The Promise

Without fail, Richard Pineda has lived his life with his sights set on the horizon.  Ever since the day he first stepped off the plane and onto American soil with his mother and brother at the age of eight, he has looked for ways to maximize the opportunity he was given when he was brought here. “My mother made personal sacrifices to bring us to America because she wanted a better future for us,” he remembers.

At the time, however, it began to look as if the young boy’s horizon would be cut short.  Stricken with a severe heart condition known as a ventricular septal defect, doctors told his mother that he wouldn’t live past twenty years old.

Richard’s mother was shocked that the life she had worked so hard to give her son would be taken so soon, but she refused to resign to despair, instead doing all she could to promote his survival while hoping that research and technology would yield a way out.  Richard had three open heart surgeries over the next several years, the last taking place just before he started high school.  “I can still remember lying in the hospital room during that time,” he says today.  “I said to the Man above, ‘Let me out of here and I’ll do great things.  I will live life not recklessly, but to its fullest.  I will make an impact.  Whatever it is I do, I will do it right.’”

Now the Chairman, CEO, and cofounder of Spear, Inc., Richard is still going strong several decades later, and his life—a steady sprint that has never rested on any one accomplishment, but has instead used each one as a point from which to leap to the next—has been as good as the promise he made that day.

Committed to delivering performance that drives results, Spear is an IT solutions provider and management consulting firm launched in 2012 to focus on providing solutions to the federal marketplace.  “I founded a company with my business partner, Gino Antonelli, because we felt that, in order to really and truly make an impact, we had to start from a clean, white sheet of paper without any excess baggage,” Richard explains.  “I had learned a lot from leaders I had worked under, like Ross Perot Sr., Ross Perot Jr., and Michael Dell. Gino and I knew we wanted to build a culture of professionalism in the workplace, with a focus on financial stability and developing relationships with good partners.  With that in mind, we assessed the marketplace and competitive landscape and started building the kind of company we’d be proud to have our own son or daughter work for someday.”

In its first year, the Spear leadership team set the stage for success by hiring quality candidates and demonstrating the ability to rapidly produce key material for any pursuit, signing over $5 million in total contract value with the Army, Navy, Air Force, Special Operations Command, and DISA. Fundamental to this progress has been Richard and Gino’s extensive network, which afford access to key decision makers and compound their ability to get things done for their clients.  “What we know from our years in the sport of deal making is what differentiates us today,” Richard remarks.  “There’s a reference book entitled, It’s Not the Big That Eat the Small; It’s the Fast That Eat the Slow.  That couldn’t hold truer for us in the federal space.  Our clients have repeatedly found that, when it comes to getting things done faster or more effectively, Gino or I have always come through for them, and that reputation, in essence, is what’s building this company.”

Perhaps more compelling than the how of Spear’s creation, however, is the why.  Government consulting was more than just a crossroads for aligning Richard’s financial and IT expertise—it was a way for him to make a real difference.  “One need look no further than the daily news to see that our government needs help,” he points out.  “I never joined the Armed Forces or served as a federal civilian employee, but I thought the next best thing was to become a Parkway Patriot, which is the opposite of a Beltway Bandit.  From supporting the war fighter to taking care of our citizens, Spear can help ensure that our taxpayer dollars are spent in the most efficient and effective ways possible.”

Richard also felt he could have a greater impact as a small business owner than he could as an executive at a large company.  Large businesses with multiple offerings serving several markets face less maneuverability during lean times, while those focused solely on the federal government space have a hard time competing in today’s environment. “I love servicing our customers, negotiating deals, aligning with partners, leading our employees, and the human interaction that working in a smaller company like Spear imparts,” he affirms.  “A drive to lead was built into my DNA, and building and growing Spear has really allowed me to exercise that.  But I also do it for my family.  I work hard to make sure that future generations of Pinedas have opportunities I didn’t have.”

Indeed, growing up in the Philippines was not always easy.  When his mother moved the family to the U.S. in 1981, she had no idea where she would live or work.  She ended up getting two jobs so she could afford her sons’ private school education, which left little time to monitor their activities.  As such, Richard and his brother developed a keen intrinsic motivation and self-discipline at a very young age

Richard earned his first buck washing cars, and he later worked several months as a host at a restaurant, but his first steady job was as a teller at the First Virginia Bank the summer before his junior year of high school.  “I loved working with money and interacting with people,” he recalls, “and it allowed me to learn the banking business.”

This job set the stage for his experience as an undergraduate at Virginia Tech, where he majored in finance and remembers vividly his characteristic urge to move on to the next big thing.  “I just wanted to graduate and make money, running as far as I could in life,” he says.  “So I did my four years of undergraduate studies and then returned to First Virginia Bank upon graduating in 1995.  I’m a creature of habit in certain things, and First Virginia Bank was a good, safe transition.”    He wasn’t moving so fast through life, though, that he overlooked one of the best things that crossed his path—his high school sweetheart, Kate.  “When I met her, without any hesitation or reservation, I said, ‘I’m going to marry that woman,’” he laughs today.  He was right.

Before long, Richard was selected to go on a special mergers and acquisitions project at the bank’s headquarters, where he served as a representative for the corporate team in performing due diligence for an acquisition underway.  After three months of that lifestyle, he realized he could do better than the position he had accepted right out of college.  That’s why, in 1997, he accepted a position with Soza & Company, an emerging Government Contractor.  “I was interviewed to do a cost benefit analysis out of the Pentagon,” he remembers.  “It was less money than I was making at the time, but it sounded like fun, and I knew I’d be able to grow there.  That’s what started the ride.”

Life began to move even faster. In July of that same year, Richard and Kate married, and he set his sights on a senior financial analyst position.  Once he attained that, he wanted to be a manager, and then a director.  By age 30, shortly after obtaining his MBA from George Washington University, he was made Vice President at Perot Systems Government Services, where he led the Financial & Business Services Group.

But that did not stop Richard in his quest for the next “big thing,” and he immediately set his sights on Senior Vice President.  When he attained that, he worked for and landed the role of Executive VP, then COO, and ultimately President & CEO of Dell Services Federal Government.  After working his way up from 1997 to 2009, he found himself at the helm of a $1.2 billion Federal Unit, leading 3,200 employees and a force of 5,000, including subcontractors.

From Soza & Company, to Perot Systems, to Dell Corporation, Richard had the fortunate opportunity to meet and learn from the Sozas, Perots, and Dell.  “Through leadership meetings and direct interaction, I was able to watch them perform the art of the sell,” Richard recalls.  “The Sozas and Perots were models for good leadership and how to take care of people.  After that exposure, I always tried to be as true as I could to my people.  When times got tough with the integrations, I worked to fill the gap between corporate and the human touch.”

When Perot Systems was acquired by Dell, a Fortune 34 company and a $62 billion entity, Richard headed its federal practice. “Beyond entrepreneurship, innovation, and supply chain management, I learned about operating in a politically charged, multi-billion dollar environment,” he says.  “Through all those years, I was like a robot always on the lookout for the next deal, and the next, and the next.”

Indeed, Kate put up with Richard’s long hours because he was trying to do the best he knew how for the family, but for the love of the game, he was addicted to the next deal, negotiation, or position.  His mother would say, “You think you’re a big shot now?  You’re letting a lot of friends and family pass you by, and we don’t know you anymore.”  Taking her advice to heart, he finally left his position at Dell on a Wednesday early in 2012.  That Sunday, before he had gotten the chance to tell her, his mother passed away, marking a big turning point in his approach to business.  He would still keep his promise to do the best he could in all he did, but this time, “the best” would be defined a bit differently.

Richard initially thought he would go on to run another large company, but after planning and strategizing with Gino, starting Spear was clearly the right path forward.  “Part of me wishes I had done it sooner, and the other part feels the timing was just right because of everything I had learned and the network of relationships and associates I was able to invest in,” he remarks.  “I’ve had a series of defining moments in my life, and now I look back and apply certain things from each of them to how we’re building Spear.  We only get this one chance to build the company’s history, so we are taking sure, planted footsteps, one after another.”

This methodical, thoughtful journey began with their first hires, a financial person and a VP of human resources, both selected because Richard and Gino wanted to focus on setting the foundational elements of the company—a code of conduct, business ethics guidelines, and an employee handbook.  “It’s a different approach from running a business out of your basement and focusing on getting the first ten bodies billable on contract,” Richard remarks.  “For us, it was an installment start, but it was at all the right gates and levels to scale up with excellence.  We want to make sure we make an impact on each and every employee that walks through our doors, because in essence, we want individuals to build careers at Spear and feel passionate and committed to what they do.  In truth, the Spear story is a great one to tell because we are founded on the understanding that our employees are our greatest asset.“

As this story goes, the company was built to grow and thrive to not only aid its customers, but also to be an employer of choice.  With a focus on promoting professionalism in the workplace, ensuring financial stability, and strategically choosing the customers and partners with which they do business, Richard’s leadership style has also evolved over the years.  In his days at Soza and Perot Systems, he often found himself working with people twice his age, so it took more work to qualify himself as a leader.  In those situations, he would prove himself through technical prowess, aggressive setting and achievement of goals, and his ability to grow business and oversee teams with a strong focus on communications.  “I invested a lot in simply spending time with people,” he remarks.  “At the beginning of the year, I asked each staff member their goals for that year and for the next three years.  I asked what they were going to do to get there and what I could do to help.  Everything was measurable with milestones, and I checked in with them every quarter.  I earned each individual’s respect by helping them get to where they wanted to be and by demonstrating that they weren’t just a number—that what they wanted to get out of the job mattered to me.  Building trust and communication is key in leadership.”

In advising young people entering the workforce today, Richard stresses the importance of knowing one’s limits.  “Moderate your confidence and ability without being too arrogant and turning off your audience,” he says.  “Continue to pursue learning, because you’ll never know enough.”  In keeping with this advice, Richard enrolled in George Washington University’s 24-month MBA program, but sailed through it and finished in only 20 months.  “At the time, I just wanted to move onto the next big thing, but now I wish I could stop, go back, and just learn,” he laughs.

For the most part, however, Richard wouldn’t change anything about the way he’s barreled through life, full-steam ahead and wasting no time.  “Every step of the way, I’ve done it the Richard Pineda way,” he says.  “And I wouldn’t be half the man I am today, or have a quarter of the success I do, without my wife Kate’s support.  She grounds me, backs me, supports me, and puts me in check behind the scenes when it’s required.  She’s sacrificed for our family, and she’s a hard charger.”  Because Kate is a Navy nurse, and because supporting war fighters is important to them, the Pinedas have given back by way of the Wounded Warrior Project, and have also helped to organize an annual golf tournament for the pediatric heart program at Inova Fairfax Hospital.  “We like to give back in ways that are meaningful to people in our community, our neighborhood, and our church,” Richard remarks.

Richard is now focused on combining his passion for success with his desire to give back to the community through Spear.  Making the people the priority—whether it’s employees, customers, or business partners—is what truly sets Spear apart in the industry and will be the true key to its success in the long run.

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