The third time’s a charm for William Wang, chief executive of Irvine’s Vizio Inc.
Wang, an immigrant from Taiwan, has lived the classic rags to riches tale.
His first two technology ventures landed him in financial trouble and ended badly.
But in 2000, Wang walked away from a tragic plane crash in Taiwan that changed his life and his luck.
His third venture Vizio, which sells flat TVs, has seen big growth.
Vizio saw about $2 billion in sales last year and was dubbed the fastest-growing maker of TVs, spurred by strong demand and sales through national retailers.
The company more than tripled its space in a move last year from Costa Mesa to Irvine and counts more than 100 workers.
Wang was one of five executives honored at the Excellence in Entrepreneurship awards put on by the Business Journal in Irvine last week.
Vizio sells low-priced, liquid-crystal display and plasma screen TVs through retailers such as Costco Wholesale Corp., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Sears Holdings Corp.
The TVs, which are made in Asia, can sell for at least $500 less than those made by big-name rivals Samsung Corp., Royal Philips Electronics NV and Sony Corp.
During the second quarter of 2007, Vizio was the top seller of TVs in North America, with 14% of the market.
It’s since slipped to No. 3,still an impressive ranking for a company that’s only been around for a few years.
Wang, who was traveling in Asia last week, champions the “couch potatoes” of the world,Vizio’s target customer,for pushing the company’s growth.
“At the time when he launched Vizio it seemed like only millionaires could afford flat-panel TVs,” spokesman Jim Noyd said. “His mission was to make the flat-panel TV affordable.”
Wang is a hands-off executive, Noyd said, except when it comes to design.
“He has always approached the product from how the consumer looks at it, versus how a factory might produce it,” he said. “He has the TVs designed based on how it can be used by the consumer most successfully.”
Vizio recently released an extra-slim line of TVs called “black tie” that features video game ports and a sleek exterior.
Simple Model
The company’s business model is simple: It skips the features typical buyers never use, according to Jeff Schindler, Vizio’s vice president of marketing and operations.
Take cable TV tuner cards. Vizio leaves them out after finding most buyers instead rely on cable or satellite set-top boxes.
“We thought it was burdening the system to include them,” Schindler said.
The company keeps things lean by outsourcing all but marketing and customer service, which is done in Irvine.
Vizio’s strategy echoes that of an earlier venture of Wang’s.
Before starting Vizio, he was behind local computer monitor companies Mag InnoVision Co. and Princeton Digital Corp.
He started Mag InnoVision at age 26 with about $350,000 in loans from family and friends and an investor in Asia.
“I thought I could build a better computer monitor than the IBM standard,” Wang told Inc.com last year. “So I started a company, just like that. I was fearless, young and foolish.”
He took some hits after making tons of money riding the technology boom. The company started struggling as prices for PCs fell.
“We spent too much money and I didn’t have the right people in place,” Wang told Inc.com. “We lost a lot of money because I didn’t change.”
Taiwan’s Mag Technology Co., which made the monitors, bought the business from Wang in 1998.
Princeton Digital, his second venture, also had a rough go. The company tried doing custom video displays for slot machines, high-definition TVs and other devices. But none of them stuck.
“It was probably the most difficult time in my life,” Wang told Inc.com. “Financially, it was a disaster.”
Plane Crash
Another disaster changed Wang’s luck.
The captain of a Singapore Airlines flight Wang was on mistakenly took a runway that was under construction.
When the plane took off, it hit the construction equipment and blew up. The airplane literally broke in half. Roughly half of the passengers died. Wang was one of 96 who survived.
It was a life-changing event.
“All my headaches were suddenly gone,” Wang said. “I was still stuck with all these bad businesses. But I had a better attitude.”
He’s taken the positive outlook to Vizio.
“William has learned a lot of lessons about how to build a company fast and what can happen if you don’t pay attention,” Schindler said.
