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.

  All the way from New Zealand! Andre Simon and Ben Silcock are partners in HP Academy, a company that offers web-based EFI tuning instruction. They’ve created a unique approach that breaks each class into modules so the user can quickly reference back to just the topic they want. This approach is basically topic on demand which makes it very usable. In this episode we discuss drag racing, tuning, knock monitoring devices, and these two offer some great resources that they’ve found valuable.   HPA High Performance Academy

  Dave Arce is one of the nicest and most honest guys that I’ve had the pleasure of talking with. In this episode I had the chance to talk with Dave about his upbringing, and how he started his career in engine building. Dave shares a deeply personal story that affected his life and his business, and his story has a positive ending! Dave and I talk about carburetors (what!?) and the future of fuel injection in circle-track racing. And don’t worry, we also geek out about cylinder head finish and engine machining!

  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...

  Scott McIver owns Kaizen Tuning, (Kaizen, what a killer name right!?) in Boxborough, Mass. His company specializes in GTR and EVO X and services a full list of other cars as well. We talked about what it looked like for Scott to create and grow Kaizen Tuning and how he went from the family business into the performance tuning business. Scott is fired up about one particular strategy that’s creating great returns. Be sure to listen all the way to the end where Scott tells about the strategy he’s using to create new customers.