Why think small when you can think big?

The values and drive of Wal Mart's founder inspired Mr Moore

Thirteen years ago, Stuart Moore and Jerry Greenberg set up Sapient with just $20,000 - and some credit cards.

Their aim was to pioneer a new approach to business and technology consulting.

With both men taking the helm, Mr Moore opted to concentrate on the group's vision, strategy and workforce.

Thanks to his attention to the workplace environment, the company prides itself on having one of the best employee retention rates in the industry.

What was your first car?

A used Volkswagen Jetta, which I bought with my own money when I was a college student.

It was fun, sporty and affordable, and I drove it across the States four times - all the way from Boston to San Francisco and back - without a hitch.

I drove it for five years until I bought my first new car - a Honda Accord.

I now drive a BMW M5 and a Chevy Suburban with my wife and five children in it.

What was your first job?

I actually started a business selling monogrammed jewellery with my father when I was 18.

We started the business in the basement of our house with no more than an idea and $5,000.

My Dad paid me 25% of whatever I sold and 25% of whatever I engraved.

My first sales call was to the biggest possible customer I could think of. They put our products in their Christmas catalogue and we sold $144,058-worth (£80,000) in the following months.

We created this thing from scratch in the basement and everyone benefited: our customers were thrilled, we were thrilled and the people who worked for us were thrilled.

It showed me that business is a great thing that can benefit everyone. So from that point on, I knew I wanted to start a business.

When I discovered computers at the University of California at Berkeley in my freshman year, I was amazed at what an incredibly powerful economic tool they were.

It became very clear to me that I wanted to start a business applying computers to making businesses better.

Less than five years after graduation, Jerry Greenberg and I started Sapient with $20,000 dollars and some credit cards to do just that.

What was your first house?

A three-bedroom wooden frame house in Essex, Massachusetts in 1994.

We were living above my wife's catering business in a small apartment with two children and a third on the way. We looked at the house and bought it the next day.

I barely qualified for the mortgage because Jerry and I only paid ourselves the equivalent of $20,000 a year at Sapient.

Who is your biggest inspiration?

Sam Walton, who started and built Wal-Mart. He really loved his people and his customers.

He did everything to benefit them. He improved on things relentlessly and had an absolute blast building his business.

They are now the largest company in the world and bigger than the next 10 retailers combined.

What's the best bit of business advice you've had?

Thinking big is no harder than thinking small, so think big. Sam Walton didn't work any harder than anyone else who runs their own business but he sure thought bigger.

What's the biggest challenge facing business now?

Conflicted business models: When a company's economics are not aligned to the customer's best interests.

For instance, it drives me crazy that interior designers charge based on how much they spend on furniture and fabric and consultants charge you more for taking longer to deliver something.

How is that in the client's best interest?

Businesses should have business models that align and incentivise behaviour that is in the client's best interest.

What was the proudest moment of your career?

When a Sapient team, without hesitation and without charging, worked day and night to help one of our competitors, who was really struggling, be successful within one of our clients.

They did it just because it was the right thing to do to make our client successful.

That was a truly great moment in my career - to see that we have built the right values into our culture and that we hire such great people.

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Sapient plans, designs, implements, and manages information technology to improve business performance for its clients.

The US company, based in Massachusetts, provides these services to multiple industries, including finance, government, travel and energy - its customers include Opodo, Ferrari, the US Marines and BP.

The group is listed on the Nasdaq and generated revenues of $184.8m in 2003.