When Glenn Lurie was asked to build AT&T Wireless’s Arizona market operations from the ground up, he faced a challenge that would define his leadership philosophy for decades to come. There were no templates, no existing infrastructure, and no roadmap. Just opportunity, responsibility, and the need to create something sustainable and successful from nothing.
This experience offers profound lessons for leaders tasked with entering new markets, launching new products, or building new divisions within established organizations. The principles that guide successful market creation aren’t just about strategy and execution—they’re about vision, people, and the courage to make decisions without the safety net of precedent.
Start with Vision, Not Just Goals
Building from scratch requires more than a business plan. It demands a clear vision of what success looks like—not just in revenue terms, but in how the operation will function, what culture it will embody, and how it will serve customers. Lurie’s approach to building the Arizona market wasn’t simply about hitting sales targets; it was about creating an organization that could sustain growth, adapt to change, and deliver exceptional customer experiences in an emerging industry.
Leaders creating new markets must articulate this vision clearly and repeatedly. Your team needs to understand not just what they’re building, but why it matters and how their individual contributions fit into the larger picture. This shared understanding becomes the foundation upon which everything else is built.
Hire for Potential and Cultural Fit
When you’re building from scratch, you can’t always find people with the exact experience you need—because that experience might not exist yet. Lurie had to assemble teams for an industry that was still defining itself, in markets where wireless technology was just beginning to penetrate.
This reality forces leaders to hire differently. Instead of checking boxes on a list of requirements, you’re evaluating potential, adaptability, and alignment with your vision and values. You’re looking for people who can figure things out, who thrive in ambiguity, and who are energized rather than paralyzed by the absence of established processes.
Cultural fit becomes paramount. When you’re creating something new, your early team members will shape the culture that follows. Choose people who embody the values you want to see throughout the organization as it grows.
Build Systems That Scale
One of the biggest mistakes in market creation is building for today without considering tomorrow. Lurie understood that the systems, processes, and structures he put in place in Arizona needed to support not just the initial launch, but years of growth and expansion.
This requires a delicate balance. You need to be nimble enough to adapt quickly, but you also need foundational systems that won’t collapse under the weight of success. The key is distinguishing between what needs to be solid infrastructure and what can remain flexible and experimental.
Leaders should invest time upfront in building scalable systems for the most critical functions—customer service, sales operations, financial management—while remaining agile in areas where the market is still teaching you what works.
Learn from the Market, Not Just from Plans
No business plan survives first contact with reality unchanged. When building new market operations, Lurie had to remain constantly attuned to feedback from customers, insights from frontline employees, and signals from competitors. The willingness to adjust course based on real-world learning is what separates successful market creation from expensive failures.
This means building feedback loops into your operations from day one. How will you gather customer insights? How will frontline employees share what they’re learning? How will you track not just what’s working, but why it’s working?
Leaders must create a culture where pivoting based on new information is seen as strength, not weakness. Your team needs permission to experiment, fail fast, and iterate toward better solutions.
Embrace the Responsibility of Creation
Building from scratch carries a unique weight of responsibility. The decisions you make, the culture you establish, and the systems you create will impact not just immediate results but the trajectory of the organization for years to come. People’s livelihoods, careers, and professional development will be shaped by the foundation you lay.
Lurie’s experience building the Arizona market was just one chapter in a career that would see him rise to the highest levels of leadership in the telecommunications industry. But the lessons learned in that formative experience—about vision, people, systems, adaptability, and responsibility—remained relevant whether he was integrating acquisitions, leading national distribution, or serving as CEO.
The Legacy of Building
For leaders, the opportunity to build something from scratch is both a privilege and a test. It reveals what you truly believe about leadership, what you value in people and culture, and whether you have the discipline to balance short-term pressures with long-term sustainability.
The markets, divisions, and organizations we build don’t just serve business objectives—they become part of our leadership legacy. They’re where our philosophy becomes tangible, where our values get tested, and where we discover whether we can create something that outlasts our direct involvement.
Glenn Lurie’s success in building AT&T Wireless’s Arizona operations demonstrated that with clear vision, the right people, scalable systems, market responsiveness, and a deep sense of responsibility, leaders can create sustainable value even in the most uncertain circumstances. These principles remained as Glenn Lurie moved on the Synchronoss Technologies today as they were in the early days of the wireless industry—and they’ll continue to guide successful leaders who accept the challenge of building something from nothing.