try to operate, I think we could be less cyclical. As a 50-person self-funded company, I’ve come to realize we have to capitalize on our internally funded R&D earlier than I would prefer. But honestly, that’s a Champagne problem that I’m lucky to have.
What’s your best career advice for those who want to follow in your footsteps?
There is a difference between analyzing a problem and admiring a problem. If you are just admiring the problem, you aren’t going to attack it. A company is just a bunch of contracts when it starts. Over the time you spend managing and growing the company, building the team, selling products and services, you’ll realize one day that the paperwork you filed to form the company matters less than what the company turned into, an actual brand.