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Who he is: CEO, Zipcar Inc., where he hopes to change the face of urban transportation.
Track record: Managed 2007 acquisition of Flexcar and brought the merged company to profitability; former Boeing engineer; guided Atlanta-based Information America to its 1999 sale; founded Digital Goods, which closed its doors in 2001.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Carnegie Mellon University; MBA, University of Chicago.
What motivates him? “I’m probably my own harshest critic. I put the bar very high for myself and I criticize myself whenever I don’t get there. I think that’s probably a big motivator.”
What’s important? “Twelve years ago, I was diagnosed with a lymphoma and treated at (Massachusetts General Hospital’s) Cancer Center. During that time I thought a lot about who I wanted to be associated with, both personally and professionally. This helped me to realize much about myself and more broadly, the types of people I want to surround myself with and those I could live without. I thrive around honesty, flexibility and creativity, and find myself turning away from those who over promise and under deliver and/or who frequently say ‘no’, ‘we can’t’, ‘we won’t’, or ‘it’s already been tried.’ “
City kid: “I’ve always had an interest in cities. I grew up in Pittsburgh. I watched the steel industry disintegrate when I was going through junior high and high school. As that happened, I became fascinated by what happens to cities when half the employment base goes away. You know, this is happening in Detroit right now. I went through that experience, and I watched that city reinvent itself. Pittsburgh’s a nice city again.”
‘Mr. Fix-it’ finds his calling: “Growing up, my father called me ‘Mr. Fix It’. I suppose this started because I was generally handy as a child — taking apart toasters and fixing them and that sort of thing. But as I grew up, it became a passion to make some sort of big change — to have an impact on global challenges.”
What’s bigger than the business? “People are all debating whether spending is going to be down 10 percent or 15 percent for the long term. I’m not even sure that’s the right question because I think people have learned they can’t outspend their means anymore. And that to me is not a bad outcome.”
On Scott Griffith, from Jonathan Seelig
Globespan Capital Partners managing director Jonathan Seelig was an investor in Zipcar and was on the search committee that hired Griffith.
What makes Griffith suited for startups?
“He’s an open sort of thinker. We realized the next stage of the company’s growth was going to take some trial and error. All of these elements were up for debate and decision, and we felt that Scott didn’t come in with a lot of preconceptions about how to do things.”
What makes him tick?
“Scott is a little bit of a gearhead. He gets very excited, for example, about the fleet — about having conversations with car manufacturers about what’s next in their line."
Something others may not know:
“I’ve seen Scott do a mean Elvis impersonation at the company Halloween party."
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