Generation of family ownership: First. My father, a serial entrepreneur, financed my brother and me in 1993 and came to work for the company in 1999 as vice president of investor relations.
Company revenue (for 2006): $68 million.
Number of employees: Between 300 and 350, depending on how many temporary employees are working.
Years with the company: 14.
First job at this company: I started as CEO but we called it president. My brother Tom was COO.
At what age? 23. It was my first job after college. Tom was 26.
Most memorable thing I learned from my father: When it’s time to shut down a key business segment, do it. We lost out on an early Taser model. Another company had a patent to sell their product to police departments so the public didn’t believe ours worked. Next we developed an automotive security product, similar to a steering wheel club, and built a new production facility in Mexico. It just didn’t sell. Then the other company’s patent expired and we developed a new and better Taser for the law enforcement market.
Best thing about this job: Saving lives. As much as people pray for world peace, it hasn’t happened. People still have violent confrontations. Our technology gives police, the military, and private citizens the means to protect themselves without causing injury or death to another person.
One of our greatest successes: The launch of the Advanced Taser M26, the product that grew us to profitability and fueled our IPO.
Best advice I ever got: There’s a time to be persistent and a time to be a realist.
Quote from our company’s mission statement: To develop technology to protect life by providing non-lethal means of personal protection.
On my desk: A champagne bottle signed by our litigation team to celebrate winning our first product liability lawsuit. We were hit with a series of lawsuits after bad publicity and are successfully defending ourselves.
My greatest accomplishment: Turning the company around from the verge of bankruptcy twice and growing to become the top-performing stock in the world in 2004 as rated by the Wall Street Journal. We made a product that did what customers wanted, and we did it on a shoestring. In 2005 the stock went the other way because of the lawsuits, of course. But we’ve persevered and overcome and 2007 will be a record revenue year for us. The stock is up accordingly.
Worst thing about working in a family business: Bringing family issues to work. My brother and I have been beating each other up since we were kids. When we get into a heated debate, it’s not always as professional as it is with the other employees. (Honestly, it’s entirely his fault.)
Best thing about working in a family business: Working with my father. He was a workaholic when I was growing up. Being in business together for the better part of ten years before he retired, we got to make up for lost time and more.
On a day off I’d like to … take my three-year-old daughter fishing. We went to a trout farm stocked with fish in Sedona, Ariz., and she caught the biggest fish.
Philanthropic causes our family supports: Primarily the Taser Foundation, which raises money for families of police officers killed in the line of duty. We want to help them get through the first few weeks before federal aid kicks in. We try to get them a check within the first 48 hours.
I realized I had emerged from my parents’ shadow when … I took the company public. The most rewarding part was being able to pay my parents back. At 29, when we were in trouble, I could have gotten another job. My father couldn’t. That hits you in your gut.
Words I live by: Carpe diem.
— As told to Patricia Olsen