CEO of AEye Blair LaCorte is an accomplished entrepreneur, leader, and strategist. He has made his mark in several industries, covering a range of specialties.
Besides leading a business, Blair LaCorte also hopes to be one of the first civilians to visit space in 2022 as part of Virgin Galactic’s space program.
His career as an entrepreneur covers a wide range of fields. Blair LaCorte has “transformed companies in eight different industries,” which gave him “deep functional experience in B2B, Technology, Logistics, and Asset Optimization.”
At AEye, Blair LaCorte saw that the competition was focusing on creating “laser hardware that captured as much information as possible about their surroundings.” However, he had a different idea.
Blair LaCorte figured out that his company had to create a “solution that perceived the world in movement better than a human.” So, instead of developing new hardware, they had to focus on software.
This resulted in AEye’s IDAR™ (Intelligent Detection and Ranging) platform, which stands out among “traditional LiDAR solutions.” Blair LaCorte and his team began from the software and then built the hardware.
As they built the platform, Blair LaCorte and the AEye team “took the time to understand the problem,” which helped them come to the right solution quickly. By coming up with the solution so fast, they were able to open up a clear path to development.
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There will be hard times, and we want to align with a company that actually gets better in crisis, not worse.” Blair LaCorte
Jerome Knyszewski: What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Blair LaCorte: In a recent customer win, we asked for feedback. They spent the first third of the conversation talking about the technology, the second third talking about the process, but the last third was the most surprising.
They talked about how we treated each other and how we treated them in both good and stressful moments. They admired our team and environment.
They said, “we saw the respect and the support your team gave each other, and it made us feel comfortable as your partner that we would receive the same.
There will be hard times, and we want to align with a company that actually gets better in crisis, not worse.”
Jerome Knyszewski: Often leaders are asked to share the best advice they received. But let’s reverse the question. Can you share a story about advice you’ve received that you now wish you never followed?
Blair LaCorte: “Take the cash. You never know what stock will be worth.” The truth is that the only way to create real wealth is to own a piece of something that creates value when you sleep.
Sometimes you learn and sometimes you earn, but many times they are not at same time, so my advice would be to pick something you will learn from, take a share of the company, and even if you don’t make a ton of money you will have made the right decision.
It will get you to the next thing and you will be happy with your choices. People who think about cash versus stock (i.e. money first) often set themselves up.
Many times liquidity and gains are impacted by things far beyond your work, so the sure bet is on where you spend your time.
If you are betting with your most important asset, your time, then double down and take the stock, or find something else!
It’s OK to set boundaries, but not to use them as an excuse to avoid discomfort.
Jerome Knyszewski: You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Blair LaCorte: Persistence, resilience and determination. Several times in my career, I could have resigned when I believed unjust things happened — when I was not promoted or when I was l blamed for things not in my control.
You have to work through these, as life will never be easy when you are competing for leadership or wealth. Don’t assume you will not learn from the tough days and always assume others will be impacted.
It’s OK to set boundaries, but not to use them as an excuse to avoid discomfort.
Jerome Knyszewski: Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Blair LaCorte: Because you are successful and people admire that, remember that you are human and ask yourself, “what advice would I give to others in my situation?”
Often the best person to know when you are at risk is yourself. Your boss or peers see you as strong, and often you train them not to see weakness. Take responsibility.
If you would have told a friend to evaluate if their current track is healthy, be your own best friend and don’t feel weak or guilty to ask for a breather, and then come back to win the game.
Feel aware and strong, as no one wants you to break.
Jerome Knyszewski: What are the most common mistakes you have seen CEOs & founders make when they start a business? What can be done to avoid those errors?
Blair LaCorte: Sometimes CEOs or founders in the early stage worry about things like valuation of a company or awards or titles that don’t matter.
Those things are a means to an end, but the end you are trying to achieve is making your people better and providing value to your customers or partners.
If you focus on those things, the rest will come.
Jerome Knyszewski: In your experience, which aspect of running a company tends to be most underestimated? Can you explain or give an example?
Blair LaCorte: I think the pure emotional commitment is underestimated. All challenges lead back to people, ironically, even more so as a company becomes more technical.
As you give emotion that builds trust and helps people fight, make sure you also have people around you who give you positive emotion at home and work, and a hobby helps too.
It’s been said that “givers who don’t take, brake”, and it’s true — if you stretch an elastic band too long, it loses its resiliency. Be selfish sometimes and find positive emotion — it’s what makes you able to give.
One of the most renewable forms of positive emotion is kindness in small moments: it’s easy, has ripple effects and always pays dividends.
One of my great friends Dr. James Doty, a renowned neurosurgeon and head of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford, always says that it’s the small things that are not expected, but that are needed, that people remember.
A hug can be more powerful than a bonus when used at the right time.
Feel aware and strong, as no one wants you to break. Blair LaCorte
Jerome Knyszewski: You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Blair LaCorte: One of my great friends, a neurosurgeon and man of science, started an organization to promote kindness and compassion at Stanford.
The Dalai Lama visited one day and told him he had the ability, not to teach, but to actually change a person by practicing a simple act of kindness.
This in turn would be passed on, and over time create a wave that had the force of nature: human nature. I would like to do the same — start a movement that is so simple and so intuitive that it would manage itself — to create a wave that is a movement, rather than being managed as a movement.
Jerome Knyszewski: How can our readers further follow you online?
Blair LaCorte: Follow me on LinkedIn.
Jerome Knyszewski: This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this!
