The Amazing Bill Geissele
Few people understand just how large America’s firearms industry is. It is a $50 Billion a year business employing hundreds of thousands of people both here and abroad. It is also an industry that has embraced modern technology and is a constant source of innovation and entrepreneurship. Our military benefits enormously from that creativity and there is no doubt that America’s warfighters are today armed with the finest infantry weapons and accessories in the world. That is in in large part because of remarkable civilian engineers and manufacturers like Bill Geissele.
About 25 years ago, Bill began a small business improving (and eventually manufacturing) match triggers for target rifles. Today, Geissele Automatics is a hugely successful operation in North Wales, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. It has spun off two related companies, ALG Defense and Abraham and Moses, bearing the initials and names of Bill's wife and children. Bill Geissele is the quintessential, hard-working blue-collar “Joe” and the living embodiment of the American Dream. He is folksy, funny, passionate, intensely patriotic, deeply religious and fanatical about the quality and longevity of anything that leaves his shop. Bill is also a risk-taking businessman and incredible leader that treats all of the people that work for him like valued colleagues, not as employees. That is another reason he has become so successful.
When Christmas rolls around, most people anxiously await the arrival of Santa Claus. I look forward to January and the arrival of the wise men: Balthasar, Melchior, Gaspar…..and Bill Geissele bearing his new products video for the annual Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trades (SHOT) show. LinkedIn users don’t need to care for guns to learn from Bill Geissele. His low-budget marketing video is brilliant in its simplicity, descriptive information, and his personal interaction with customers. There are so many marketing and leadership nuggets in this video that I am hard pressed to list them all. So instead I wrote this article to share it with you. Enjoy.