In this episode we have the pleasure of interviewing Eric Degenfelder on the show, for the past 4 years has been the CEO of UC Coactings and is in transition into his next CEO role.
Eric is a Private Equity CEO in the specialty chemicals and materials markets. He has deep experience in growth strategies, new markets, and new products.
Most recently he was CEO of U-C Coatings, a $30M manufacturer of wood coatings and treatments based in Buffalo. Prior to that he had many roles in large companies including DuPont, Axalta, and Air Products.
He lived with his family in China for five years, where he was leading DuPont’s $600M Coatings business.
Here are my notes from today’s episode:
- Need to wear multiple hats. As a CEO having experience in a number of different areas can be very beneficial.
- Can be very financially rewarding for a corporate world role to transition into a Private Equity CEO.
- Diversifying markets
- Main form of growth – Retail products, deck stains and sealers, wood siding finishing products. $0 to half the company revenue.
- Diversifying from hardwoods into softwoods. Building products. Plywood , lumber, OSB. 10X bigger and a lot more. Real growth occurred when we did this.
- Hero Ball
- Pass the ball. Found himself doing to much. Strong CFO, Strong Operations person and Strong Sales/Marketing and Leader.
You don’t want to miss this episode.
Join us for this weeks episode of the High Performance CEO Podcast here:
