Shortly after Geneva, the New York Times ran a front-page story in their business section describing how our little company was cutting international telephone rates by more than 50 percent worldwide. Time, Newsweek, Forbes, Business Week, Der Spiegel, the Economist, the London Times, and the Wall Street Journal soon jumped on the story. Suddenly telecommunications directors from the Fortune 500 were calling us back saying they had reconsidered and wanted to use our service. Firms from around the world did the same.

Suddenly we were in the telecommunications business—big-time! Often we reach turning points in our lives that are easily missed, and only years later do we recognize their importance. But this one came with banner headlines and I instantly recognized it as momentous. Only later did I have a chance to ponder the business lessons that I learned in Geneva.

First, every company needs to have a distinctive personality. We went into this business to be renegades who would take on the huge telecommunications carriers directly, and not be part of their old boy network. By sticking with this goal and always behaving accordingly, we eventually became the “outsiders” to turn to for lower prices. Along the way, we became the darlings of the international media and saved a lot of companies a lot of money. In this case the corporate personality fit neatly with my own. My corporate life has raised the stakes, but I’m still the same rebellious person that I always was.

Second, I realized that you have to select a single focus and stick to it. We had one aim: cutting international rates. There are many other uses for the technology we developed in both the cellular and data markets, but had we pursued them we would have lost all direction. By concentrating on a single killer application for our technology, we were able to wedge our way into what had been a completely closed industry.

I also learned this: Listen to your spouse. If it were up to me, I might have given up before Geneva. I was already shell-shocked from so much rejection, and I couldn’t see that we were at the precipice of real success. Sometimes a spouse or a close advisor can appreciate the larger picture. So, if you’re lucky enough to have people around you whom you can trust, listen to their advice when it’s given.