I met a guy, had a child born sick and bills had taken all his money and debt besides, then the child died. Very low point in his life.

So, I was hiring for a startup, got him on board (a dig-in-and-do-it kind of guy), got him stock options and a raise as things progressed.

By the time we got bought out he was out of the trailer park, bought a house, another child on the way. Now he's a responsible managing engineer with his pick of projects and opportunities.

I like to think about how I did what I could to help at the time. But it was all him, character plus never-give-up attitude. Still, somebody had to be there with the opportunity.