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Rifle Scopes Leupold's New CEO

Re: Leupold's New CEO

Wow, I guess experiance as manager is more important than experiance with the product being sold. That seems to be the trend in corporate America these days, I also believe that is why corporate America is falling behind.
 
Re: Leupold's New CEO

Which would you rather have leading your company? An experienced leader that has a proven history of successfully forming teams and introducing new products but needs to come up to speed on the peculiarities of the rifle scope business, or a scope expert that needs to learn how to lead, get a company to mesh, and set direction for the next 10 years of business.

Ideally you'd want both. But great leaders are hard to come by (not saying he is). Learning the product is relatively easy compared to learning to lead well.

If you want to read a success story along these lines read Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple by John Scully.

John
 
Re: Leupold's New CEO

Well if the new CEO can reverse the Cranial Rectal Inversion that the Big L has been in for the last 20 or so years, then it's a good thing.

Me thinks it might be a bit hard to wake Rip-Van-Leupold

Bob
 
Re: Leupold's New CEO

I hope him and Leupold the best... May they go on to produce a higher quality product and at lower price point than their competition...
 
Re: Leupold's New CEO

You do not need to know a single thing about a product to take the helm of the ship. However you do need to be smart enough to surround yourself with the experts. So saying he is good or bad is strictly conjecture. Obviously knowledge helps with the learning curve. But you do not have to be an expert if you know how to listen. Tom.
 
Re: Leupold's New CEO

I wish Leupold the best as well. Competition improves the products available to all of us.

Leupold has made pretty good scopes for many years, but their current market line is not oriented to the kind of shooting <span style="font-style: italic">we</span> do, and perhaps that will change in our favor.
 
Re: Leupold's New CEO

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BobinNC</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Well if the new CEO can reverse the Cranial Rectal Inversion that the Big L has been in for the last 20 or so years, then it's a good thing.

Me thinks it might be a bit hard to wake Rip-Van-Leupold

Bob </div></div>

^THIS

Perhaps the fact that the new CEO is no scope expert will help the shooting community and Leupold as well. Since he knows little, hopefully he'll ask why Leupold has lost market share without thinking, "I know scopes better than my customers."

If this guy decides to really analyze why Leupold is losing market share, he'll find:
1. Leupy has failed to keep up with other scope makers in terms of features. For example the M5 knob is being introduced at least three years late. Ditto their FFP when it was released.
2. Customer confidence in Leupy has decreased due to declining quality of customer service, increased incidences of failure, and increased use of foreign manufacturing.
3. That most potential customers are willing to pay more for a rugged, USA-made product with quality customer support.

I do believe that they can recapture the market, and dig into a more premium market, if they return to US labor, tool-up to provide more scopes with practical features like mil/mil and FFP, and restore their legendary CS of years ago. Even with increased prices, I'd bet that they'd really chew into NF's market share. If they improved their glass, then they'd be a threat to USO also.

If they can just get over themselves and make some changes...
 
Re: Leupold's New CEO

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Stringer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Perhaps the fact that the new CEO is no scope expert will help the shooting community and Leupold as well. Since he knows little, hopefully he'll ask why Leupold has lost market share without thinking, "I know scopes better than my customers."</div></div>

Honda did this for years (I don't know if they still do now) with their design teams. They would move lawnmower guys to GP bikes and F1 guys to motorcycles. Yes, they all have engines, but the disciplines are radically different. It brought a level of creativity to the drawing board that helped catapult Honda to the forefront of a variety of industries.

Sometimes a fresh perspective can be just the catalyst needed to inspire a company. Hopefully this will be just what the doctor ordered for Leupold.

John
 
Re: Leupold's New CEO

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jrob300</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

Honda did this for years (I don't know if they still do now) with their design teams. They would move lawnmower guys to GP bikes and F1 guys to motorcycles. Yes, they all have engines, but the disciplines are radically different. It brought a level of creativity to the drawing board that helped catapult Honda to the forefront of a variety of industries.
John</div></div>

This is a Japanese thing. The teachers I work with get moved all over the prefecture, between elementary schools and junior high schools every 4-7 years.
 
Re: Leupold's New CEO

How do we know that the newly named CEO for Leupold is not an avid shooter that knows as much or more about riflescopes then most of us that post on this site?? Maybe this is a dream job for him due to his passion for shooting sports. I know that I am personally in the Medical Sales career, but I would jump at the right oportunity within the Gun/Shooting/Optics fields.
 
Re: Leupold's New CEO

What makes you think they lost any market share? Please specify what areas. Just curious.
 
Re: Leupold's New CEO

Calvin Johnston was previously group president/CEO of Russell Athletics. Russell Athletic was bought in 2006 by Berkshire Hathaway, owned by Warren Buffett who according to Forbes is the 3rd richest person in the world in 2010. Buffett is probably the single most respected investor in the US. If this guy worked for Buffett for 4 yrs you can bet your life he's better than good.

Rather than passing judgement on someone you don't know would you welcome the opportunity to have Calvin join this site one evening for some informal and open Q&A ?
 
Re: Leupold's New CEO

I hope that this fresh blood with invigorate Leupold. They need to take the lead again, and force a competition that will only benefit our shooting sports. Let's wait and see!
 
Re: Leupold's New CEO

Leupold is seeing the field and has been slow to change but they are changing - ala the mil/mil turret that they have out and their retrofitting older MK4's next year. They see the competition but as a large company they don't see a need to change until the bottom line is hit which with all the new competition it has hit them some. Good luck to Leupold.
 
Re: Leupold's New CEO

"Leupold’s board of directors is confident that this same team, working under the leadership of Calvin Johnston, will take the company to new levels of growth and profitability."


Make more, cheaper, faster. That's the way of American business today. So expect more off shore builds, not less. It seems to be that Leupold is content to let others fill the niche needs in the tactical market. I wish they would adopt a Sierra model and be "The Scopesmiths", ever trying to improve the product not just push it out the door at a higher margin.
 
Re: Leupold's New CEO

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Longshotbml</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> "Leupold’s board of directors is confident that this same team, working under the leadership of Calvin Johnston, will take the company to new levels of growth and profitability."

Make more, cheaper, faster. That's the way of American business today. So expect more off shore builds, not less. It seems to be that Leupold is content to let others fill the niche needs in the tactical market. I wish they would adopt a Sierra model and be "The Scopesmiths", ever trying to improve the product not just push it out the door at a higher margin.
</div></div>

Make more, cheaper, faster has always been the way of business. If it weren't, the personal computer you wrote this post on would have cost you $5M. As you point out, the tactical crowd is a niche market, so there's little need for a large vendor like Leupold to worry about it - it's already well served by the boutique vendors like NF or USO, and there's not that much money there in the first place. Honda is Honda, and Ferrari is Ferrari, and never the twain shall meet.

Also, if Leupold really wanted to own the high-end market, they would just write a check and buy a boutique vendor - at those price points, the brand is as important, if not more important, than the actual product, so it makes more sense to let someone else do all the hard work and then just write a check.

I think it's more important for Leupold to continue revitalizing the Redfield line and capture more of the budget market than it is to try and capture the $3K superscope segment.

EDIT: I should add that I agree completely with those who raise concerns about Leupold's quality control of late. I do hope they invest more in QC in the coming years as it would be a shame to have an iconic brand like Leupold fade away.
 
Re: Leupold's New CEO

Good luck to the new CEO. I do think he could do much worse
then the previous,but I have been wrong before. I am still waiting
for the Mark 17_489.215 >333 to come out.
 
Re: Leupold's New CEO

Damn, I guess the CEO is not a Combat Electronic Optic...
 
Re: Leupold's New CEO

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jrob300</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Which would you rather have leading your company? An experienced leader that has a proven history of successfully forming teams and introducing new products but needs to come up to speed on the peculiarities of the rifle scope business, or a scope expert that needs to learn how to lead, get a company to mesh, and set direction for the next 10 years of business.

Ideally you'd want both. But great leaders are hard to come by (not saying he is). Learning the product is relatively easy compared to learning to lead well.

If you want to read a success story along these lines read Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple by John Scully.

John </div></div>

Best wishes to that, for every success story, there are ten failures. Learning the product is obviously easier that learning leadership, but a leader without passion for the product willl inevitably fail. I don't know if he is an avid shooter or not, but if you don't have a passion for what you do, and just a passion for how you do it, the two will never meet. In my humble experiance, most leaders who bounce around, don't last all that long. Black & Decker is a good example.
 
Re: Leupold's New CEO

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 1017racing</div><div class="ubbcode-body">He is a Gator.... nothing good comes out of U F

gooooood luck Leupold, things need to change over there.


GO NOLES </div></div>

Damn right, the only good thing that ever came out of Gainesville is the I75.

Scalp'em