Catching Up With...Gordon Hoffstein

After leading three successful technology businesses since 1979, Gordon Hoffstein is deeply immersed in a new venture he calls Hoffstein Enterprises. But don’t try a Google search for his company-because it isn’t a company at all. Hoffstein Enterprises is what he calls his life in semi-retirement, spending the bulk of his time with his family.

Hoffstein launched distributor Microamerica in 1979 and reseller PCs Compleat in 1992, then navigated the growth and eventual sale of Internet marketing firm BeFree. But after nearly a quarter-century as a prototypically intense CEO after the brass ring, Hoffstein did something uncharacteristically un-CEO: He throttled back.

Today, the 53-year-old Hoffstein reserves most of his intensity for his family. “Being able to have dinner with my family may be the best thing about what I’m doing now,” he remarked. “My dad was very involved in the lives of his four children, and I’m glad I’m finally able to devote the time to my family that I couldn’t when I was spending my time running companies or raising money.”

Hoffstein is not completely separated from the business world, continuing to serve as an advisor to a few high-tech companies. Meanwhile, the man who used to get excited talking about how the strategic use of technology and information systems would determine winners and losers in the distribution business now spends most of his time on other pursuits. ‘Between skiing, bike riding and my family, sometimes I wonder how I would ever have time again for a full-time CEO job.”