American Accessories was founded in 1960. They take orders for customized products needed in a short time frame. They have offices in the US and China, and partner with over 120 manufacturing facilities world-wide. The company has a high percentage of industrial engineers, and always hopes to improve efficiency in their work processes. They deal with fortune 500 companies, and hold no inventory. It is likely that they are working on 50 to 100 projects at any given time.
Eric Zeanah, the American Accessories president, majored in Industrial Engineering at UT. Before his senior year, he took a part time job at American Accessories. He soon joined as a full time employee, delaying his graduation. He enjoyed working with the company and took over the presidency in January 1995. At the time, the company was struggling. Eric recognized that if they continued with their current path, they would not be successful. He had a vision for a new direction, however, and has built and outstanding company to work with and for.
He values personal relationships in business. He stresses that the more personal your business relationships are, the better off you will be in the long run. He also stressed that this is a good way to determine what the market wants. You must listen when you have the opportunity, and take to heart what they say to you.
Eric is determined to have control over his business; he refuses to do business with anyone who attempts to determine how your interactions will be. He stated, "I will not let another company dictate the success or failure of my company." Because American Accessories is so successful, they do not have to do business with anyone that they don't want to work with. This is important to them, and they intend to continue working this way.
American Accessories values dedication, hard work, personal relationships, and a desire to learn. These values have carried them far, and will continue to do so in the future.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
John Platallero, EventBooking
We stayed in our classroom again this week and had John Platallero of eventbooking.com as our speaker.
John's first job was at Alcoa. During that time, he worked some on the side promoting concerts and became familiar with the concert industry. In 1993 or 1994, John saw a website for the first time, and thought it was amazing. He remembers that day vividly, and it played a major role in his ultimate career path. At one point, John missed an opportunity to book a concert because of calls back and forth. He thought to himself, "What if we can put calendars on the internet?" He thought that if he could get a calendar on the internet, then agents and venues would have a common place to look, and could book concerts more easily. He ran the idea by a friend, who agreed with him. He then began to run the idea by many people, trying to get honest opinions.
Through a unique set of circumstances, John was able to go back to school and get an MBA from UT. In a class, he wrote the business plan for eventbooking.com. When he started the company, he needed money for software developers. He warned that it is easy to look desperate when asking for money, which can give the wrong impression to investors. He got a few people involved in the company (two salesmen, one programmer), and went to speak with venues. The most consistent problem was that the venue managers were unfamiliar with the internet, the basis of his company.
They made the decision to deal with top-tier venues only. John advises that you should pick your market and stay focused on it. He also said that things take longer that you expect them to; it took five years to really get things going with eventbooking.com. He eventually got agents to back him up, and used them to get venues. There are approximately 450 top-tier venues in the US, and John had 200 of them signed up. However, there was a flaw in their business. There was too much customer work. The venues didn't update their online calendars because it was too much of a hassle to do.
At this point, John spoke with his customers about what they could do to improve the current system. He decided that instead of a portal for communication, it would be best to build an online application to improve "today value" for venues. They spent years winning one customer at a time and figuring how to change their company. They decided to focus only on the venues and let the agents continue their old ways.
Now, eventbooking.com is thriving. They get lots of calls from people that need web-based software. They have 80% of the arenas in the US using their software, as well as most of Canada, some in Chile, some in China, and plans to start in Europe. They are going back to working with agents again, telling them that they will book more shows with eventbooking. They recently booked Disney, and now are getting more calls than ever. They have applications for the iPhone, Droid, and Blackberry.
He says he has wonderful people working with him. His programmer never turns down an assignment or idea. He says that with enough time and money, we can do anything.
Eventbooking is a very customer-centered company. They have no automated answering machines, and work to interact closely with the clients.
They have no legal protection of their software; their only protection is constant improvement and trying to stay ahead of the curve.
John says that during his time with eventbooking, a scripture has led him. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart... lean not on your own understanding."
Eventbooking has been profitable for five years and currently has ten employees.
John's first job was at Alcoa. During that time, he worked some on the side promoting concerts and became familiar with the concert industry. In 1993 or 1994, John saw a website for the first time, and thought it was amazing. He remembers that day vividly, and it played a major role in his ultimate career path. At one point, John missed an opportunity to book a concert because of calls back and forth. He thought to himself, "What if we can put calendars on the internet?" He thought that if he could get a calendar on the internet, then agents and venues would have a common place to look, and could book concerts more easily. He ran the idea by a friend, who agreed with him. He then began to run the idea by many people, trying to get honest opinions.
Through a unique set of circumstances, John was able to go back to school and get an MBA from UT. In a class, he wrote the business plan for eventbooking.com. When he started the company, he needed money for software developers. He warned that it is easy to look desperate when asking for money, which can give the wrong impression to investors. He got a few people involved in the company (two salesmen, one programmer), and went to speak with venues. The most consistent problem was that the venue managers were unfamiliar with the internet, the basis of his company.
They made the decision to deal with top-tier venues only. John advises that you should pick your market and stay focused on it. He also said that things take longer that you expect them to; it took five years to really get things going with eventbooking.com. He eventually got agents to back him up, and used them to get venues. There are approximately 450 top-tier venues in the US, and John had 200 of them signed up. However, there was a flaw in their business. There was too much customer work. The venues didn't update their online calendars because it was too much of a hassle to do.
At this point, John spoke with his customers about what they could do to improve the current system. He decided that instead of a portal for communication, it would be best to build an online application to improve "today value" for venues. They spent years winning one customer at a time and figuring how to change their company. They decided to focus only on the venues and let the agents continue their old ways.
Now, eventbooking.com is thriving. They get lots of calls from people that need web-based software. They have 80% of the arenas in the US using their software, as well as most of Canada, some in Chile, some in China, and plans to start in Europe. They are going back to working with agents again, telling them that they will book more shows with eventbooking. They recently booked Disney, and now are getting more calls than ever. They have applications for the iPhone, Droid, and Blackberry.
He says he has wonderful people working with him. His programmer never turns down an assignment or idea. He says that with enough time and money, we can do anything.
Eventbooking is a very customer-centered company. They have no automated answering machines, and work to interact closely with the clients.
They have no legal protection of their software; their only protection is constant improvement and trying to stay ahead of the curve.
John says that during his time with eventbooking, a scripture has led him. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart... lean not on your own understanding."
Eventbooking has been profitable for five years and currently has ten employees.
Barry Goss, Pro2Sorve
We stayed in our classroom this week and were visited by Barry Goss of Pro2Serve (Professional Project Services). Barry is the CEO of this company, founded in 1996. They started small, as all businesses do, but now have over 300 employees and eight separate offices. Pro2Serve sells knowledge and solutions, but not products.
Barry has a Ph.D. in engineering and has no formal business training, aside from a few workshops. He began working with SAIC, a large employee-owned engineering organization. He soon began to develop an interest in the business side of things. He went to Europe and the US to determine what was changing in their field and how to compete with those trends. He learned to get a half a step ahead of the market and stated that if you are a full step ahead, you will go broke, and if you are even, you are a commodity. The best place for a business to be is just a half step ahead.
The DOE set up an environmental management organization and needed three people to head it. One was to go find and manage the project, one was a proposal manager, and the other was a program manager. Barry played the role of all three of these on five major bid efforts in one single year. They won all five bids, and created hundreds of million dollars in business. Barry states that the sign of a great business leader is to detect an overwhelming trend and make it their goal.
He likes an atmosphere of new and interesting products being produced by new and interesting projects. He noticed trends, and began collecting articles about them in a folder. Finally, one day, he went through them all.
He says that the experience of being a group senior vice president at SAIC was what taught him to run a business, but the job made him feel like he was wearing golden handcuffs. He didn't want to let them go, but he wanted to try starting a business on his own, from the ground up. The president of SAIC even offered to help him out, but Barry needed to get out on his own. Luckily, though, he was able to take his stock with him and burned no bridges in the process of leaving.
"Built to Last" is Barry's favorite management book of the 90s. He built a company that grew quickly, but he knew that they had to prepare for bad times. They made changes that other people did not understand, preparing them for what was to come. All his changes were made with careful regard for the company's original values. He advises, "Good companies have a core set of values that never change. The market always changes. Be ready." He wanted to establish a company on a set of values that he believed in. They established early in their bylaws that they were committed to giving back to the communities in which they work. Ten percent of each year's profits, dispersed over the next year, is spent on the community.
Pro2Serve does not advertise. They do not hold press releases. They were blessed with angel investors. They have been very lucky.
Governmental contracting requires an auditable financial system. You must figure out what your core competency is and protect it.
Barry's last words of advice were that when you go to work for someone, you should look for a company with the same beliefs and values that you have. If you don't believe in what the company is doing, you will never be happy there.
Barry has a Ph.D. in engineering and has no formal business training, aside from a few workshops. He began working with SAIC, a large employee-owned engineering organization. He soon began to develop an interest in the business side of things. He went to Europe and the US to determine what was changing in their field and how to compete with those trends. He learned to get a half a step ahead of the market and stated that if you are a full step ahead, you will go broke, and if you are even, you are a commodity. The best place for a business to be is just a half step ahead.
The DOE set up an environmental management organization and needed three people to head it. One was to go find and manage the project, one was a proposal manager, and the other was a program manager. Barry played the role of all three of these on five major bid efforts in one single year. They won all five bids, and created hundreds of million dollars in business. Barry states that the sign of a great business leader is to detect an overwhelming trend and make it their goal.
He likes an atmosphere of new and interesting products being produced by new and interesting projects. He noticed trends, and began collecting articles about them in a folder. Finally, one day, he went through them all.
He says that the experience of being a group senior vice president at SAIC was what taught him to run a business, but the job made him feel like he was wearing golden handcuffs. He didn't want to let them go, but he wanted to try starting a business on his own, from the ground up. The president of SAIC even offered to help him out, but Barry needed to get out on his own. Luckily, though, he was able to take his stock with him and burned no bridges in the process of leaving.
"Built to Last" is Barry's favorite management book of the 90s. He built a company that grew quickly, but he knew that they had to prepare for bad times. They made changes that other people did not understand, preparing them for what was to come. All his changes were made with careful regard for the company's original values. He advises, "Good companies have a core set of values that never change. The market always changes. Be ready." He wanted to establish a company on a set of values that he believed in. They established early in their bylaws that they were committed to giving back to the communities in which they work. Ten percent of each year's profits, dispersed over the next year, is spent on the community.
Pro2Serve does not advertise. They do not hold press releases. They were blessed with angel investors. They have been very lucky.
Governmental contracting requires an auditable financial system. You must figure out what your core competency is and protect it.
Barry's last words of advice were that when you go to work for someone, you should look for a company with the same beliefs and values that you have. If you don't believe in what the company is doing, you will never be happy there.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
CTI & Provision Foundation
This week Terry Douglass spoke to us about CTI and Provision Foundation. One of the first things he stated about himself was the passion for entrepreneurship. "Once and entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur," he says.
He started CTI with a focus on the PET process as a whole. Their mission was to make clinical PET a reality. They established a track record with strong momentum in the beginning, but their beginning of big success was in1997, when the FDA legislation passed. In 2000, CTI introduced PET/ct.
Later, as the company grew, they decided to take it public in 2002. One thing Terry stated about public companies was that when you take a company public, you must think quarter to quarter, not long term. This was very different from the long-term, where-do-we-want-to-be-in-five-years approach CTI had currently operated on. Because of this, their stock dropped significantly for the next two years. Soon, though, as they learned how to work the public market, their stock began to rise again. Eventually, they sold to Siemens for $20.50 a share. They had entered the market at $17.00 a share, so they made a good profit.
Another lesson learned in going public was that having outsiders on the board of directors isn't necessarily the most desirable option. The outsiders aren't necessarily in agreement with the long-term goal of the company, as they want to meet quarterly deadlines and projections. In the end, though, Terry says that the experience was worth the effort he put into it.
Provision Foundation works mostly with the East Tennessee Health Center (ETHC). They are a comprehensive company and work with the cancer center as well as the proton therapy center, where precise targeting spares healthy tissue in operations.
One current project is HaitiServe, Inc. Provision has been working with Haiti for a year now, and it has been a blessing to Terry to be able to help Haitians through old times and current difficulties and earthquake aftermath. Terry says that there is always an opportunity to serve, and we all have gifts to give.
He desires that Provision serves, connects, and mobilizes. He thinks his most productive life years are his 60s, and next will be his 70s. He looks forward to continuing to work and see the company grow.
He started CTI with a focus on the PET process as a whole. Their mission was to make clinical PET a reality. They established a track record with strong momentum in the beginning, but their beginning of big success was in1997, when the FDA legislation passed. In 2000, CTI introduced PET/ct.
Later, as the company grew, they decided to take it public in 2002. One thing Terry stated about public companies was that when you take a company public, you must think quarter to quarter, not long term. This was very different from the long-term, where-do-we-want-to-be-in-five-years approach CTI had currently operated on. Because of this, their stock dropped significantly for the next two years. Soon, though, as they learned how to work the public market, their stock began to rise again. Eventually, they sold to Siemens for $20.50 a share. They had entered the market at $17.00 a share, so they made a good profit.
Another lesson learned in going public was that having outsiders on the board of directors isn't necessarily the most desirable option. The outsiders aren't necessarily in agreement with the long-term goal of the company, as they want to meet quarterly deadlines and projections. In the end, though, Terry says that the experience was worth the effort he put into it.
Provision Foundation works mostly with the East Tennessee Health Center (ETHC). They are a comprehensive company and work with the cancer center as well as the proton therapy center, where precise targeting spares healthy tissue in operations.
One current project is HaitiServe, Inc. Provision has been working with Haiti for a year now, and it has been a blessing to Terry to be able to help Haitians through old times and current difficulties and earthquake aftermath. Terry says that there is always an opportunity to serve, and we all have gifts to give.
He desires that Provision serves, connects, and mobilizes. He thinks his most productive life years are his 60s, and next will be his 70s. He looks forward to continuing to work and see the company grow.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Aldis, Inc.
Aldis Inc., founded by Vig Sherrill, a technology company located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. "Aldis develops, commercializes and sells patent-pending, efficient traffic and energy management technology and services to municipal partners." Vig is also the CEO of the company, and was kind enough to spend his Monday night speaking to our class about his journey.
Vig is an experienced entrepreneur and is thrilled about heading Aldis. He first came up with the idea for the company while waiting at night for a red light to change in a deserted area. He thought that there should be a more efficient method of changing lights to adapt to traffic fluxes during the day. He began to work on the idea, but soon ran into a problem. A system that would replace current sensors at traffic lights would benefit the citizens of the city in which it was installed, but the citizens would not be the ones paying for the system. Because of this, the system would need to be beneficial to the municipality as well as the citizens. After some consideration, they realized that they could record information about the intersections as well as change the lights. This would provide valuable data to the municipalities who desire them.
Aldis received funding through venture capital, which indicates that Aldis shows great promise as an emerging company. Aldis's most significant advantage over their competition is that they use a PC as their system's hardware. Because of this, as PC quality improves, Aldis's product will get inherently better with time. Their late start relative to competitors gave them the advantage of programming with existing systems instead of having to create new systems on their own.
One difficulty Aldis encountered was the fact that there is a limited market for their product. There are a limited number of intersections in the US, about 350,000 total. This means that the maximum number of intersection cameras sold in the US is 350,000. However, Vig is determined to improve their product and their reach to other markets. They have begun marketing overseas, providing many more intersections for which Aldis could provide. Also, Aldis is developing their product to function in other applications in addition to intersections. They are starting to be able to use it to count cars in parking garages, as well as discussing the possibility of collecting data about planes at airports. With further modifications, they could market to companies who wish to collect data about activity in their parking lots.
Vig emphasized the importance of being able to recognize opportunities to change directions and to improve. He stated that he doesn't know a single entrepreneur who is making money on what they initially set out to make money on. You have to be able to adapt and make good decisions. As Dr. Martin says, "It only takes one thing to succeed - Good judgment. It only takes one thing to get good judgment - Experience. It only takes one thing to get experience - Bad judgment." All the decisions made my an entrepreneur are beneficial in gaining "experience" or benefiting the company, which is important to remember.
Vig is an experienced entrepreneur and is thrilled about heading Aldis. He first came up with the idea for the company while waiting at night for a red light to change in a deserted area. He thought that there should be a more efficient method of changing lights to adapt to traffic fluxes during the day. He began to work on the idea, but soon ran into a problem. A system that would replace current sensors at traffic lights would benefit the citizens of the city in which it was installed, but the citizens would not be the ones paying for the system. Because of this, the system would need to be beneficial to the municipality as well as the citizens. After some consideration, they realized that they could record information about the intersections as well as change the lights. This would provide valuable data to the municipalities who desire them.
Aldis received funding through venture capital, which indicates that Aldis shows great promise as an emerging company. Aldis's most significant advantage over their competition is that they use a PC as their system's hardware. Because of this, as PC quality improves, Aldis's product will get inherently better with time. Their late start relative to competitors gave them the advantage of programming with existing systems instead of having to create new systems on their own.
One difficulty Aldis encountered was the fact that there is a limited market for their product. There are a limited number of intersections in the US, about 350,000 total. This means that the maximum number of intersection cameras sold in the US is 350,000. However, Vig is determined to improve their product and their reach to other markets. They have begun marketing overseas, providing many more intersections for which Aldis could provide. Also, Aldis is developing their product to function in other applications in addition to intersections. They are starting to be able to use it to count cars in parking garages, as well as discussing the possibility of collecting data about planes at airports. With further modifications, they could market to companies who wish to collect data about activity in their parking lots.
Vig emphasized the importance of being able to recognize opportunities to change directions and to improve. He stated that he doesn't know a single entrepreneur who is making money on what they initially set out to make money on. You have to be able to adapt and make good decisions. As Dr. Martin says, "It only takes one thing to succeed - Good judgment. It only takes one thing to get good judgment - Experience. It only takes one thing to get experience - Bad judgment." All the decisions made my an entrepreneur are beneficial in gaining "experience" or benefiting the company, which is important to remember.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Protomet
Protomet Corporation is located in Oak Ridge, TN. They specialize in precision manufacturing of parts. Jeff Bohanan, the President of Protomet, was kind enough to speak with us about his start and success in the industry.
Early in his career, he and a partner left their corporate jobs and to start an engineering consulting business. After working in consulting for a while, their plan was to begin work in manufacturing. They wrote a business plan, as Jeff is a firm believer in written goals. He says that he typically rewrites his goals once a month, and that it's nice to see them progress over the years.
Protomet began work in manufacturing making a part for Mercedes. Mercedes needed a part that no one made, and they wanted one million of them made for $4 each. Protomet analyzed the part and bid to make the part with a combination of stamping and machining. They recognized the magnitude of this opportunity, but it was very intimidating. Mercedes accepted their bid to make the part, and Protomet ordered a $100,000 machine to begin the process. The day before the machine arrived, Mercedes told them that they would no longer require their services. Howwever, Jeff continued communication with them, and they agreed to let Protomet make the first 50,000 of 1 million parts. They soon received news that Mercedes wanted them to make all million parts.
They originally worked on making military parts, but the business was not sufficiently consistent. There were few parts, they were difficult to make, and they were few and far between. Protomet learned that high tech is not necessarily the key to high profit, but it may be how you get your foot in the door.
They began making lots of marine and aerospace parts. Now they work mostly with homeland security and wake board/boat manufacturing.
Many times, they create a single part out of a block of material. This may not be the cheapest method of making a part in the long run, but it does allow the client to make changes to the part and create new features. As the engineers change designs, Protomet can change the manufacturing to fit the part. Their reasoning behind this method was that they wanted to use the "cure" approach rather than the "band-aid" approach.
The recession was tough on them, but they are coming out of it slowly but surely.
Currently they have 18 CNC machines. One employee is typically in charge of 3-5 machines at a time; the competition in manufacturing business is tough and it is necessary to be very efficient.
They customized their extruded aluminum to save money. This seems counter-intuitive, but the distributers mark up the material price on standard sized parts, but the the mill can give cheaper parts for customized dies.
Jeff spends approximately 65 hours a week working at Protomet. His desire is to build a company that doesn't need him to continue. He advises to work ON your business, not just IN it. You must teach the process and not just do it yourself.
Some quotes Jeff likes are the following:
"We dent to overestimate what can be accomplished in one year. We tend to underestimate what can be accomplished in five years."
" The formula for innovation is a step function...output is not proportional to the input...though steady input is required to get to the next step."
"People are your biggest challenge [not technology]. You have to have integrity. You have to be honest."
I was pleased to meet Jeff on Monday night. He really cared for his business and cared about us coming there. I wish him the best.
Early in his career, he and a partner left their corporate jobs and to start an engineering consulting business. After working in consulting for a while, their plan was to begin work in manufacturing. They wrote a business plan, as Jeff is a firm believer in written goals. He says that he typically rewrites his goals once a month, and that it's nice to see them progress over the years.
Protomet began work in manufacturing making a part for Mercedes. Mercedes needed a part that no one made, and they wanted one million of them made for $4 each. Protomet analyzed the part and bid to make the part with a combination of stamping and machining. They recognized the magnitude of this opportunity, but it was very intimidating. Mercedes accepted their bid to make the part, and Protomet ordered a $100,000 machine to begin the process. The day before the machine arrived, Mercedes told them that they would no longer require their services. Howwever, Jeff continued communication with them, and they agreed to let Protomet make the first 50,000 of 1 million parts. They soon received news that Mercedes wanted them to make all million parts.
They originally worked on making military parts, but the business was not sufficiently consistent. There were few parts, they were difficult to make, and they were few and far between. Protomet learned that high tech is not necessarily the key to high profit, but it may be how you get your foot in the door.
They began making lots of marine and aerospace parts. Now they work mostly with homeland security and wake board/boat manufacturing.
Many times, they create a single part out of a block of material. This may not be the cheapest method of making a part in the long run, but it does allow the client to make changes to the part and create new features. As the engineers change designs, Protomet can change the manufacturing to fit the part. Their reasoning behind this method was that they wanted to use the "cure" approach rather than the "band-aid" approach.
The recession was tough on them, but they are coming out of it slowly but surely.
Currently they have 18 CNC machines. One employee is typically in charge of 3-5 machines at a time; the competition in manufacturing business is tough and it is necessary to be very efficient.
They customized their extruded aluminum to save money. This seems counter-intuitive, but the distributers mark up the material price on standard sized parts, but the the mill can give cheaper parts for customized dies.
Jeff spends approximately 65 hours a week working at Protomet. His desire is to build a company that doesn't need him to continue. He advises to work ON your business, not just IN it. You must teach the process and not just do it yourself.
Some quotes Jeff likes are the following:
"We dent to overestimate what can be accomplished in one year. We tend to underestimate what can be accomplished in five years."
" The formula for innovation is a step function...output is not proportional to the input...though steady input is required to get to the next step."
"People are your biggest challenge [not technology]. You have to have integrity. You have to be honest."
I was pleased to meet Jeff on Monday night. He really cared for his business and cared about us coming there. I wish him the best.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Mark Medley
This week we went to CTI (Control Technology, Inc.) and heard from Mark Medley. CTI makes instruments helpful in automating machines and plants. The idea behind CTI is to help people do what people are good at, and machines do what machines are good at. At plants Mark had previously visited, automation was implemented to improve quality and productivity, not to reduce labor costs.
We went on a tour of his facilities, where he shared with us many of the ins and outs of his manufacturing business. There were separate machines that placed soldering paste on the boards, placed parts on the boards, checked for defects, heated the boards to solidify the solder, and to wash the boards. One thing I noticed was the prevalence of checks and balances in the facilities. The boards are run through several tests and are checked several times in order to ensure that they function properly. Because of this, the company has very few unsatisfied customers.
Mark felt a desire to start his own business from watching his dad. He claimed that his father was a good engineer, but was afraid to gamble his success. Though he never regretted his decisions to have a steady job, there was always a sense of "what if" that seemed to bug him. Mark decided that he wouldn't accept living with thoughts of "what if," and at age 27, he decided to jump into business. He thought this age was appropriate because if he failed, he would still have a chance to start over. He advised us that if we wanted to start our own businesses, we should start within the first five years after we leave school, because it would get much harder after that. Mark and five of his good friends started CTI.
CTI is unique among the businesses we had visited so far in that it did not get its start with SBIR grants. They borrowed all the money they could from friends and family, and got bank financing to help them along. While six founding members of a company seems like a lot, it worked well for CTI. All six trusted and covered for each other. Mark also stressed that it was very important to be selective about who you go into business with.
The original idea for CTI was to supplement TI and other big names in the industry by finding holes or weaknesses in their products and developing a solution to improve them. In this way, they weren't competing directly with them, but did good business for a small company. Eventually, though, they began competing with big companies instead of complimenting them. This happened mostly because they were approached by big-name clients who desired a self-developed and processed PLC from CTI.
Soon though, Siemens sued the company, claiming that they had stolen Siemens designs. After attending federal court in Nashville and battling over intellectual property claims, the courts ruled in their favor. This gave them the ability to develop and manufacture their PLCs knowing that their ideas were original.
Mark offered some advice to young engineers/entrepreneurs at the end of his presentation. Below are some of his wise words.
-When starting a company, it's very important that you do what you say you'll do. You need to keep people informed, and they will be more likely to trust you and work with you.
-Don't govern your business with rules, if possible. Govern with general policies. Don't punish everyone for the mistakes of one or two employees.
-Profit is not an independent variable. It depends on whether or not you can compete in all areas you're competing in.
-Time management is key, both time & business and time & life.
-It is very important as you go through your life to try to find balance. When you start your business, you're way out of whack. That's okay for a little while, but not very long.
I like that Mark stressed the importance of life outside of business. If you business consumes your life, you won't be fulfilled.
Mark seemed like he was happy with his journey. He knew what he wanted in life and knew what he didn't want. He took risks, but they paid off. I can only hope that one day I'll be just as successful as Mark.
We went on a tour of his facilities, where he shared with us many of the ins and outs of his manufacturing business. There were separate machines that placed soldering paste on the boards, placed parts on the boards, checked for defects, heated the boards to solidify the solder, and to wash the boards. One thing I noticed was the prevalence of checks and balances in the facilities. The boards are run through several tests and are checked several times in order to ensure that they function properly. Because of this, the company has very few unsatisfied customers.
Mark felt a desire to start his own business from watching his dad. He claimed that his father was a good engineer, but was afraid to gamble his success. Though he never regretted his decisions to have a steady job, there was always a sense of "what if" that seemed to bug him. Mark decided that he wouldn't accept living with thoughts of "what if," and at age 27, he decided to jump into business. He thought this age was appropriate because if he failed, he would still have a chance to start over. He advised us that if we wanted to start our own businesses, we should start within the first five years after we leave school, because it would get much harder after that. Mark and five of his good friends started CTI.
CTI is unique among the businesses we had visited so far in that it did not get its start with SBIR grants. They borrowed all the money they could from friends and family, and got bank financing to help them along. While six founding members of a company seems like a lot, it worked well for CTI. All six trusted and covered for each other. Mark also stressed that it was very important to be selective about who you go into business with.
The original idea for CTI was to supplement TI and other big names in the industry by finding holes or weaknesses in their products and developing a solution to improve them. In this way, they weren't competing directly with them, but did good business for a small company. Eventually, though, they began competing with big companies instead of complimenting them. This happened mostly because they were approached by big-name clients who desired a self-developed and processed PLC from CTI.
Soon though, Siemens sued the company, claiming that they had stolen Siemens designs. After attending federal court in Nashville and battling over intellectual property claims, the courts ruled in their favor. This gave them the ability to develop and manufacture their PLCs knowing that their ideas were original.
Mark offered some advice to young engineers/entrepreneurs at the end of his presentation. Below are some of his wise words.
-When starting a company, it's very important that you do what you say you'll do. You need to keep people informed, and they will be more likely to trust you and work with you.
-Don't govern your business with rules, if possible. Govern with general policies. Don't punish everyone for the mistakes of one or two employees.
-Profit is not an independent variable. It depends on whether or not you can compete in all areas you're competing in.
-Time management is key, both time & business and time & life.
-It is very important as you go through your life to try to find balance. When you start your business, you're way out of whack. That's okay for a little while, but not very long.
I like that Mark stressed the importance of life outside of business. If you business consumes your life, you won't be fulfilled.
Mark seemed like he was happy with his journey. He knew what he wanted in life and knew what he didn't want. He took risks, but they paid off. I can only hope that one day I'll be just as successful as Mark.
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