Most of us don’t have a knack for pivoting. We follow the standard curriculum, and we keep going forward when we get in a lane, whether we believe it’s the right direction or not. But for Michael Gimbel, my guest on today’s show, seeing setbacks as serendipity and then pivoting is a natural gift. Michael built a CNC router in his garage by age 12. He dropped out of an elite university after one year to start a company selling 3D printing technology that he invented. When the company failed, he picked up the pieces, shifting to contract manufacturing and…
Author: Noah Graff
Our guests on today’s show are Michael Ottenweller and Terry Hanson, of Ottenweller Company, a medium-sized fabrication and machining company headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Ottenweller is a 108-year-old fourth generation family business. I spoke with Michael and Terry about how a family business can grow and thrive for over a century and continue to find new quality talent. Scroll down to read more and listen to the podcast. Or listen on your phone with Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. Follow us on Social and never miss an update! Facebook: https://lnkd.in/dB_nzFzt Instagram: https://lnkd.in/dcxjzVyw Twitter: https://lnkd.in/dDyT-c9h Main Points Ottenweller Company was…
What’s your favorite smell? I asked the question on a LinkedIn post, and everyone said something different. I got the ocean, a farm, a forest in the morning after rain. My wife said her mother’s pie, the cinnamon rolls we bake together, and our two-year-old son of all things! Personally, I’m all about food smells. Chocolate chip cookies and pizza first come to mind. It’s clear that these examples are strongly connected with childhood memories. I got fascinated with this phenomenon when I heard a an awesome podcast interview with Dawn Goldworm, an olfactive expert with more than 20 Years…
Often the best deals and business decisions happen when you’re doing something that seems crazy to other people and even a little bit crazy to yourself. As used machinery dealers, putting our money down to stock old, dirty machines that we’re only interested in for resale, we have to have chutzpa. To some people, the business model seems a bit ridiculous, but it’s how we eat. These days I often question if it even makes sense stocking machines. Often we make a good profit brokering machines we’ve spent no money on, selling them right off the owner’s floor. ************* Listen…
Today’s show is the second episode in our season about Swiss machining. I interviewed Chris Armstrong last week while he was parked at a rest stop somewhere in Texas. He was en route on an all day trip to service a customer’s Citizens. I met Chris and his partner, Ryan Madsen, owners of Texas Swiss, a few years ago, trying to sell them some Citizen L20s from Asia. Texas Swiss, formerly named Mad Science, is a CNC Swiss job shop not far from Houston that focuses primarily on Oil & Gas and Defense, along with some medical and other work…
“This is how it’s always been done.” Businesses sometimes can do OK with a philosophy like that. Maybe even make good money. But it sucks being just ok, because you know you could be so much better. Today on the podcast we are joined by Jim Mayer, founder of the Manufacturing Connector and host of the Manufacturing Culture Podcast. Jim is a manufacturing advocate who helps companies break free from the “it’s always been done this way’ mindset. He specializes in transforming workplaces where the culture is “just OK” into awesome places to work, where employees are engaged, people trust each…
Today’s episode is Part II of our interview with industrial auctioneer Robert Levy. In Part I, I tried to get an understanding of what’s going on inside the mind of an auctioneer. In the second part of the interview, I asked Robert to give me some practical advice on how to be a successful bidder at an auction. The first tip Robert suggests for auction bidders is to talk to the auctioneer before the sale about what items they are interested in and even tell the auctioneer their spending targets. This advice first surprised me because I’ve always figured if…
Auctions are always on our mind at Graff-Pinkert. Since Internet bidding became ubiquitous in the last 15 years they’ve become more of a challenge for dealers like us to capitalize on. But sometimes you still can still find a hell of a deal. In today’s episode we’re going to discuss how. If you like this episode check out Part II! Today’s episode is Part I of a two part interview with Robert Levy, President of Robert Levy Associates. Robert has been an industrial auctioneer for 44 years and knows more about the auction business than anyone I’ve met. Auctions are…
I’ve had a LinkedIn profile for a long time, but I didn’t pay much attention to it until two years ago when I started using it to promote this podcast. I know it’s been helpful for me, but like all social media, the way it works is an enigma. I’m guessing that many of you out there are like me. You’re on LinkedIn and wish you could use the platform to become a thought leader or promote your business, or maybe you’re trying to find a new job. But you’re unsure how to use the platform, so you to rarely…
The concept of an ESOP to me has always seemed extraordinary yet at the same time a little hard to grasp. E-S-O-P is an acronym for Employee Stock Ownership Plan. Basically it means an employee owned company. Our guest on today’s podcast is Rich Gaffney, Vice President of Commercial Operations at Sentry Equipment, a 100-year-old manufacturing company in Wisconsin that has been employee owned since 1986. Rich and I discussed the business structure of ESOPs and most importantly the profound impact that employee ownership can have on company culture and workforce engagement. Even if you have no desire to make…