The nerves of Steele.

• Author: Graham, Sandy
• Position: SkyConnect COO Laura Steele

SKYCONNECT'S COO LAURA STEELE HELPED BRING THE HIGH-TECH COMPANY INTO THE MAJOR LEAGUES.

Laura C. Steele's desk drawer is jammed with boxes of her obsolete business cards.

In the five years she has worked for SkyConnect Inc., Steele has worked her way from intern to chief operating officer - with about 10 titles in between. Now that SkyConnect is about to be acquired by nCUBE, a supplier of multimedia servers, her new title is up in the air - but rest assured she'll remain "a major player," said a company spokesman.

"There really isn't a role in this company I haven't played," said Steele, 38.

Louisville-based SkyConnect, to be called nCUBE when the deal closes this month, provides digital advertising insertion technology and equipment to the cable industry.

Just seven years ago, Steele was a University of Colorado-Boulder graduate communications student who never could have envisioned playing musical chairs at a high-tech startup. Then, in 1994, she took a SkyConnect internship "to get my foot in the door." She enjoyed it so much she never felt.

Steele's upward gyrations at SkyConnect might give the impression she has bounced around. Not so. After earning a Stanford University history degree, she spent 12 years with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in California. Translating space program achievements into plain English and directing technology transfer programs proved good training for SkyConnect client negotiations and employee development.

The space program also helped develop her reputation among her co-workers and clients as a dynamic team player who can, on occasion, achieve the near-impossible.

"There have been a couple of occasions where I've called up and said I really, really need to have something in two weeks - rather than the typical six - and she's been able to pull minor miracles and have new ad-insertion devices shipped to us," said Paul Woidke, vice president and director of operations for Los Angeles-based Adlink, which delivers 50,000 advertisements daily with SkyConnect technology to cable operators in the L.A. area.

"I like the way she treats the customer," said Dan Kuntz, general manager of TCI Front Range, based in Fort Collins. The Fort Collins system was TCI's first in Colorado to install SkyConnect digital technology.

"Laura coordinated everything," Kuntz said. "She's great on detail."

When Steele began her SkyConnect internship, "there were five of us in an office over the Haagen-Dazs on...