Alan Hayman
Alan Hayman (Questrom’74) of Potomac, Md., writes, “Old grad, new tricks. It has been a long but interesting road from Myles Standish Hall in Kenmore Square in 1970, graduating with honors from the former College of Business Administration in 1974, and building a family technology (point of sale) business. What followed then was an acquisition by a public company called MICROS Systems (now owned by Oracle), where I had the opportunity to lead the restaurant sales and strategies group as executive vice president. During this time, I married another successful BU grad, Joan Alderman (CAS’74). An entrepreneur, Joan was a sweater designer who built a retail/wholesale business, including one of the early e-commerce retail websites. We now have two grown daughters and four granddaughters. A year before leaving MICROS, I became a board member of the BU School of Hospitality Administration and engineered a large donation of hospitality technology to help prepare BU students for their careers in industry while I started my consulting practice, which is still very active. Still having an itch to start a new business from scratch, I formed a partnership with my lifelong colleague who was the chief technology officer of MICROS. We thought we would start a smartphone app business and compete in a world of twenty-somethings. XCO Digital is now a successful boutique app company and just launched several projects for a 900-store chain called Hair Cuttery. From clients like Carnegie Hall to the Miami Heat and Smithsonian’s National Zoo, XCO has been a really fascinating journey. My time at BU was some of the best years of my life, and I am lucky to have a close-knit group of BU alumni who remember most but not all of the things that went on in the 70s in Kenmore Square. Most of all, I learned that adventures can be exhilarating—especially the new ones. BU opened my eyes to possibilities, and I think there are a few more tricks up my sleeve. Maybe some might consider me an old dog, but I don’t feel like one.”
From the Summer 2018 issue.