Exclusive: Robert Stephens Talks About His New Role as CTO of Best Buy

Earlier this week, I sat down for coffee with Robert Stephens, founder of Geek Squad, to chat about a number of things, and we decided to do an impromptu audio interview.  I realized later it was almost three years to the day when I'd first met Robert, at an event where he was honored as Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2007 Minnesota Cup reception at the University of Minnesota — and I blogged about that, quoting from his great talk. I'd also heard him speak before at other local events, where he's always a favorite. I have much admiration for the man, not just because he's the spiritual leader of 25,000 geeks and has a real passion for technology, but because he's a marketing genius. What's more, he's really funny and entertaining. I also find it fascinating that he began college as an art student, then switched to computer science (coming to the U of M for that, from his native Chicago). I've since seen Robert at many of our local tech "barcamp" events, MInneBar and MinneDemo, for which he and his employer of the last eight years, Best Buy, have provided much support. Hats off to them for that. (As Robert likes to tell it, "Geek Squad acquired Best Buy in 2002.")  

But, this day, I thought it would be a great opportunity to let Robert tell us about the new role I knew he'd recently been promoted to — that of Chief Technology Officer, reporting the CEO of Best Buy.  I knew something was coming, because he hinted so in a meeting with me and my colleague Steve Borsch during the summer.  There was no Best Buy press release announcing his appointment, which I guess is common for them, but I actually confirmed it a few weeks ago when I hit Robert's LinkedIn page. (He told me he didn't want any hoopla around being named to his new role, that he'll be happy to get recognition when he has some results to talk about.)

We recorded a 21-minute interview, where Robert touched on an array of topics.  He talked about technology trends, and how his job is translating those into actionable intelligence for Best Buy.  He spoke about his developing relationships and partnerships with companies like Google and Facebook, and how he really finds Best Buy a dynamic place to work, giving him a "palette, and a canvas." He also tells the inside story about how was first asked to be CTO, involving a trip to New York with CEO Brian Dunn on the company jet to meet with Eric Schmidt of Google. Robert also talks about what motivates him, how he thinks more like a startup guy, but has the unique advantage of such big resources at Best Buy — and the abilily to open doors anywhere. "I have the best job," he says. "I get to travel the world and visit all these companies." He said over the next five to ten years, "we'll be exploiting the four screens." In that regard, he talks in particular about how one of those, TV, is coming into an new exciting phase. "I like sitting on the main chess board," he said.

But let's get to it… 

• Download or listen to my complete, unedited interview of Robert Stephens, CTO of Best Buy… (MP3)"