Richard grew up in a small town of 200 people in Northern Indiana and made his way to Purdue University for a Mechanical Engineering degree. Vowing never to work in the Engineering field, the next 5 years of Richard's career were spent at Procter and Gamble as a Program Manager building out P&G's 2.0 million sq ft Research Facility in Cincinnati, OH. After finishing the project, boredom set in and Richard decided to quit P&G to enter the IT field. Not knowing how to spell "IT', the hiring manager for a local consulting company told Richard "I'll give you a chance. If you screw up, I'll just fire you". Richard took the bait and made the jump, much to the dismay of his P&G Directors. After 2 years "learning the consulting ropes", Richard made another jump and started his own IT consulting company.
Through the "high-flying" dotCom years, Richard's company merged, merged again, and eventually sold to a public company (who had just gone public) -- eventually being named Digital Lighthouse. "Digital Lighthouse had the vision right. Merging Brand Strategy, Creative, Technology and Operations into one go-to-market firm." However, they forgot one thing. "Execution". Richard left shortly after the sale to the Public entity to Co-Found Crown Partners with Mark Kennedy focused on including the "Execution" component.
Companies under Richard's leadership have gained national recognition for growth and innovation including: Inc. Magazine's "Inc500/5000" fastest growing private company for 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 (one of only 53 companies in America to wield this honor); Software Magazine's "Software 500" fastest growing private/public Software company for 2008, 2009 & 2010; Entrepreneur Magazine's "Hot 100" company for fastest growing emerging business for 2005 & 2006; and Dayton Business Journal's "Top 100" and "Top 25" fastest growing company in Dayton for 2008, 2009 & 2010.
Richard is a founding member of Crown Partners, and in his role as CEO and Managing Director is responsible for establishing organizational vision, setting the pace for innovative strategies, and overseeing the execution aspects of the business. His reputation for excellence in cross-functional organizational management, transformative business execution and driving gazelle-like growth have led to regular invitations to speak on topics of entrepreneurship, innovation and business growth.
Most recently Richard was recognized by the Dayton Business Journal as one of the Top ”40 under 40” for accomplishment and contribution to his community as well as recognized in 2007, 2008, & 2009 as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist. Richard has a Mechanical Engineering degree from Purdue University, a Masters in Business Administration from The Ohio State University, and is active on many civic, corporate and charity boards.
Oh, yea. Richard also semi-professionally raced Power Boats internationallyquitting the founding year of Crown. Here are some videos.
- 2000 Victory Lap: Richard and Team Mercury take 1,2,3
- 24hr Rouen: Promo Video - 200 Boats, 24hrs
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Richard's role model is Teddy Roosevelt and his favorite quote is
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
"Citizenship in a Republic", Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910
-- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President (1901-09), 1858-1919