“Follow your passion, not the paycheck. If you work hard at what you believe in - the money will come."

I love that comment, and I stand by it. I fervently believed in an idea that struck others as crazy, impossible or worse. Why would someone create an online marketplace (MFG.com) in 2000 when all others were crashing and burning - and why do it in an industry as slow to adopt and as fractured as manufacturing? The answer - passion.


I always liked making things – learning not just how to make ‘em but WHY they were made the way they were. I got into a trade school right after my college experience and took a one year course in manufacturing, specifically machining. And by the way, if anyone’s out there reading this and thinks that trade schools aren’t sexy or profitable, just read on. I became an apprentice at a tool and die shop that designed and produced metal stamping dies, plastic injection molds, and complex machined parts. I was fortunate to enter manufacturing at the time when a technological revolution was happening and most everything was being controlled by computers, from machine tools to CAD/CAM and special purpose robots. I was so fascinated with automations and technology that I spent my evenings teaching myself how to develop software and apply it to controlling precise motion.

I was recruited by Northwest Airlines to set up cells to quickly reverse engineer and manufacture aircraft parts when they were not readily available from the manufacturer or surplus market. I received two U.S. patents (5,167,720 and 5,162,659) for technology I developed to make overhauling jet engines more efficient and safer. I was a doer and developed a reputation as being a very curious guy that got things done, often in very creative ways. My experience and reputation led me to senior management positions within Northwest Airlines where I managed aircraft acquisition and aircraft modernization projects all over the world. I eventually landed in a role where I was responsible for aircraft engineering, technical procurement, fleet reliability and regulatory compliance. I was accountable for budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars, managing hundreds of talented people and ensuring the safety of millions of passengers. I learned how a complex global business works in a high-pressure environment where safety is paramount and competition is fierce. I could not have gotten that education at any university.

I wanted to try my hand at running my own business, so I left the airline to start a company selling CAD (computer aided design) and CAM (computer aided manufacturing) software. In no time, I had thousands of customers - many were designing products and many were small manufacturing companies. As I would interact with my customers I began to notice a common theme: My design customers were asking me if I knew someone who could manufacture what they had designed, and my manufacturing customers were asking me if I could introduce them to potential customers who needed something manufactured. After having a lunch meeting one day where I introduced one of my design customers to one of my manufacturing customers, I was driving out of the parking lot and heard a radio commercial for LendingTree.com. The commercial said “...request your mortgage and let lenders compete”. It was a “eureka” moment for me. I thought someone should create something similar for manufacturing. And who better to do it than me.? My career and insatiable curiosity had uniquely prepared me to create the online marketplace by which the world’s manufacturing economy would conduct business. That led me to founding MFG.com.

Inc. Magazine named me an "Entrepreneur of the Year" top 10 finalist in 2005. Ernst & Young named me “Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2008. MFG.com was ranked by Deloitte and Touche as one of the top technology growth companies in the U.S. and the New York Times listed MFG.com as one of 10 companies that will change the world. I’ve been invited to and spoken at the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University, Harvard Business School, Wharton and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, among many others.

I also work hard to give back to my fellow entrepreneurs as an active angel investor in disruptive technologies including Internet based “software as a service” models and online marketplaces that bring efficiency to highly fractured markets.

I owe a lot to the mentors and people I’ve worked with in my career. The skills I learned by getting my hands dirty in manufacturing and learning how to make tangible things have proven invaluable. And I owe even more to the hands on training support I received from trade schools and technical courses.

Now, will someone please tell me again how trade schools and manufacturing education doesn’t pay off in America, or isn’t worth the investment these days?

I am a regular guest on CNBC (Small Business CEO Council) and FoxNews.

I am a private pilot (Diamond DA-40), Kid Rock fan,  member of YPO and EO.