Tony Saadat

Diplomacy often is overlooked as a critical business skill. But Tony Saadat believes this quality has enabled him to turn around failing businesses with such regularity that he is becoming known for it in the business world.

Take the case of Carlsbad-based Electronic Online Systems International. When Saadat joined EOS as CEO in 2001, the company was barely holding onto its market share as a provider of library information management software. By 2004, subscriptions for EOS’s e-Library Service had doubled and profits grew 23.35 percent in a time of downturn in the library industry. Computers and Libraries has given EOS the Highest Overall Customer Satisfaction Award the last two years. Today, the company has more than 3,000 clients in 85 countries on six continents.

“Tony has proven to be an excellent leader who builds strong companies,” says Lloyd Hendrickson, senior business relationship manager at Wells Fargo Bank. “Tony pushes boundaries and is committed to providing a high quality of service while growing business and technologies.”

It’s no wonder Saadat is being honored as the San Diego SBA’s Small Business Person of the Year. Saadat has a few theories on why he’s been so successful. The first is his background as the son of an ambassador. Of Persian descent, Saadat started life in Iran and moved around with his globetrotting family.

“I’m known for diplomacy,” says the Encinitas resident. “I’m a great listener. I think listening to a client makes a big difference. Some companies go into the backroom to develop, develop, develop. Then they put out technology and it’s not what people want. Our philosophy is that our company is run by our clients. I don’t like to be cornered in an office shuffling papers. I like to be out there talking to clients.”

Saadat has wanted to be a businessman since his early teens. After graduating with a master’s degree in computer science from the University of British Columbia in 1983, he worked as a software engineer. He quickly moved up the ranks and discovered that building companies energized him. Before EOS, he turned around three other businesses.

“My energy is another big factor,” contributing to success, he says. “I love this job, this industry, the employees and the clients. That creates a lot of energy that I bring to my desk everyday.”

One way to grow a company is to anticipate where technology is going and getting there first. “We were the first to offer fully Web-based products and that makes a huge impression in technology,” he says. “While this started as a traditional business, it’s not traditional anymore. Libraries are evolving into different things.”

EOS’s clients include corporate, legal, medical, government and special libraries of all sizes. Saadat has incorporated new technologies into the industry. For those advances, EOS has been nominated for the Computerworld Smithsonian Award and is a permanent fixture in the National Museum of American History’s “Information Technology Innovation” collection.

The company also is connected to the global community, giving donations to the United Nations Children’s Fund, Toys for Tots and the Cancer Care Fund. After 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, EOS offered to host library databases in affected areas at no cost until they could get back on their feet. EOS also supports a program that sponsors library conference trips for impoverished librarians in under-funded libraries.

Saadat is the president of the HOA in his Encinitas community and coaches his 13-year-old son’s soccer team. His wife of 19 years is an OR nurse.

A major career highlight for Saadat is becoming a finalist for the Ernst & Young Small Businessman of the Year Award in 2005. With the skills of an ambassador, he explains the last reason for his success. “I just love the challenge of building and growing companies,” he says. “With a job like this, there are a lot of challenges and I’m not bored, not one single day. As long as I can continue to build, I am content.”