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Personal History. BSEE University of Colorado 1977 Hewlett Packard 1977 to 1997 Purchased The Farmers Wife in 1980 DIS 1997 Started ImTech 1998 OJT Business education. Hewlett-Packard. 1977 Production Engineering 1978 R&D Calculator products Project Manager 1980 Inkjet 1984
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Personal History • BSEE University of Colorado 1977 • Hewlett Packard 1977 to 1997 • Purchased The Farmers Wife in 1980 • DIS 1997 • Started ImTech 1998 • OJT Business education
Hewlett-Packard • 1977 Production Engineering • 1978 R&D • Calculator products • Project Manager 1980 • Inkjet 1984 • DeskJet Print Cartridge • Section Manager 1988 • Enhanced DeskJet Print Cartridge • TIJ 3.0
The Farmers Wife • Existing retail giftware business • Located in downtown Albany • Opened Salem store in 1982 • Closed Albany location 1983 • Sole proprietorship to partnership • 1994 “Divorce” • Moved to a free standing location in 2005 • Leverage
DIS • Located in Florida • T-Shirt printer • Inconsistent objectives and values • Escaped with minimal loss • Biggest impact was lost time
ImTech – Early plan • 2 People • Large format high speed inkjet printer • Pursued VC financing • Too early in life cycle • .com • Should have found an angel • Decided to finance product development internally
ImTech • Contract engineering • Develop a product when possible • Internally funded • Fastest growing private company in Oregon • 16th - 2000/2002 (Oregon Business Journal) • 72nd- 2001/2003 • Expected growth in 2004 & 2005 • A significant customer abruptly stopped • Development Stage Co of the Year 2006 (OEF) • Forecasting 2 to 3x Revenue Growth in 2007 • 21 People in January 2007
Management • Analysis verses gut • Business planning verses follow the leads • Set goals for the year • Review periodically • Networking
Financial Management • Cash flow verses profit and loss • Quickbooks • Create a cash flow model annually • Update when necessary • Watch balance sheet semi monthly • Internal funding verses external • Internal is slower • External brings in others • Leverage • Growth verses decline • Tides change quickly • Rainy day fund
Marketing • Market Driven verses Marketing Driven • Expectation and value • New products and making markets • Users don’t need to specify • Keeping the funnel filled
Managing People • Self directed people • Manage by objective • Provide the resources required • Monitor progress • Work load balancing
Managing growth • Quantification in small co. Resources Size
Efficiency of operation • Growth stages Efficiency Size
Culture • Respect • Honesty • Integrity • The company is the people • Your reputation is set by who you hire • Build a team • Friday lunches, winter dinner, picnic • Have fun • Shared risk
Benefits • Compete with large companies for people • Need competitive benefit package • Mandated benefits • Cost of benefits • Package • Salary • Holidays • Health insurance • Profit sharing • Bonuses • IRA
Large verses small • You have to do it all yourself • Speed of decisions • Fast in small company • Speed of change • Slower than you would expect • Refilling the funnel • People like to do what they know • Planning • Managing to the plan • Depth of pockets/Diversification • ROA
Focus • Can’t be too diversified right from the start • Management bandwidth • Managing interfaces • Managing projects • Managing business types
Business Segments Contract Engineering Products Ink Mark12 Mark300 Bulk Ink UV Curable Black HP45 Bulk (future) Color (future) Custom - Boutique Security Nano-particle Projects Specified by our Customers Inkjet Characterization Tools I-Jet DBOS Drop Weight
The Changing World • With the advent of easy communication the world is becoming flat. • Your competitors are global • Even if you have few direct competitors the global environment is impacting rates and therefore income. • Where do you manufacture • When do you manufacture offshore • IP protection
Entrepreneuring • Exit strategy • Private money • Public • Company is like a child • Needs to grow and become independent • Not “your” possession
The hard part • Understanding the market • How to get message to potential customers • Knowing when to grow • Managing personalities • Selecting employees • Letting go
Thanks for the opportunity and your time • Good Luck in Your Career