THIS IS PART 1 of 2: This episode is about business, and how David built and is continuing to build his businesses. David Hsu is an unapologetic capitalist who believes in free market forces which basically state that if your product or service is less-valuable than a competitor then the market will deal with you. In this first part (of two) we discuss how to bring a product to market, design patents, EBITDA, the four F’s of raising money, and David offers two things you must understand if you’re building a business.

  Modern Automotive Performance is a unique performance parts distributor that focuses on Mitsubishi EVO, DSM, Subaru, and Ford Ecoboost Mustang (among others). With 38 employees, the operation is relatively large. Chris tells the story of how he started with car stereo, and then graduated to performance work. His business was largely focused on custom performance tuning and has since cut that business segment to focus on the company’s strengths; engine building and parts retailing. We discussed three things that make his business unique and about their competitive advantage. This episode has really great insight into how to hire and...

  Martin Musial is the President of AMS and Alpha Performance Products. His company builds hard parts and complete platform installations for Nissan GTR and European vehicles such as BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche among others. But did you know that he started by designing camshafts for a Merkur x4ti? Martin tells his entrepreneurial story from disassembling his family’s thermostat as a kid, to designing camshafts the hard way. Martin shares what makes him tick and his philosophy on life and the performance business.

Jay Meagher created an online performance retailer by working elbow-to-elbow with his team. He took a $17,000 line of credit and jumped in head-first with no option but to succeed. Through years of struggle and heartache Jay never quit. He persevered and assembled a team to innovate in the online performance retail space. From working through stress related chest pains, to making the decision to give up his comfortable life and become an entrepreneur Jay tells the story of what it takes to create and maintain a modern high-performance retail business.

Chris Harris owns Xenocron.com, a company offering online retail, wholesale and dyno tuning services out of Hillburn, NY. He built momentum for himself being a contributing member of PGMFI.org and “chipping” ECU’s for next to nothing. Soon everyone was asking for his services. He’s grown his hobby into a business that supplies customers all over the world.