Working Smart and Working Hard
AvantGuardTM is creating innovative solutions that manage surfaces and provide long-term protection against viruses, bacteria, and fungi/ mould, in a variety of applications. The company’s proprietary combinations of specialty molecules and polymers are customized to provide prolonged antimicrobial efficacy to a wide range of surfaces and materials. Here’s a little more about the company and its CEO, Ted Eveleth as he is crowned Most Influential Chemical Manufacturing CEO 2023 – USA.
AvantGuard is a start-up company specializing in the development of innovative solutions to manage surfaces and provide long-term protection against viruses, bacteria, fungi and mold. The company achieves this by combining specialty molecules and polymers that are customized to provide prolonged antimicrobial efficacy to a wide range of surfaces and materials.
The company is led by CEO, Ted Eveleth, a seasoned entrepreneur with over 20 years of executive experience in start-up companies spanning a broad range of technologies, including medical devices, life science molecular tools, waste heat to energy conversion, new materials, and MEMS devices. In addition to his position at AvantGuard, he has held key leadership positions at Cyclics, Veratag, Ener-G-Rotors, HocusLocus, and Z Lens. Ted has raised over $50 million in venture and private equity, $14 million in grants from the NIH, NSF, and others, and $70 million in project financing.
As the CEO of a start-up company, Ted creates the vision for AvantGuard, aligns the technology with market needs, and then executes a plan to realize that vision. His primary responsibilities at AvantGuard, as he sees them, include telling the AvantGuard story, negotiating investment and commercial deals, and managing technical and commercial risk.
Ted’s core values of working smart and working hard align with AvantGuard’s vision of making the world a better place while making a profit. As an experienced entrepreneur, he understands the importance of staying grounded and not letting biases cloud decision-making in a start-up environment, where there can be a lot of uncertainty and risk.
Ted’s leadership and strategic vision are essential to AvantGuard’s success in delivering innovative solutions that improve the safety and well-being of people and the environment. Ted’s management style is characterized by a focus on innovation, customer-centricity, and data-driven decision-making, all of which are informed by the ideas of two significant figures in the field of management: Peter Drucker and W. Edwards Deming.
Peter Drucker is widely regarded as the “father of modern management”, and his ideas and writings have profoundly influenced Ted’s approach to leadership. Drucker emphasised the importance of being customer-focused, innovative, and results-driven, and his writings have provided Ted with a framework for developing and executing strategic plans.
W. Edwards Deming, a statistician and quality control expert, is known for his work in improving manufacturing processes in post-war Japan. His approach emphasises the use of data to drive decision-making and the importance of creating a culture of continuous improvement. Deming’s philosophy of driving out fear in the organization and creating an environment where people are not afraid to speak up or fail aligns with Ted’s belief that innovation requires a willingness to take risks and learn from mistakes.
Ted is quick to recognize the critical role his employees play in AvantGuard’s success and believes that a CEO is only as good as the team. He believes that the days of individual geniuses like Edison are long gone and knows that innovation and development require a team of diverse, talented individuals, working together, to solve problems.
His emphasis on teamwork and the importance of each team member is reflected in his analogy of a sports team. Each goal or score in a game is critical to winning, there is no “winning” goal or score, they all contribute to the win, just as every team member is essential to achieving success.
As an experienced leader, Ted knows that actions, not just words, create company culture. Rather than discussing culture or trying to develop a cult of personality, Ted and his team focus on making good decisions and taking actions that align with their values and their vision. In doing so, they create a culture of excellence and teamwork that drives the company’s success.
Ted’s recognition of the importance of teamwork and his focus on actions over words have been critical to AvantGuard’s success. By prioritizing collaboration and data driven decision making, Ted and his team continue to innovate and develop solutions that positively impact the world.
Company: AvantGuard, Inc.
Name: Ted Eveleth Email: hello@avantguardinc.com
Web Address: avantguardinc.com
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