Shut Up and Listen To Barry Steinberg!

I went to Steinberg's office to catch up with this journeyman who recently reached his 30th year as a reseller--a milestone few in the industry have accomplished. Steinberg's longevity is a rarity in a market fixated on change, and he precedes the very products that helped launch many of the businesses of the readers of this magazine today. So both Steinberg, 61, and Manchester, are anachronisms, vestiges of how business was once conducted or a model for those searching for clues on business longevity. Either way, it is the business Steinberg built and one that rests on his shoulders. And, from the looks of it, he does not plan to step aside anytime soon, although nothing is surprising when it comes to Steinberg. His business was always a product-centric one, and Steinberg was viewed as a savvy buyer who is said to have dabbled more than once in the gray market to source product. Change may come slowly for Steinberg, as 94 percent of his revenue comes from product sales, but he is placing greater emphasis on services, especially application development, wireless LANs, government and education.

But I don't want to get too far afield, so I'll return to the trappings of his office where I find myself mesmerized by a silver pen holder that is strangely graphed onto an LCD screen flashing "Shut Up And Listen..." every few seconds. Not bad advice, but delivered in a way that epitomizes Steinberg's idiosyncrasies. Just off to Steinberg's left hangs the huge head of a blue marlin that he reeled in off Montauk Point, N.Y., on his 50-foot sport fishing yacht. As I scan his office, I struggle with sensory overload. One eye wanders through his sports memorabilia collection--a Babe Ruth item just arrived. The other eye scans a strange assortment of tchotchkes--a shark replica chewing up a sales rep who didn't adhere to Steinberg's art of negotiation. While one ear is deciphering Steinberg's perspective on the market--serve your customers but not to a fault--the other is dealing with the ramblings of two verbose parrots. I haven't even scratched the surface. In the middle of the office is an ironworks sculpture of a horse, signed baseballs are everywhere, and bats autographed by home-run kings hang on the wall along with Mohammed Ali's boxing trunks. I started to take in the breadth of what one can amass after 30 years in this business--signed pro football helmets, a photo of his sportsboat racing through the open seas, his children, grandchildren, upstate New York farm and giant fish swimming effortlessly in a giant tank. Yes, that's right his collection of live saltwater fish contained in a 20-foot fish tank. Don't forget the LeRoy Neiman paintings. He has so many, they sit stacked in closets.

Steinberg himself is a living legend. He owns nearly 59 percent of publicly held Manchester and received a salary and bonus of nearly $700,000 in fiscal 2002. A great deal of his sales efforts entail pushing HP products, which account for nearly 20 percent of the firm's sales. And some of his moves cause you to raise an eyebrow. Then you realize, this is Barry's company and no one is going to tell him how to run it. For instance, he employed his daughter Ilene as his design manager, paying her $81,000 a year along with access to a company car. He also uses her restaurant extensively for corporate catering. All that from last year's SEC filings.

You should arrive at his office having just completed a refresher course in Yiddish--he loves Yiddish sayings and phrases--or you will be at a distinct disadvantage. And also memorize the words to Kenny Rogers' hit song, "The Gambler." While some put their faith in an M.B.A. from a top business school, Steinberg believes this song holds the secret to business success. Frankly, I haven't met that many M.B.A.s who have amassed Steinberg's wealth, so who am I to argue. After all, I am not some meshuggener kid from Brooklyn. Maybe a little

fatsoosted. So as Steinberg is telling me about his new IBM contract, Sun's efforts to authorize him or his close relationship with HP, all I can hear is: "You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away and know when to run..you never count your money..."