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Episode Summary

A US marine for decades, Jack O’Toole did what comes naturally to him – he became a leader, an innovator, an entrepreneur. In this episode of the Sydcast, we hear Jack share his story about life in the military and how he managed to navigate around rules meant to stifle creativity to become what most of us never thought possible – an entrepreneur in the military. All the way to his current world as co-founder and president of an innovative clean air tech firm snuffing out tobacco smoke where there shouldn’t be any.

Syd Finkelstein

Sydney Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He holds a Masters degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, whichLinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age.” He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, a consultant and speaker to leading companies around the world, and a top 25 on the global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus. Professor Finkelstein’s research and consulting work often relies on in-depth and personal interviews with hundreds of people, an experience that led him to create and host his own podcast, The Sydcast, to uncover and share the stories of all sorts of fascinating people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, academia, and everyday life. 

Jack O’Toole

Jack is founder and President of FreshAir Sensor LLC. FreshAir’s mission is improving lives through novel sensor technology. FreshAir has developed patented, novel sensors which detect nicotine and marijuana. This is the only technology available that can detect airborne concentrations of these chemicals. The sensors are used in a device that communicates over Wi-Fi to the FreshAir platform. When smoke is detected the system immediately notifies clients that smoking is taking place in a prohibited area and then generates a time-coded chart of the substance detected, providing scientific proof that unauthorized smoking has occurred. FreshAir has also developed a sensor for vaping.

Jack is a graduate of the Tuck School of Business and an Eagle Scout from Cape Elizabeth, Maine. He is a retired Marine who served primarily in specialized units and Special Operations. While serving in the military Jack commanded six units and deployed to five contents. He was part of a small team that developed the Marine component of Special Operations Command (MARSOC) which now has over 3000 people. He then served as the Operations Officer of a 2500-person Marine Expeditionary Unit and directed part of the relief efforts following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. 

Jack and his family live in Hanover, NH.  

Insights from this episode:

• Details of Jack’s military experience and entrepreneurship efforts within the military.
• Problems and benefits resulting from the creation of the Marine component of Special Operations Command, MARSOC.
• The influence of military service on entrepreneurship and leadership in business.
• Top reasons for going to business school and the benefits of learning how to lead people in business.
• The realization of a consumer demand that led to the FreshAir start-up.

Quotes from the show:

• “People are only going to do what you force them, compel them to do and measure what they have actually done, or what they want to do, whichever is greater.” – Jack O’Toole
• “In a start-up you are trying to move people from apathy to at least mild interest.” – Jack O’Toole
• “I felt like a two-year, full immersion at business school would be how I would learn the most about the U.S. business culture and be able to operate fluidly the way I did in my old culture.” – Jack O’Toole
• On choosing a second career: “I really liked my experience building MARSOC (Marine component of Special Operations Command), so I wanted to go into a start-up.” – Jack O’Toole
• “There is a large number of diagonally aligned skills that you need to build a company, particularly a technology company” – Jack O’Toole
• On FreshAir’s detection success: “A 100% success rate means that you can, in fact, prove that the person did a bad thing.” – Syd Finkelstein
• “In the military you get more resources by convincing higher organizations to give you more resources, so you have to be very controlled in your message.” – Jack O’Toole
• “In business if you’re doing something great, and you can convince people that you are doing something great, then that’s attractive.” – Jack O’Toole
• “There’s almost always more money to deploy than there are good ideas or places to deploy it.” – Syd Finkelstein
• “You can’t outsource leadership.” – Syd Finkelstein

Resources Mentioned:

The Tuck School of Business

National Institute of Health (NIH)

Stay Connected:

Syd Finkelstein

Website: http://thesydcast.com

LinkedIn: Sydney Finkelstein

Twitter: @sydfinkelstein

Facebook: The Sydcast

Instagram: The Sydcast 

Jack O’Toole 

Website: www.FreshAirSensor.com

LinkedIn: Jack O’Toole

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This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry (www.podcastlaundry.com)