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One of the most formative experiences in Matt Pierson 's life was participating in the Semester at Sea program, now sponsored by the University of Virginia, at the end of his undergraduate work at the University of Rhode Island in 1983.
In 100 days, he literally saw the world, gaining exposure to nearly a dozen different cultures, instilling in him a respect for belief systems of others and a deep appreciation for those of his own country.
Pierson went on to be honored as 2003 New Hampshire High Tech Council Entrepreneur of the Year, having co-founded, built and sold DTC Communications in Nashua. He also chairs the New Hampshire High Tech Council and mixes his time between business interests and nonprofit activities.
Q. Tell us a bit about your DTC experience.
A. I was working as director of sales and marketing within a division of Dynatech Corp. (Dynatech Tactical Communications) in the mid-90s when the parent organization began planning for divestiture of non-core businesses, one of which was ours.
Dave Hargreaves, Ron Young and I believed in the business we were running and decided to buy out our division and take a shot at running our own business.
Prior to Dynatech, I'd spent seven years in a wireless startup that didn't pan out - we were just too early to market. In the case of DTC, we put everything we had at risk in that business and worked very hard, building it from $4...