“To start a high-tech venture, the primary asset is firstly to have excellent technical training.”
Excellent training is important before starting a business, it gives a strong base of knowledge and skills. It helps you understand the ins and outs of the industry you are entering. A well-trained leader can overcome the difficulties of the business world, with smarter decisions setting the organization apart from others.
Guy Ferraro, CEO of NPC SYSTEM, stands as a prime example of a leader who dedicated years to improving his expertise before venturing into entrepreneurship. After years of hard work, he not only gained valuable experience but also acquired key businesses within the company. Ferraro’s expertise played a vital role in expanding his business globally.
Path to Success
Various factors influenced Ferraro’s decision to start his own business. During his engineering in the US, he developed a passion for communication protocols, especially satellite communications.
In 2009, he secured a position at ALSTOM, a company he worked with for ten years, specializing in developing and installing satellite tracking systems. Throughout this period, he gained insights into the product it was commercializing, and client management. The use of a reliable product developed in the early days of satellite communications, combined with trusted technology from prominent companies, served as the driving force behind Ferraro’s decision to initiate his business adventure.
Ferraro founded NPC SYSTEM in 2018 and serves as a CEO, guiding the company with his experience in construction, technology, and his back ground in high tech product engineering. . His career shows his willingness to learn, adapt, and aim for excellence.
Employee Bid for Business Acquisition
NPC SYSTEM was founded in July 2018 while Ferraro was still an employee of GE Renewable Energy. GE announced a downsizing plan in June 2017, and at that moment, he requested permission from the company to submit a bid to acquire three businesses. He had to develop a business plan for these three businesses for 3 to 5 years to obtain funding for the acquisition.
The following are the businesses acquired by NPC SYSTEM:
- Business One: Satellite Tracking Systems:
The company is expanding the team. It makes satellite tracking systems with in-house products. These systems compete with others on the market. The company’s solution works well on new and existing systems without changes. It has expertise, especially in the Current systems.
- Business Two: Marine Activity – Steam Regulation Systems:
The company makes and sells systems that regulate steam for control systems on different French Navy ships, including four nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines and the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.
- Business Three: Power Plant Regulation Systems:
The company works on making and selling systems that control how power plants run in places like Guyana, Martinique, and Corsica. It might end in 3 to 5 years when new, more eco-friendly energy plants take over from the old ones.
A Legacy of Success
When Ferraro established NPC SYSTEM, the initial challenge was ensuring continuous service for existing customers. Convincing these long-standing clients was crucial.
This required encouragement to prove to clients that a recently formed company including only four team members, could successfully adopt the responsibilities that were previously managed by ALSTOM/GE. Achieving validation and trust from these clients became the first milestone for him before moving forward with the company’s development. It received a positive response from long-standing customers, who rebuilt their trust and awarded NPC SYSTEM with additional renovation projects.
Factors that make Products/Services Exceptional
Ferraro points out three things that make the NPC SYSTEM’s products/services different from others:
Strong leadership like Ferraro’s is essential for making products/services stand out. Leaders inspire innovation, guide teams to identify unique features, and adopt a culture of excellence. They steer the organization toward strategic differentiation, creating a competitive edge in the market.
Adaptive Leadership
Ferraro, a successful business leader, says he has not faced big failures with NPC SYSTEM. His main challenges are handling the growth of the team, including technicians and engineers, while keeping the company profitable. The hardest part is making sure the company grows slowly and in a controlled way.
Thinking about leadership lessons, he highlights that, even with financial challenges in managing a technical business, it is important not to focus only on money. He mentions that although making a profit is important when starting a company, his true passion for the product, the aerospace industry, and satellites has been a strong motivation since his school days. The quality of clients he worked with at ALSTOM/GE also influenced how he sees things.
Ferraro underlines that his decisions impacting the company extend beyond financial improvement. He values how the company can benefit in the medium and long term from his choices regarding products, clients, talents, or organizational procedures. The crucial lesson he learned is not to let financial thoughts guide his decisions for NPC SYSTEM.
Before leading the company, Ferraro spent more time being led, and he sees this as an advantage. It helps him identify unproductive ways of managing and avoiding mistakes he has seen before. He does not set strict rules for what a modern CEO should be but focuses on specific things at NPC SYSTEM.
Ferraro thinks the working environment is crucial for employee productivity. He learned this during his time at National Instruments, a tech company in Texas. While working there, he witnessed how focusing on creating adequate conditions can help employees grow professionally. In his role at NPC SYSTEM, he is working on building a good reputation as an employer and attracting new talent. He wants to maintain the expertise of the company.
From Role Model to Success
Inspiration is essential for leaders because it sparks motivation, fuels innovation, and strengthens teamwork. Ferraro identifies his father as his role model, a technical director at a French nuclear research center. Looking back on his tenure as CEO, particularly during important moments, he often envisions his father’s approach and decisions in similar situations. He learned to think about things, take a break, and ask different people for opinions from his dad. He respects his dad for being a significant inspiration for him and also misses his father.
Beyond the Office Walls
Spending time with family is important for building strong relationships, offering emotional support, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance. It reduces stress, creates unforgettable memories, and contributes to overall well-being. From Ferraro’s point of view, looking back at the start of his business journey, the question of balancing work and life was important. During that time, the team was just four people, and there were many tasks to handle, like managing money, understanding business rules, and making the business plan work.
Managing personal and work life was challenging. He agrees with the saying that behind a successful man is a supportive woman, and he is thankful for his wife’s support from the beginning. Even with challenges, he made time for his family, especially because they all enjoy winter sports, particularly skiing. He remembers skiing on weekends and holidays when his kids were younger. Now, he and his wife still enjoy skiing in winter and doing water sports like kitesurfing and wing foiling in the summer. Taking regular vacations with his wife, focused on their shared love for sports, makes Ferraro feel comfortable.
Leadership Projections
Ferraro thinks that business leaders, especially in a tech-focused society, face a big challenge. According to him, the main problem is figuring out how to use artificial intelligence in everyday business tasks and development processes. His company is currently exploring how AI could help in areas like development, product management, project management, and dealing with clients.
Discussing the primary work of upgrading satellite tracking systems on current antennas, Ferraro points out a major advantage—the skills of the team. He gained this experience through years on the job and handling various situations. Whether it is checking out sites before a project or putting in systems during renovations, his understanding keeps getting better. He points out that including artificial intelligence in the business is currently challenging due to the human judgment and understanding required for these tasks.
Crafting Your Future
Ferraro advises starting a high-tech business after getting good technical training. He recommends seizing the opportunity when everything falls into place: loving the industry, having a passion for the product, and recognizing the business potential. Encouraging young entrepreneurs, he advises them to trust their instincts and take the leap if they get the chance to understand and enhance their business potential over time.
