Gary Hoover

Current

• Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship at The University of Texas at Austin - The Red McCombs School of Business
• Speaker at Self-employed

Past

• President at RoadStory
• Founder and CEO (1990-92) at Hoover's, Inc.
• Founder and CEO at TravelFest Superstores

• Founder and CEO at BOOKSTOP
• Vice President at May Department Stores
• Buyer at Sanger-Harris
• Securities Analyst at Citibank

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Education

• University of Chicago

Recommended

2 people have recommended Gary

Connections

407 connections

Industry

Management Consulting

Gary Hoover’s Summary

Ignite and inspire entrepreneurial thinking, See the world and understand it, See how things change over time and what the future may hold

Gary Hoover’s Specialties:

Speaking
Writing
Retailing
Marketing
Futurist
Entrepreneurship
Books
Travel
Museums
Not for Profits
Enterprise Strategy
Business History
Geography
Demographics

Gary Hoover’s Experience

• Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship

  The University of Texas at Austin - The Red McCombs School of Business

  (Management Consulting industry)

  2009 — Present (less than a year)

• Speaker

  Self-employed

  (Management Consulting industry)

  1999 — Present (10 years )

  I have spoken over 600 times on every continent about what I believe are the 8 keys to creating, building, and leading successful enterprises. I started on this quest as a teenager, with a subscription to Fortune Magazine at age 12. I have now worked for three Fortune 500 companies and started a few myself, but continue to study enterprises -- for-profit and non-profit -- from every angle. I combine what I have learned from my 50,000-book personal library, my collection of old Fortunes going back to 1930, and my travels, observations, and experiences to present a compelling set of stories to a wide variety of audiences. I have spoken from 5th grade to Microsoft and Oracle, to trade associations from Retailing to Pest Control, from startup entrepeneurs to Fortune 500 CFOs.

• President

  RoadStory

  (Management Consulting industry)

  2006 — 2008 (2 years )

• Founder and CEO (1990-92)

  Hoover's, Inc.

  (Public Company; 201-500 employees; Information Services industry)

  1990 — 2003 (13 years )

  I founded the Reference Press in 1990 to bring business information to people in a useful, readable form and served on the Board until 2003. The company went public in 1999 and was purchased by Dun & Bradstreet in 2003. I am no longer associated with the company but continue to support their goals of providing company profiles to the world at www.hoovers.com.

• Founder and CEO

  TravelFest Superstores

  (Retail industry)

  1993 — 1999 (6 years )

  I founded TravelFest which became a three-store Austin and Houston chain of travel superstores, selling tickets, reservations, luggage, books, maps, and travel accessories. We won awards with our forward thinking store design, long hours, and customer-first service. But when airlines stopped paying commissions to travel agencies we were unable to continue operations.

• Founder and CEO

  BOOKSTOP

  (Retail industry)

  1982 — 1989 (7 years )

  BOOKSTOP was the first chain of book superstores, with large selections at competitive prices. We began in Austin in 1982 and by 1989 had reached Louisiana, Florida, and California, also operating under the name BOOKSTAR. In 1989 the company was purchase by Barnes & Noble and played a key role in that company's successful entry into the book superstore business.

• Vice President

  May Department Stores

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; MAY; Retail industry)

  1977 — 1982 (5 years )

  I worked at May's HQ in St. Louis in financial planning, competitive analysis, and acquisitions and strategic planning. May has been purchased by Macy's. I also worked at May Centers, the company's significant shopping center development arm, as head of planning, marketing, and research.

• Buyer

  Sanger-Harris

  (Retail industry)

  1975 — 1977 (2 years )

  I was the book buyer then sporting goods buyer for Sanger's, Dallas' leading department store, which later became Foley's then Macy's.

• Securities Analyst

  Citibank

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; C; Banking industry)

  1973 — 1975 (2 years )

  Stock analyst covering the retail industry.

Gary Hoover’s Education

• University of Chicago

  B.A. , Economics , 1969 — 1973

  Was fortunate to study under three future Nobel Prize winners, George Stigler, Robert Fogel, and Milton Friedman, as well as many other fine teachers. Mentored by James H. Lorie and Yale Brozen of the Business School.

  Activities and Societies:

  Founded or co-founded three campus based enterprises, raised funds for the Festival of the Arts, worked in the Center for Research in Securities Prices at the Graduate School of Business. Today there is a Hoover House dormitory at the University thanks to the successful IPO of Hoover's and my friend and fellow Chicago graduate Patrick Spain who built the company.

Gary Hoover’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• consulting offers
• new ventures
• expertise requests
• reference requests
• getting back in touch