The opportunity for ExOne remains high because it’s a company that has a disruptive technology — it causes people to change the way they do things.
“Being disruptive is generally where a little company has the opportunity because of the nature of what they do to disrupt some of the bigger, more stabilized players,” Rockwell says.
Disruptive technology can take business away from people that aren’t capable of adapting.
“ExOne, I think, is excellently positioned in that regard, and I think that the challenge that we’re facing right now is really just exploiting the disruptive technology that we’re engaged in,” he says. “And that means getting it in front of the customers and getting the customers to employ it effectively in a good time frame.”
Takeaways:
- Focus down first, and then expand off that.
- Make sure you can endure the costs of going public.
- Value comes from the efficiency of management multiplied by market opportunity.
The Rockwell File:
Name: S. Kent Rockwell
Title: Chairman and CEO
Company: ExOne
Born: Washington, D.C.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in economics from Lafayette College. Attended Wharton Graduate School at the University of Pennsylvania for a master’s degree in business administration but didn’t graduate.
What was your first job and what did you learn from it? I started working, doing sandblasting at the steel mill, Clairton Works.
My first job out of graduate school was when my grandfather and aunt made an investment in a commuter airline, Pitt Airways. They threatened me; I could either go to work in DuBois working on a gas meter production line, or I could run an airline. I voted to run the airline.
That was one of the first losing propositions that I learned about in my life. We ran it for four years and finally just shut it down. But it was an interesting experience and taught me a great deal.
You learn a lot more from your losses than from your successes. Successful businesses feed themselves, run very easy and develop very easy, but learning how to manage your way out of bad businesses and keep your employees enthusiastic and functional for the future is the real task.
What is the best business advice you ever received? A wise man from Squirrel Hill, Harold Ruttenberg, once told me, ‘If you’re making an investment and you think it’s a good investment, take the same amount of whatever money you invest and put it in a savings bank because you’ll probably need it.’
Harold was right, because many times when you see something that’s $1 million, it ends up being $2 million. Your overall return might be just as good, but it takes more capital than some of the planners think. You’ve got to keep something in reserve if you really believe in it.
Is there anything about you that might surprise people? I started off buying and selling airplanes when I came out of college and got into the airline business. I’ve always felt if everything went to pot, I always could make a living buying and selling airplanes.
I’m now on my 627th airplane. It’s an avocation — when you get aviation in your blood it sticks with you.
With your experience operating a commuter airline, are you a pilot? I have been up until recently. I’m 70 now, so I let other guys get up there and do that. I sit in the back and have a drink. It’s more fun.
