Jack Holt: Entrepreneur Meister

Interview with Jack Holt, CEO of S3 Matching Technologies

Entrepreneur Meister is a column that focuses on the lives and ventures of entrepreneurs. We take a close look at the entrepreneurs behind the vision, strategy, passion and action in ventures across all sectors.

Written by Damir Perge, edited by Jana Arnold, Entrepreneurdex

Would you tattoo your company logo on your body? I'm not a tattoo sort of a guy but I do appreciate entrepreneurs who're committed to their company and their vision. Jack Holt, CEO of S3 Matching Technologies, is the ultimate bootstrap entrepreneur and he has a tattoo to prove it. S3 is based out of Austin, Texas and if you want to learn and understand the art of bootstrapping, making your company more efficient, and doing it successfully, Jack's your Entrepreneur Meister.

As Jack talked, the sound of what America is all about resonated in his voice. The great American entrepreneur spirit, despite the current Great Recession, continues to march on at S3, proving once again that it is the entrepreneur economy that has made America.

S3 provides custom business-to-business software solutions in a very cool way, by ironically applying the Japanese manufacturing principles from Toyota. Personally, I have been a student and disciple of the Toyota Production System (TPS) for more than ten years. To explain TPS in quick summary serves it no justice. The genius behind TPS is Taiichi Ohno and his sidekick Shigeo Shingo. They revolutionized manufacturing in the 20th century by introducing Just-in-Time manufacturing. Today, Toyota is one of the most powerful manufacturers and corporations in the world. Now, the same principles are applied at S3.

Henry Ford brought us mass production in the early part of the last century but it was Taaichi Ohno and Shigeo Shingo that took his mass production concept and evolved it into a Just-in-Time manufacturing ecosystem. In my opinion, the TPS method is one of the most revolutionary business ideas ever invented. In simple terms, the objective of TPS is to eliminate all waste from as many manufacturing and business processes as possible. Recently, Starbucks became a disciple of the TPS, where they are working to eliminate wasteful practices in their retail stores.¹ If you understand TPS and read the Starbucks article in the Wall Street Journal, you realize Starbucks has a long way to go but at least they're trying.

TPS is a process, a journey and a continuous improvement toward manufacturing perfection and Jack knows and understands it well. Every entrepreneur faces a crisis at one time or another in their journey and S3 was no exception. You may not believe this but during the 1950's Toyota nearly went bankrupt. Taaichi Ohno, Vice President of Toyota at the time, invented TPS to get them out of the hole.

In Toyota, there is a saying: 'The true cost is only the size of a plum seed'. The trouble with most managers is that they have a penchant for bloating the plum seed into a grapefruit. They then shave off some unevenness.

- Translated by David J. Lu, Kanban, Just-in-Time At Toyota