Online shopping, or “e-commerce,” is increasingly attractive to shoppers who’d much rather shop in their pajamas than endlessly search for the last parking spot at the mall. The 400-employee team at Dallas-based SpeedFC Inc., led by CEO Jeff Zisk, works to help merchandisers connect to their customers with end-to-end e-commerce services, aiming to create a stress-free experience for home shoppers. “Single-source provider” SpeedFC handles every aspect of online shopping—from setting up web sites and housing and shipping products to running call centers and even handling returns. Last year, the company shipped $350 million worth of merchandise.
Age
52
Title/Company
Founder, chairman, president, and CEO of SpeedFC Inc.
Tenure
Nine years.
Experience
After spending less than a year in Procter & Gamble’s management training program, Zisk partnered with Dallas billionaire Ross Perot to establish American Wholesale Club in 1985. After selling the retailer, he served in various management positions before founding SpeedFC in 2000.
Education
Earned a degree in engineering from Vanderbilt University after attending St. Mark’s School of Texas in Dallas.
Family
I’ve been married to my wife for 24 years. We have two daughters who both attended Highland Park schools. My older daughter recently graduated from Vanderbilt and is now in the Teach for America program. My younger daughter is a sophomore at the University of Georgia.
First Job
Paperboy, when I was 10 years old. Sunday mornings came awful early.
Worst Job
Between my sophomore and junior year of college, I decided I wanted to be a waiter and started out as a busboy. After watching what the waiters had to go through, I figured it wasn’t worth it. I lasted about two hours into my first day on the job. It just wasn’t for me.
Hobbies
I like to exercise, and get into different things. I climbed Mount Rainier almost 10 years ago, and recently I’ve been going on 20- to 30-mile bike rides. I love biking around White Rock Lake, and especially the White Rock Creek Trail that ends up at LBJ Freeway and Hillcrest. I also have my black belt in taekwondo, which is something I decided to get into five or six years ago and still really enjoy.
Growing up in Dallas
When I was growing up here, there was a restaurant called Kel’s in Preston Royal, but now it’s on Forest. There were very few nice restaurants in town, but I loved going to places like Kel’s and The Egyptian.
Favorite pastime
Seeing the Mavericks play. The games are really exciting to see in American Airlines Center, and they’ve done a great job of making it a good time to go down there and see the game.
TV
Seinfeld is my all-time favorite show on TV, but I loved
watching Bonanza as a kid.
Movie
One of my favorite movies is Chinatown.
Nightstand
I love the books Giant and Atlas Shrugged.
If you weren’t CEO of SpeedFC
I’d probably coach some type of sport. This is Texas after all, so I’d love to coach high school football. The Friday night event is great, and I love going to the games.
Management Style
I would say that I’m pretty direct with my employees, and that my goals for the company are easy to understand. I’m very communicative with my managers, so we’re all working toward the same goals. And because we’re somewhat lean as a company, everyone here is able to make a contribution and feel connected and involved.
