Too Dumb to Quit

Back in 1986, we launched Hogan Technology. Like many small businesses, we started with a vision, some technical know-how, and enough optimism to get things off the ground. It didn’t take long before we were tested.

If you were in business then, you probably remember Black Monday in October 1987, when the Dow Jones dropped nearly 23% in a single day. It sent shockwaves through the economy. A few years later came the recession from July 1990 to March 1991. To say it was a tough time to be a new business is putting it mildly.

At that point, Andy and I weren’t just co-founders. We were the sales team, the tech department, and operations all rolled into one. We had no formal sales training. We were field techs—great at installing systems and solving problems; but selling was unfamiliar territory. Still, we didn’t have the luxury of being selective. We did whatever it took to stay afloat.

We consolidated our office into Andy’s living room. It was cramped but it worked. We installed phones and started dialing. Our strategy was simple: hit the phones and look for opportunities; a classic “dialing for dollars” approach. It was old-school, gritty, and a little intimidating. Cold calling is never easy, especially when your livelihood depends on it.

Then one day, one of those calls changed everything. Andy landed a chance to quote field installation work for Digital Equipment Corporation, or DEC. At the time, DEC was a giant in the networking world. Becoming one of their preferred installers was a game changer for us.

That single phone call opened a door that kept us in business. We began quoting DEC installation work at end-user sites all over the East Coast. Our weeks were spent loading up our box truck, driving to job sites, running network cabling during the day, and returning to hotel rooms at night to build custom patch cables. It was exhausting but exhilarating. Every successful install, every satisfied customer, was a small victory that pushed us forward.

Which brings me back to Andy’s memorable line: “We were too dumb to realize we were out of business.”
He meant it as a joke, but there’s truth in it. We were in a tough economic climate with few resources, little sales experience, and no safety net. By most standards, we shouldn’t have made it. But we didn’t stop. We didn’t throw in the towel when things got hard. We kept going, not because we had all the answers, but because we believed in what we were building.

That belief, that relentless commitment to doing the work, is what carried us through. It wasn’t about being the smartest or having the most money. It was about showing up every day and putting in the effort.

Looking back, I’m grateful we were a little “too dumb” to quit. That stubbornness, that refusal to give up, became the foundation of everything Hogan Technology is today.

If you’re going through a tough time in business, I hope this story gives you a little encouragement. You don’t need all the answers. You just need to keep going. Keep dialing. Keep showing up. You never know which call, which meeting, or which late-night patch cable will be the one that changes everything.