The way Telly Kuo (郭特利), Asia-Pacific general manager of Taiwan’s top projector vendor Optoma Corp (奧圖碼), worked up the professional ladder lends support to the time-honored theory that hard work, enterprise and perseverance are the keys to success.
“Everyone can copy my example,” but very few can rival the achievements of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀), Kuo said.
Born to a fish vendor in Taichung County (now Greater Taichung), Kuo currently steers a sales force of 200 — up from the 20 who were in place when he took his position in January 2003.
Photo: COURTESY OF OPTOMA CORPORATION
His leadership has helped Optoma, a subsidiary of Jhunan Township (竹南), Miaoli County-based Coretronic (中強光電), grow from being a tiny projector maker based in New Taipei City (新北市) into the world’s largest projector supplier using Digital Light Processing (DLP) technology.
Shipments are set to rise 20 percent this year from the more than 700,000 units that were pumped out last year as rapid growth in emerging Asian markets helps offset weakening demand in the US and Europe, say industry forecasts.
Optoma’s revenue totaled NT$3 billion (US$100.6 million) for the first five months of this year, up 7.1 percent from the same period last year, aided partly by government spending to digitize educational facilities in Southeast Asia, Kuo said.
“A task-driven person, I draw up a list of goals in the beginning of a year for myself, develop implementation steps and stick by them until the undertakings bear fruit,” he said.
The 45-year-old has kept to the practice for more than 20 years, despite a few vocational setbacks. With a bachelor’s degree in transportation engineering, Kuo was initially spurned in his attempt to find employment with a publishing company when he was 23.
The then-college graduate had added taekwondo as his special talent on his resume and told the publisher he had no professional knowledge, but was eager to learn.
The unassuming introduction meant he was laughed at and he was not offered the post.
“The publisher probably didn’t know it, but I was quite hurt by its rejection,” he said.
However, the same introduction helped Kuo stand out from other applicants during his interview with David Liao (廖聰賢), sales division chief for Sharp Electronic Components, Taiwan (夏普光電), who valued Kuo’s down-to-earth quality and willingness to learn above his lack of experience.
“I vowed to myself to emulate Liao, who rose to an executive position in his early 30s and worked at his own office,” Kuo said. “I believe people should aim high and endeavor persistently toward their goals.”
Work at Sharp Taiwan came at a time when the nation’s flat-panel industry was about to take off and enabled the rookie to get in contact with today’s technology big-hitters.
Kuo quit Sharp Taiwan nine months later to study for a master’s degree in business administration at St. John’s University in New York after hitting a bottleneck.
“I was totally at a loss when asked to account for the graduate study and future career plans,” he said. “From then on, I decided to plan for everything I do.”
He earned his master’s degree in 15 months and joined Royal Philips Electronics NV’s operations in Taiwan the day he returned.
Kuo worked at Philips for seven years, earning six promotions as a result of which he was heading three departments at the same time.
His high-caliber performance did not go unnoticed, and Coretronic Group invited him to help get their Optoma range onto the world stage.
Kuo was made the company’s regional chief the next year — at the age of 36 — in line with his aspiration to become a senior corporate executive.
Optoma turned profitable in 2006 with sales soaring threefold in three years after it was established and jumping twofold in the following two years, Kuo said.
“In my philosophy, nothing is impossible; for every problem, there is a solution,” he said. “All I need to do is keep searching and adopt healthy doses of humor and optimism to shrug off frustration along the way.”
To build up perseverance, Kuo starts his day jogging while prioritizing his schedule in his mind. Colleagues look at Kuo as an aggressive and persistent supervisor who is ready to delegate.
Ryan Chen (陳建宏), deputy director of customer service, said his 50-member team stay on duty 365 days a year to deliver the company’s 48-hour repair guarantee.
For the past decade, Optoma has won innovation and excellence awards in Taiwan and abroad and has gained recognition as one of the fastest-growing Taiwanese technology firms in terms of both revenue and profitability.
Sally Chou (周筱敏), manager of the brand and marketing divisions, who quit Taiwan Life Insurance Co (台灣人壽) to join Optoma in April, said she has more liberty and room to exercise her professional judgement at the firm, thanks to Kuo’s trust and delegation.
Looking ahead, Kuo aims to boost Optoma’s profitability by pushing advanced projectors made with the latest technologies for use in business and educational facilities as well as home theaters.
Meanwhile, the company is to strengthen value-added vertical integration and innovative projection and display solutions and other services that generate greater profits than hardware sales, Kuo said.
“I hope my colleagues can all enjoy their work and benefit from the company’s growth — financially and professionally — as I have,” said Kuo, who now lives in a large luxury apartment in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義).
The company’s shareholders on May 30 approved plans to distribute NT$2 per share in cash dividends this year based on a net income of NT$218.98 million last year, higher than NT$2.11 per share payout in 2010, its stock filing showed.
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