Costco Connection - September 2008

our reputation by offering a quality product
and things like an additional warranty over
competitors and a call center. Coming from
the computer industry, customer service is a
natural to me—in fact, tech support was my
first job [see “The road to Vizio”]. But many
TV companies don’t even offer tech support.
Today, six out of 10 Americans know us.
Two years ago, it was probably zero. If the
product has value for the consumer, the con-
sumer is going to love us.

William Wang’s Vizio: Aspirations to become the next Sony.

innovation, reputation and consumer satisfaction in many areas. We’d like to gain the same respect in 10 years.

It’s not just revenue. The biggest measurement we have is how many customers love us. I measure that as more important than revenue. To achieve that, the product must be good, and the product must be affordable. We want to offer customers a better product at a more affordable price.

CC: What’s the biggest challenge in managing a fast-growing company? WW: The biggest challenge is time. To have a really good, strong enterprise, you have to have a really mature team. A strong working relationship is the foundation of a good company. This takes time. That’s the biggest challenge.

CC: What can you reveal about future products?

WW: The TV is a great way for us to build a brand, but we’re not going to stay just in TV. It just happens to be our first product.

Today, with the computing power we have and the kind of connectivity we have, there’s a lot more we’re looking for. I personally believe, and the rest of my company believes, that we can really benefit the customer’s life more by coming up with more new technology at an affordable price. We’re working on quite a few things.

SUSAN WERNER

panies don’t have this discipline.

The other critical component is a strong management team.

CC: You’ve seen booms and busts in companies firsthand in your business career. What lessons from those apply today to Vizio? WW: Yes, there’s a lot you can learn from the past. First of all, be patient. Second, don’t try to be something you are not. We have to focus on the fundamentals and what we’re good at. It’s important not to lose that. And it’s essential to have a strong team.

CC: What do you see as your role in all of this? WW: The CEO wears a lot of hats. The CEO has to provide a dream—an achievable dream—to all the powers and to our customers. That’s the number-one hat—to provide that vision.

CC: How do you overcome skepticism among consumers that low price means cheap quality? WW: It’s very hard. It takes time. Nobody can build brand recognition overnight. We build

CC: What’s your vision for the future
of Vizio?
WW: I’ve told a lot of people that we want
to be the next Sony. I think we can provide
value through technology in today’s com-
puting age. Sony is a company known for its

CC: What do you like to do away from work? WW: I like to spend time with my family. I also love to watch movies. And golf. But mostly spend time with my family. C

The road to Vizio

W I LLIAM WANG was born and r aised in Taiwan and at age 1 4 came to California, where h e became a U.S. citizen. After graduating from the University of Southern California in engineering, he started his career in tech support. At age 26, he launched a company called MAG Innovision to build computer monitors. The company grew to $600 million in annual revenue in six years, then ran into financial problems, and Wang ended up selling it to its manufacturer. “Operations-wise, we spent too much money and I didn’t have the right people in

place,” recalls Wang, now 44.

He then started another PC monitor company, Princeton Graphic Systems. It was struggling financially in November 2000 when Wang traveled to Asia to lobby creditors to keep supporting the business.

Shortly after the plane crash, Wang closed Princeton Graphics. A year later, he was approached by Gateway, which had been a customer of MAG Innovision, to develop an HDTV plan for Gateway’s retail stores. Wang helped draft a plan for a line of Gateway HDTVs.

Gateway later dropped plans to sell HDTVs, but Wang sensed a new business opportunity: bringing affordable HDTVs to the market. Using his lessons and contacts from the computer industry, Wang launched Vizio in 2003 with two employees and $600,000 borrowed from parents, friends and the mortgage on his house. By 2007, revenue was nearly $2 billion, with the company shipping 2. 6 million LCD sets, second only to Samsung, according to research firm IDC.