The Keys to Success

Private equity expert and keynote speaker D. Brooks Zug ’67 gave a pop quiz to more than 300 audience members attending the Donald M. Gruhn ’49 Distinguished Finance Speaker Series on Oct. 21. Held in Baker Hall, Zug presented "The Keys to Success: Preparation, Discipline, and Luck."

“Everyone must raise their hand and vote, but vote only once,” said Zug. “Would you select preparation, discipline, or luck as the reason for your success in a career?”

About 75 percent of the room chose discipline. Zug, founder and senior managing director of HarbourVest Partners, chuckled and went on to show examples from his professional life of luck having more of an effect on success than one would think.

“Luck played a very important role for me, as it does in many instances of all of our careers,” said Zug.

Change Provides Opportunity

Zug, who started at Lehigh as a biology/pre-med major, switched to accounting when he discovered “he didn’t want to work on people, but with them.”

He began his career at leading accounting company Price Waterhouse after graduation but changed his path to pursue investment banking after earning an M.B.A. degree from Harvard in 1970.

Early in his career, Zug worked at notable investment firms Paine, Webber, Jackson & Curtis; Sun Life of Canada; and John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company. Five years later, he founded Hancock Venture Partners, which segued into HarbourVest Partners, currently one of the largest private equity management companies in the world with offices in Boston, London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Bogotá, Toronto, and Beijing.
 
The technology revolution, China overtaking Hong Kong, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Federal Reserve decisions, and the rise and plummet of new economies were all examples of world events that affected his career, said Zug.

But luck matters, he admitted. “It pays to be at the right place at the right time,” Zug commented, but noted that preparation and discipline are still needed to be successful in business.
 
“Be prepared. If you are prepared when the occasion comes along, you may be able to take advantage of it. Work hard. Discipline yourself, especially when the occasion arises that you have the opportunity to excel. Don’t discount luck. Luck will make an important difference in whatever you do. In everybody’s career in business, it is going to play a role. Guaranteed,” he said.

Nandu Nayar, professor of finance and director of the Financial Services Lab, said, “Brooks Zug is an ideal example of the Lehigh student who recognizes opportunity when it comes calling, is unafraid to seize it, and then transforms it into a successful venture with hard work and humility.”

Strong Lehigh Connections

While on campus, Zug met with business students in the Rauch Business Center to share his story, answer questions, and provide investment advice.

Anthony Piccione ’15, a finance major from Jackson, New Jersey, said it was a great opportunity to get this kind of exposure to the private equity industry from a Lehigh alum. Upon meeting Zug, Piccione said, “I hope to learn his career path and how he went from where he started to starting his own firm. It is something that I could see myself doing down the line.”

Georgette Phillips Chapman, the Kevin L. and Lisa A. Clayton Dean of the College of Business and Economics, thanked Judy and Donald Gruhn ’49, a 40-year veteran of the financial services industry, for extending the student educational experience beyond the classroom by creating the speaker series in 2008.

“We are pleased to bring nationally and internationally recognized speakers to impart their knowledge and wisdom with our students and members of our faculty,” she said. “We are especially pleased to welcome back our own.”

A member of the university’s leadership giving societies, the Tower Society and Asa Packer Society, Zug also volunteers his time and counsel to his alma mater. He served two terms as a Board of Trustee member; was the Lehigh University Alumni Association class president; participated on his 25th, 30th, and 35th Reunion Fund committees; and was a phonathon volunteer.

Zug values his Lehigh education and, in appreciation, established the D. Brooks Zug Scholarship to extend the experience to others. Since 1995, 12 students have benefitted from his generosity.

“I think Lehigh is a great place, and we should be able to attract the best students, even if that means they need financial help,” he said. “I have been very lucky with my education to give some back. I want others to benefit from it, too.”

Photos by Christa Neu
Story by Dawn Thren