Whether consoling heart-broken brides in the returns department of Tiffany and Company or cheerfully donning a pair of lederhosen to sell German tchotchkes on the Home Shopping Network, Payton has brought his tenacity, humor, and drive towards excellence in all his professional and personal endeavors. Payton's business and marketing acumen is a great match for the residential real estate world in San Francisco, where his results have won many client referrals.
Landing in the U.S.
Although Payton was born in the United States, he was raised in Berlin for most of his youth. After 13 years of school in Germany, Payton's entrepreneurial spirit was already evident, so his parents found a discount fare on Pakistan Air and sent him on his way to America. Payton encountered his first challenge when, upon landing in New York, he had to explain in his halting English that his luggage had been lost and he had no clothes or even a toothbrush. While another person might have panicked, for Payton it was just the start of his great adventure in the United States, which still continues almost twenty five years later.
Building business skills in New York
His first job in New York was working in the returns department of Tiffany and Company, where he dealt with disgruntled brides and their unwanted wedding gifts. Despite his youth, his superiors were impressed by Payton's strong work ethic and, within a few years, he became an assistant buyer for the men's jewelry department. He leveraged this experience to land his next job as a sales manager for Chopard watches and jewelry, responsible for building the brand in the United States. It was through Chopard that he first visited Northern California and fell in love with San Francisco, vowing to move to this beautiful place one day.
In 1991, he drew on his European connections to start a company that distributed German goods in the United States. Always looking for new ways to market his products, Payton eventually found himself hawking stained glass Hummel figurines on the Home Shopping Network while wearing lederhosen and a little green hat. Due to his natural sales ability, Payton managed to move a lot of merchandise during his 12 episodes on the Network!
Focusing on technology and moving to San Francisco
Payton was self-employed for the next five years, building expertise in real estate negotiation and the fledging Internet technology. In 1996, Payton started a consulting venture called PCI that helped US technology companies tap into European markets. PCI garnered a list of clients that would go on to become major players in the Internet revolution, including Excite, Prodigy, Infoseek, and ZDNet, and CDNow. The freedom of a consulting role also enabled Payton to fulfill his dream of moving to San Francisco, and he relocated to the Bay Area at this same time.
In 1998, Payton met the three founders of a new company called When.com, which had developed a Web-based calendar program. Thinking it was one of the "coolest ideas I'd ever heard," Payton joined When.com as director of business development. Less than a year, the company was acquired by AOL. In 1999, he became the seventh employee at another start up called Evite. He led business development for the company until 2000, when Evite was bought by CitySearch. Both Evite and When.com embodied Payton's belief that technology can catalyze new kinds of communication, such as collectively sharing calendar information or sending out a party invitation with the click of a mouse.
In 2000, Payton was recruited by another start-up based in Santa Barbara called Expertcity. As the general manager for product development, he launched a product called GotToMyPc.com, which allowed people to access their own computer files remotely via the Web. While he loved the creative process of developing a new product, when the airlines discontinued direct shuttle flights after September 11th, Payton negotiated an exit strategy rather than relocate south. |
