Gary Burrows

This transcript has been edited for clarity, readability, and flow. Minor adjustments have been made to remove filler words and improve structure while preserving the original meaning and intent of the conversation.

Henry Harrison:
Welcome to the Entrepreneurs, Business and Finance podcast. We’re fortunate to have Gary Burrows on the show today. Gary is a young retiree, which by itself says a lot about the level of success he has achieved in life. He’s also a terrific guy and a friend of mine.

He’s able to go skiing four times a year if he wants and enjoy a lifestyle that a lot of people dream about. But I’m sure that kind of life didn’t come without a lot of work, discipline, and challenges.

So today we’re going to talk about how he got started, how he built his career, how he approached investing, and then wrap up with a very interesting story about his family and American history.

Gary, why don’t you start by telling us how you became an expert in high-tech, computers, and the kind of work you did in your early career?

Gary Burrows:
That goes back quite a long way. I was more of a theory-oriented person at first. I studied mathematics and originally thought about going into education.

But a variety of things led me to people who were already out in the workforce at different companies. I put my resume out there and got intrigued by some of the opportunities that came back.

At that stage, I really didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, so I accepted every interview and seriously considered every offer that came my way. Then I made my decision from there.

I ended up working in what today might be called systems engineering, data analysis, or data science, applied to the telecom network. Back then, if you called it high-tech, people today might laugh because it was a very different era.

A lot of the work involved optimization theory and mathematics, and I always loved mathematics. That background became the foundation for my career.

I started at a company called Bell-Northern Research, which no longer exists. It was a fairly theoretical environment, but I met a lot of people from different backgrounds, and many of them were applying mathematics not only to engineering but also to investing.

That’s really how I first became familiar with applying mathematics to investments. Some of the theory I already knew from school, but I didn’t yet know how to apply it in the real world. A lot of that learning came through networking—learning from other people, seeing what they were doing, and gradually understanding how those tools could apply outside of theory.

I spent about ten years in that part of my career, and one of the biggest lessons I learned was how to apply mathematics to real-world problems, not just theoretical ones. The other major lesson was discipline—the discipline to keep doing the work consistently.

Henry Harrison:
That’s fascinating. I know there was also a turning point where you moved from that applied mathematics environment into more of the business unit side of the company.

Gary Burrows:
Yes, there was. A colleague and I had worked in the applied mathematics and systems engineering group for quite a while. We were paid fairly well, but not exceptionally well.

One day we were wandering around the business unit area—what we called “the tower”—and we noticed that people over there seemed to live better. They had nicer offices, better lunches, better cars, and a different kind of lifestyle.

So we decided maybe it was time to move into the business side of things. We each built a strategy to do that, and in some ways that ended what I originally thought would be my long-term career in applied mathematics. But really, it just shifted how I used it.

Once I moved into the business world, I found a whole new application for mathematics—especially in investing. That’s where I began taking my retirement money more seriously, rolling my 401(k) into a self-directed IRA, and making my own investment decisions.

Henry Harrison:
That’s one of the things I’ve always found especially interesting about your story. Most people with a 401(k) might go to a financial advisor, pick a diversified set of funds, and let it ride over the long term.

But you were actively choosing individual stocks, using options, and really managing your own money more like a professional investor. You weren’t simply handing it off to someone else. You were doing the research yourself and making the calls.

Gary Burrows:
That’s right. If someone doesn’t have the time, the interest, or the willingness to do the research, then they’re probably better off putting their money in some kind of mutual fund or diversified vehicle.

But it isn’t impossible to do it yourself—if you’re willing to learn. One of the things that helped me was that I focused on companies that were already around me in my work life.

In telecom, we worked with a lot of suppliers and technology companies, so I was constantly exposed to what those businesses did and how they fit together.

Later, once I moved into the business unit and got involved in market research, I learned even more about companies in the tech world—semiconductor companies, chipmakers, memory companies, and others.

A key concept you have to understand is the value chain. If you look at one company, you also need to understand all the players around it—who they buy from, who they sell to, who is actually making money in that chain, and where the value is being created.

If you understand the value chain well enough, you can start to identify who the winners and losers are likely to be. That’s one of the things that led me to do all my own investing.

Over time, it became almost second nature because I had already identified a small handful of companies I wanted to follow closely. You don’t need to own 100 stocks.

If you do your homework and focus on a smaller group of strong companies, it can be done. The key is discipline—especially in the beginning.

Your portfolio is not always going to go up. You have to know when to cut your losses. A lot of people will say, “It’s down now, but I’ll wait and it will come back.” But while you’re waiting, something else may already be going back up, and you miss that opportunity.

So discipline matters on both sides—research and knowing when to move on.

Henry Harrison:
I know you also traveled the world and gave presentations to large groups. That seems like a big shift from analytical work to speaking in front of large audiences.

Gary Burrows:
That’s true. I had done a lot of teaching in graduate school, so I was never really uncomfortable speaking in front of groups.

Even earlier than that, I had been involved in speech and drama in high school, so being in front of an audience wasn’t something that made me nervous.

As a result, I ended up giving presentations in more than 25 countries. In the early days of wireless, we were traveling everywhere talking about that technology.

If you practice what you’re going to deliver, there really isn’t much reason to be nervous.

Henry Harrison:
What degrees did you earn?

Gary Burrows:
My undergraduate degree is in geophysics, and I have a master’s degree in mathematics.

Henry Harrison:
Toward the end of your career, what kind of work were you doing?

Gary Burrows:
After systems engineering, I moved into market research, which then broadened into consumer research.

A lot of what I did involved studying what consumers liked, what they were willing to buy, and what they were willing to pay for.

One method I liked was simulated shopping—presenting different product options with different features and prices, then analyzing how people made decisions.

That allowed us to understand what people truly valued and what tradeoffs they were willing to make.

Henry Harrison:
What advice would you give someone early in their career?

Gary Burrows:
One of the biggest points is this: If you want to become a real subject matter expert, you need to focus intensely for about three years.

Think about where you want to be three years from now and start working toward that today.

Also, periodically look at job postings—not because you want to leave, but to understand trends and skills in demand.

And every year, without exception, learn something new. The workforce is constantly refreshing itself, and you need to stay competitive.

Henry Harrison:
Before we wrap up, you have a fascinating family history tied to early Texas settlement. Can you share that?

Gary Burrows:
Yes. On my grandmother’s side, the family came from Devonshire, England. They were recruited to come to Texas when there wasn’t much here.

They traveled by boat, then riverboat, then wagon to Carrollton, Texas—sight unseen. They had eight children and acquired land through grants and purchase at about 50 cents an acre.

Life was incredibly difficult—there were still Indian raids and very harsh conditions.

There’s a book about their life called Sixty Years in Texas, written by my relative Jack Henry Jackson.

When I read about their journey, it really puts into perspective how hard life was—and how much they endured to give future generations opportunities.

Henry Harrison:
It’s amazing to think about that journey. It really gives perspective on determination and resilience.

Gary, you’ve had a very interesting life. We may have to do a follow-up conversation sometime.

Gary Burrows:
Anytime. There’s plenty more we could talk about.

Henry Harrison:
Thank you so much for coming on, my friend. Have a great day, and we’ll talk again soon.

Gary Burrows:
All right. Bye-bye.