Fired From Seagate, Bridgeulx New CEO’s Arrogance Won’t Make Him Many Friends in Lighting. 

“When man is pushed, tormented, defeated, he has a chance to learn something; he has been put on his wits, on his manhood, he has gained facts, learned his ignorance, is cured of the insanity of conceit, has got moderation and real skill.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

The above quote is typically what your humble editor will send to someone who gets terminated or demoted in our industry. Bill Watkins, the new CEO of Bridgelux, could learn from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

In an interview with the San Jose Mercury News, Watkins declared that “When I thought about what I wanted to do ….it's not like I need money."  This infers that all of us other schmucks in the lighting industry may be working for a paycheck, but Mr. Watkins is so brilliant and successful, money doesn’t matter.  

It gets worse.  In the interview, for some reason, Mr. Watkins feels compelled to bring up his childhood.  According to the article, when Watkins was a child, his father came to regret coaching his Little League team because his son was so intent on winning.  "My father refused to ever coach me again," Watkins said. "I would be mad because I'd want the lousy players benched, and he thought every kid should have the chance to play."    Mr. Watkins is so intelligent that he had a keen sense of talent at a very early age.  He also had a great sense of the importance of winning at any cost—people not quite as talented, be damned.  Your humble editor had the pleasure of coaching teams for both my son and daughter.  We were quite competitive, yet I knew the real reason we were out there, and I also wanted the less athletic player to have a meaningful experience too.  It is interesting that Mr. Watkins tells this story from the perspective of his childhood.  I wonder if he ever took the time to coach Little League as an adult. 

Next he attacked those of us who have brought the industry to where it is today.  "You have this perfect storm of incumbents who have owned the market, and then this disruptive technology — and the disruptive guys are coming after the incumbents to rip their hearts out."

Does Mr. Watkins speak for all companies that have disruptive technologies?  There are many companies with new and unique, and, yes, disruptive technology.  Some are working within traditional channels, some are not. Many are doing both. But none have publicly stated that they wish to rip the incumbent’s hearts out.

Who are the incumbents he wishes to attack?  Are they competitors like CREE, Nexxus, and Lighting Sciences?  Are they conglomerates like GE, Philips, and SYLVANIA?  Are they Luminaire manufacturers like Acuity Brands, Hubbell, and Cooper? Are they electrical distributors like Graybar and CED?  Are they ESCO’s like Stones River Companies?  Perhaps he is referring to the merged companies of Amtech and Sylvania Lighting Services.  Whose heart does he wish to rip out?

Fortunately, our humble industry is a little different than storage area from which he reigns. Like it or not, people matter and relationships will open or close doors.

Perhaps Bridgelux will have brilliant award-winning technology.   The problem is that those awards are chosen by industry peers.  If Bridgelux plans to submit to the 2010 LIGHTFAIR Innovation Awards, Mr. Watkins may be interested to know the selection is made by a committee of lighting professionals.  Perhaps he plans to submit to the 2010 IES Annual Conference in Toronto—he’ll have to get his products past the Progress Committee.  Maybe he has his eye set on the Edison Awards, from GE.  Unfortunately, GE is one of those pesky incumbents, which he loathes.

The article talks of a $40 LED lamp in a hardware store TODAY and Mr. Watkins says," At the end of this year, we'll see a $10 bulb."  Really!   Not even Jim Brodrick, of the DOE, forecasts at $10 bulb this year. 

At the end of the article, the CEO of VantagePoint Venture Partners, who lured Mr. Watkins to Bridgelux, states,  “Watkins has the skills and the energy to make Bridgelux a major player.”  He may have the skills and the energy, but as I read the Mercury News article, he doesn’t have the disposition. 

He should have listened to his father.