About Mike:

At the young age of twenty-four, Mike began working in the electronics industry at an electronic assembly equipment manufacturer. During his tenure at the company, he pitched an idea for a novel product. Mike’s employer was not interested.

Not wanting to take no for an answer, Mike developed this product in his spare time out of his garage, eventually selling the rights to the product to his employer.

Once again, Mike had another idea and once again, pitched it to his employer. Again, his employer was not interested. This time, Mike would develop the product and start his own company. 

Up to that point, Mike had little desire to become an entrepreneur, but his passion for the product convinced him it was the only way to get the product to market. At the age of thirty-one, Mike officially began his new business and became, reluctantly, an entrepreneur.

Mike has become a well-known and respected member of the industry he serves. Mike serves on the Board of Directors for his industry’s trade association, and travels worldwide giving speeches and presentations on industry best practices, reliability, and environmental responsibility at trade associations, conferences, symposiums, as well as at government agencies including NASA, and numerous other government and private entities. 

Mike has been honored with Distinguished Speaker status by his industry’s trade association. Mike teaches courses at major industry events on methods to improve the reliability of electronics. Mike also speaks at major universities about entrepreneurship.

Mike was elected to the Global Board of Directors for the Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA) where he is Vice President of Communications. Mike is also the Conference Chair for the Pan Pacific Strategic Electronics Symposium (PanPac), an annual conference held in Hawaii.

Mike has written numerous technical papers, articles, and columns published at technical conferences and industry publications. 

Mike produces technical workshops attended by audiences worldwide and is the host of the popular Reliability Matters Podcast. 

Mike has appeared on numerous business-related podcasts, sharing his experience in business, marketing, and entrepreneurship and is the host of The Reluctant Entrepreneur Podcast.