Austin McChord (chief executive of the data protection company Datto) in “The Corner Office”

mcchordAdam Bryant conducts interviews of senior-level executives that appear in his “Corner Office” column each week in the SundayBusiness section of The New York Times. Here are a few insights provided during an interview of Austin McChord, chief executive of the data protection company Datto. To read the complete interview, check out other articles, and obtain subscription information, please click here.

Photo credit: Earl Wilson/The New York Times

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What were your early years like?

I grew up in Newtown, Conn., and had a relatively typical suburban childhood. At a very early age, I was always fascinated by how things work, and I got really excited about taking things apart. When I was younger and people asked me what I wanted to do, I told them I wanted to be an inventor.

I didn’t really get introduced to technology and computers until around third grade, and it happened basically because I had horrible handwriting. I was also very stubborn and hated handwriting practice. So my parents and the school decided, why don’t we get him a computer and he can type?

So they dug up some ancient computer and set it in the corner of the classroom, and instead of writing my work, I would type it. But I got very bored with doing schoolwork and quickly started to learn how to program. So while they thought I was doing my work, I was
actually writing games to play during class.

And in high school?

I joined the technology club, and we were responsible for the TV station that was broadcast to the town. It was basically just scrolling text, and I suggested we do something more interesting with it.

I wanted to shoot sports and produce live TV. They didn’t have any of the equipment we needed, so I started reading about it. Then I went to the dump and I got old television sets and things like that, and figured out how to repair them and build out all the pieces we needed.

By the time that I graduated high school, we were basically doing every single home game live. I loved the rush that it had to happen, even though there were probably not many people watching at home.

What was driving you to do that?

It was immensely focusing. In middle school I was a mediocre student. My parents had me tested and they were told I had A.D.D. They decided that they didn’t want to medicate me.

Even now, finding focus is something that’s really hard. I sort of prepare for these brief moments of intense focus when I can get so much done. I’m not the type of person who does a lot of deep planning. I prefer to run into the fire, and I’ll figure it out with whatever I have.

It turns out that the job of C.E.O. reinforces A.D.D. Having it is almost an advantage, because when I’m in my office somebody is coming in every two minutes.

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To read the complete interview as well as Bryant’s interviews of other executives, please click here.

Adam Bryant, deputy national editor of The New York Times, oversees coverage of education issues, military affairs, law, and works with reporters in many of the Times’ domestic bureaus. He also conducts interviews with CEOs and other leaders for Corner Office, a weekly feature in the SundayBusiness section and on nytimes.com that he started in March 2009. In his book, The Corner Office: Indispensable and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs on How to Lead and Succeed, (Times Books), he analyzes the broader lessons that emerge from his interviews of hundreds of business leaders. To read an excerpt, please click here. To contact him, please click here.

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