Pillars of Success

In 1987, the publishing company where I worked was taken private in a leveraged buyout. The new owners promised us that quality was a top priority and then promptly fired all the quality control folks. It was my first (but not last) experience learning the truth of the adage, “actions speak louder than words.”

Years later I interviewed a CEO who told me that if management was truly committed to building a quality product, the employees would not fail to build a quality product. “It comes from the top,” he said. “It means you put in place the procedures and the people to make that happen.”

You’ll see an example of that commitment to quality when you read our interview with John Bailey, vice president of marketing and product management at EOTECH (see page TK). An unrelenting focus on product quality ensures that EOTECH’s expanding product line meets the exacting standards set by the company’s design and manufacturing teams.

EOTECH produces high-grade optics for the law-enforcement community, special-operations professionals, and civilian consumers. Best known for its Holographic Weapon Sights (HWS), in 2016 EOTECH expanded its optics line by introducing the Vudu line of premium magnified optics. The manufacturer also has a footprint in night vison and thermal imaging products and recently branched out into LED pistol-sight optics.

It is a world-class organization. When I asked him how the company achieved this distinction, he said that holography had been around for decades, but it took a handful of brilliant individuals and technology working together to advance holography as a firearm optic.

“At that time, EOTECH wasn’t a brand and had no identity, so we licensed the product to Bushnell as the HOLOsight,” he said. “With Bushnell’s help, we achieved commercial recognition and the attention of USSOCOM [United States Special Operations Command].  We eventually became the standard CQB optic for all U.S. Special Forces, DEA, FBI, and military groups around the world.”

The credibility EOTECH gained during this time helped EOTECH grow into an optics powerhouse. Over the years I’ve seen such powerhouses collapse because success bred complacency to the point where a company failed to keep up with market developments.

Not EOTECH. Though committed to holographic sights, the company recently ventured into the LED pistol-sight market with the EFLX red-dot sight.

“We are a holographic company,” Bailey told me, “but it was hard to watch the evolution of optics-ready pistols take place without being involved. We would have loved to introduce a holographic pistol sight, but the ability to scale this technology down that small is still out of reach. The next best thing was to design and develop our own LED-based pistol sight instead.”

That flexibility and ability to pivot product development to meet new consumer demands is the sign of an innovative, well-run company. But there is something else at work here as well.

Bailey notes that EOTECH is proud of its ability to design and build advanced optical technology for firearms “that will improve their performance, whether it’s hunting, competition, home defense, or protecting the community or country. It also means that they can depend on these products.”

Performance and dependability. Now those are rock-solid pillars on which to build a successful business.