Don Laughlin

Background

About Don Laughlin

Financial decisions are really never really black and white. They never have been. No one understands this concept, perhaps more than me. I run the financial analysis and planning for a 20B sales segment of the world’s largest IT distributor. I empower Business Unit leaders to make the right financial decisions. And almost always, the “financial” decisions are more about valuing relationships, goodwill and understanding opportunity costs. And never a simple equation. While I can’t do the square root of 7 in my head… I do love math. There is as much science as there is art in math. People have often referred to me as the banker in the game show “Deal or no Deal”. While funny and poignant sometimes I think the more appropriate image that I connect with is that of a mayor of city. It’s how do we achieve the needs and goals of all the constituencies!Which brings me to the current challenge I have been dedicating some time to. Amazon revolutionized consumption economics. But I think the channel is who will ultimately solve how technology is to be consumed for most end-users. Lawyers, accountants, channel advocates and even mayors will have a say here. When I am not presiding over opportunities, I m lose myself in Mario Puzo novels. Yes he was recognized for the Godfather but his work with Omertà deserves as much recognition.My biggest life lesson? You can’t control other people’s actions—you can only control your reaction to other people.