23: Secrets of Building a $100 Million Company with Vince Pappas

Our guest for today's podcast is Vince Pappas, and he tells his story of growing up, getting his first job, going to night-school while working full-time, and then having a moment of decision where he knew that he was going to start his own company.

When Vince began a business with his two partners, they turned $35,000 in their first year. Over the years, he and his team weathered the storms of two recessions and they grew the company to a whopping $100,000,000. Be sure to tune in, to find out more!

Vince is a great entrepreneur and a wonderful family man! Today, you will hear him talk about the things that really matter, like curiosity, mindset, vision, leading with your heart, and being of service to others. This kind of wisdom is very valuable, not only when applied to a business, but also in the way we build our families and friendships, and how we live our lives in general. Listen in today, to hear Vince sharing his wisdom and insights for living a successful and fulfilling life!

Show Highlights:

• Vince talks about his life growing up, going to high school, and going to college.
• In 1975, when Vince was 20 years old, he started working for Philadelphia Resins. He worked in their Phillystran division, and there, he was introduced to Kevlar before it even had a name.
• Something clicked for Vince when he was first introduced to Kevlar.
• Between 1975 and 1983, Vince gained invaluable experience working for Philadelphia Resins. He eventually became the general manager of the company.
• While working at Philadelphia Resins, Vince also attended night school. He would learn something at night school and then go into work the next day and put it directly into practice.
• Failure is part of life, so you have to experience failure before you find success.
• Vince talks about the best leader that he ever studied under. He taught Vince the human side of what works in business.
• At 26-years old, Vince was running the company he worked for. He found this very challenging because he lacked the educational background.
• Doing some incredible problem-solving for a Dutch company earned Vince a fantastic job.
• Vince talks about the birth, and the first five years, of his company, Fiber-Line.
• Treating people right is the key to success.
• The start of the fiber optics cable market was something big for Vince.
• Throughout the 1990s, Fiber-Line grew 30-40% every year.
• Vince shares his philosophy about profit-sharing with his employees.
• Aligning the goals of the employees with those of the company creates a win-win situation for everyone.
• Empathy is a key component to success. Always treat other people in the way that you would like to be treated.
• Although Vince and his partners recently sold Fiber-Line to a private equity company, they have still retained 30% of the business.
• Vince distills his years of experience into three valuable lessons.
• Internal confidence is the difference between failure and success.

Vince Pappas shares his personal story on Facebook