I Hated Being an Accountant

In 1959, Irwin Mautner was an ambitious 25-year-old accountant at Eastman, Dillon Union Securities. His boss suggested that Mautner enroll in a computer programming course to help advance his career. Halfway through the program, Mautner realized that there were hundreds of people who needed such training but that there were very few training schools. He convinced his programming instructor to join him and started a training school. Mautner says that he hated the idea of being an accountant and viewed accounting courses simply as an aid to running a business. Currently, his company, Programming & Systems Inc. (Greenwich, Connecticut), runs 12 schools in 8 states and trains over 3,500 students each year. In 1989, the company earned $3 million on revenues of $30 million. Its earnings have been up 20% a year since 1980, and there is no debt. Programming & Systems' success is the result of attention to details and dedication to efficiency. Because he expanded slowly and carefully, Mautner avoided some of the equity dilution that afflicts many ambitious entrepreneurs.