Entrepreneurs: Another Myth-Killing Role Model
by Miki Saxon
Myth: innovation is the province of the young.
Myth: old companies don’t innovate.
Myth: successful startups IPO.
Myth: billionaire founders live loud.
Oops. Chester Pipkin, founder, chief executive and chairman of Belkin International, blows up all these myths.
Pipkin started his company in the 1980s in his parents garage and the innovation has never stopped — from the earliest days of computing to today’s Internet of things and on to tomorrow.
The company capitalized on the early explosion in personal computing, selling devices that connected computers to printers. Through the years the company has kept pace if not stayed ahead of the changing tech landscape. In 2014, Fast Co. named Belkin one of the 10 most innovative companies specializing in the “Internet of things” thanks to its Wemo line of Internet-connected home accessories.
Belkin is still private, has 1300 employees, a billion in sales and Pipkin keeps a very low profile.
He’s low on ego and high on hands-on philanthropy, as opposed to just writing checks.
Definitely a role model for all times.
Image credit: Belkin
