A native Texan, Syd co-owned and operated Garza County Abstract & Title in Post, Texas from 1974 until 1982. From then until May 1986 he was a petroleum land man in Midland where his contractual work included leasing, hiring and supervising brokers, title curative, creating farm-out agreements and other in-house and field duties.

Syd purchased oil and gas leases, sold drilling prospects, drafted contracts and other instruments in addition to conducting due diligence and building abstracts in difficult counties in South and East Texas.

He became Land Manager and Consultant for TMBR/Sharp Drilling, Inc. in Midland in 1986 and later was named Land Manager for Shield Petroleum, Inc. in College Station. In 1996 he was elected chairman of the board of Cottonwood Exploration in The Woodlands. Syd performed right-of-way work for Texas Eastern and Williams Communications until 2002 when he left to form Andeb Land Services, LLC.