Joe Knows

I met Joe Kaplan in 1982.  I was rushing ZBT fraternity at UCLA, and Joe was the Rush Chairman.  The Rush Chairman was the guy who decided if I got into ZBT or if I became a Kappa Sigma NoZBT4U.  Besides marrying Wendy, joining ZBT was the biggest decision of my life.  And Joe was part of it.   Joe changed my life.  I know many of you feel the same.  How can one person change so many lives?  Joe knows.

Until ZBT, I never met anyone like Joe.  As Brian Sachs puts it, “Joe was larger than life.”  Big guy.  Big goals.  Big ideas.  Big heart.  Big F’ing Joe.  That’s what the “bros” called him.  He was a man amongst boys, and I was lucky to have been one of the boys, one of his bros.  And when you’re on Team Joe, you’re a teammate for life.  People always say don’t work with your family or friends.  Not Joe.  His family and friends were his life and his life was his work.  Joe knows.

My first job in college was delivering pizzas at BoJay’s.  It was a family run joint on Pico Boulevard in West LA.  Joe got me the job.  We’d laugh for years about the lady who served pizzas to her doll collection, or the guy who tipped us with monopoly money.  Joe got me into ZBT, then got me a job in less than 2 years.  Who is this guy?  Do not pass go.  Do not collect $200.  Just follow Joe.  Joe knows.

After UCLA, Joe and I lost contact.  One of my life lessons:  When you meet somebody larger than life, don’t lose contact.  Duh.   Joe went off to work for his father in law, go to rehab, and sell 3 companies for hundreds of millions.  I became a CPA, an entertainment business manager, sold a small business, and then got lost.  In 2004, I read that Joe had just sold Innovative Merchant Solutions for $116 million to Intuit.  At the time, I just got my stock brokerage and insurance licenses and was planning on a career in personal finance management.  I considered calling Joe to ask him if he’d evaluate a firm I was interviewing with. We hadn’t really spoken that much over the last 18 years, but why not?  It was Big F’ing Joe.  Of course, he welcomed the opportunity to help me, and he took a meeting with two brokers from Morgan Standby While We F You.  After the meeting, I called Joe and asked, “How’d the meeting go?  Did you like the firm?”  He said, “Why don’t you come work for me?”  Who says that?  Who does that? That was the beginning of my 14+ year career in payments.  Joe believed more in me, then I believed in myself.  Joe knows.

My Rush Chairman, my old friend, was now my Boss.  My first week, I attended our division’s All Hands meeting.  I had to run around the office while people threw foam balls at me.  It was Joe’s way of welcoming new employees into the organization.  It was a common bond that all employees shared.  In the fraternity, we called it hazing.  At Intuit, Joe called it “Throw the balls. Run. Throw the balls.”  I never worked for a company the size of Intuit before.  And I never worked for a boss like Joe Kaplan before. I learned quickly that EVERY Innovative employee became an Intuit employee, and Joe shared millions of dollars with his employees.   Who does that? I joined Intuit 5 months after the acquisition (and distributions).  Nice timing.  Joe knows.

Over the next 5 years Joe doubled the size of the organization.  We expanded to over 400 employees and our revenue was growing over 20% year over year. There was no one like Joe at Intuit, and I never experienced anything like it in my life.  Joe had this way of pushing people out of their comfort zones while also making it fun.  In my opinion, this was one of his greatest gifts.  He made people demand more from themselves and from others around them.  “Raise the bar,” he preached.  And have a great time while doing it.  On one of my first meetings with Intuit Executives, I was nervous and out of my comfort zone.  I tried to hide it, but Joe sensed it.  Joe sensed everything.  There were 30 of us in a hotel conference room, and I was scheduled to present in the afternoon.  For lunch, there was a sandwich and dessert buffet.  Everyone is gathering around the buffet and Joe says, “Hey Broudy, I’ll give you $100 if you eat the sandwich I make for you.”  “Uh. Ok.” I said.  My sandwich was roast beef, turkey, ham, four types of cheeses, mayo, mustard, ketchup, cole slaw, potato salad, pickles, onions, pudding, jello, brownies, chocolate sauce with a cherry on top.  I felt so bad for the guy presenting at lunch (and the person sitting next to me).  All 30 people were dying laughing at my every bite. Joe put me at ease.  My presentation was easier because Joe put me in the spotlight prior, and paid me $100.  Joe knows.

Joe was the ultimate leader.  Every month he’d bring the entire company together.  The leaders would provide updates and Joe would provide life.  Newbies ran around dodging foam balls.  And Joe would end the meeting with a life message.  Things that you could take home to your family.  Like, “If you see someone litter and don’t say anything, you’re a litterer too.”  Joe liked things clean.  Or his favorite line, “This is the most fun I can have with my clothes on.”  Joe led differently.  At Intuit and at Total Merchant Services every person had to meet three new people every week and email him who we met.  He called it “Meet 3.”  This way, people were forced to meet other people, and he’d learn things about everyone in the company.  I remember one time he called me over the weekend about my Meet 3.  He gave me shit because I spelled someone’s Mom’s name wrong.  Not the person I met, but her Mom!  Who knows employee’s Moms? Joe knows.

I was fortunate enough to be in a select group.  I was a friend first, then an employee.  Joe made most of us feel that way, but for me it was that way.  We had that fraternal bond that transcended throughout my life.  I felt safe in Joe’s presence, like we could not be stopped.  One night we were in Las Vegas at an “offsite.”  Joe loved Vegas.  I asked him to come play poker.  I liked poker and he loved blackjack.  Joe sat down at the table and immediately took over.  He played every hand and gave people shit for folding.  I finally got the hand I needed.  KJ of hearts and 3 hearts flopped on the board.  A flush.  Time to reel Joe in.  The last card was a 2 of spades, I put all my chips in and he immediately called.  I flipped my cards and he laughed in my face as he rolled the A2 of hearts.  He had the higher flush.  Joe knows.  

After he beat me he asked me to come up to his room to help him with something.  There was a boat load of money on the living room table.  Joe needed help moving the money to another hotel.  Joe and I split the money into pillow cases and we walked through the hotel lobby and then into a taxi and drove off to another hotel with pillow cases in hand.  I felt like I was in Ocean’s Kaplan.  But he asked me to help because he trusted me.  Not to show off.  Without having to say it, I was on Team Joe and Joe trusted his Team.  Joe knows.

I’ve probably been in 500+ business meetings with Joe.  Leadership teams, bankers, companywide, 1:1’s, etc.   He’d throw balls at me, stack food in front of me, flip me off, play video games.  Joe loved to play and liked to see how far you’d go to play with him.   I remember one meeting we were on a conference call with an important potential partner.  I was in the middle of my presentation and Joe gave me a “wet whilly”.  For those of you lucky enough to avoid a wet whilly, it’s when someone wets their finger and sticks it in your ear.  I grabbed his hand and tried to put it behind his back.  He then threw me on the floor and pinned me down until it was my turn to talk.   Joe was strategically managing the mute button with one hand, and wrestling me with the other.  The rest of our Leadership Team was in shock, and had no idea what was going on.  

It felt like 1982 and I was 18.  But it was 2010 and I was 46 trying to build a career.  Joe loved to catch you off guard.  I remember Intuit sent a rookie strategy person to one of Joe’s Leadership meetings.  Joe took the team of 20 out to dinner and then at the end asked everyone, including the rookie, to hand him their credit cards for the infamous credit card roulette.  The card that gets chosen, pays.  What a surprise when the rookie’s card got picked for a $4,000 dinner.  Probably not the expense account he was approved for.  Joe knows.    

Joe was my mentor.  Joe was my friend.  Joe even had a relationship with my kids.  They’d text him and he’d text them back.  How did one person spread an umbrella so wide?  Joe knows.  I’ve learned so many things from Joe.  I’ve been thinking about them a lot lately. 

Here are my Top 5 Joe Knows:

5.  Set goals: “A goal without a timeline is only a dream.”

4.  Customers are key: “Without our customers, none of us get paid.”

3.  Give back: “Let’s go build a house.  Who’s with me?”  

2.  Tough love is still love: “Broudy, you suck.” This message took me awhile to embrace. 

1.   Everyone matters

Joe was a multi-millionaire that made everyone feel rich.  Yes, he had money.  But his real wealth was the way he made everyone feel.  Everyone mattered.  I felt important.  You felt important.  No employee was better than the rest.  We are all better because of Joe.

One last story... Joe loved the Dodgers and shared his seats with many of us.  Last night I was at the game with my family and Robbie, Jeff, Scott, and Mike (Joe’s childhood friends) were also at the game sitting in another section.  In the first inning, a foul ball comes right at Jeff Lowy and it goes off his wrist.  In the 2^nd inning the lights go out in Dodger Stadium and there is a delay for 30 minutes.  In the 6^th inning a foul ball comes overhead, I miss it completely, it hits Reid (my son) in the leg, hits me, and then Reid picks it up.  Two Jeff’s get hit by foul balls in the same game?  Lights go out?  Joe knows.

I left Total Merchant Services 2 years ago to become CEO of PCIHIPAA, my HIPAA compliance company.  It was like the cat leaving the lion.  But I would have never been able to leave, without him. Joe prepared me to take the leap and provided me the confidence to succeed. Who knows what will happen, but I know it would have never happened without Joe. 

I last spoke to Joe on Wednesday, July 18^th.  I called him for advice about my company, and he advised me not to suck.  Not really.  He gave me great advice.  But I was also fortunate enough to be able to thank him one last time for providing me the tough love I needed to be successful.  Joe’s had the single most influence of who my professional self is today. 

  

The outpouring of people that have reached out to me has been overwhelming.  Past co-workers, friends and family all knew what Joe meant to me and to so many of you.  I find the best way to remember Joe, and to help us morn, is through story telling.  Help keep Joe’s legacy alive.  Let’s all come together and continue to tell stories, learn and laugh through our Big Joe moments.

Tell your story.  Share your learnings.  Go to: http://www.facebook.com/joekaplan.joeknows

Goodbye my friend.  I will never forget.  Love Spode.