Long before I had any notion I’d ever work in business – let alone procurement – I got my Masters Degree in Library and Information Science. One of the key resources we trained to use was the ‘Thomas Register,’ a series of green, hardcover bound books that contained everything you needed to know about manufacturers and product specifications. They were first published in 1898 as a 34-volume buying guide of industrial products and services.
The information in the Thomas Register became available digitally in the 1990s, and would eventually become known as ThomasNet, regarded as one of the best information sources available to reference librarians.
But the world is hungry for information, and ThomasNet was not done evolving. In 2017, digital media executive Tony Uphoff became their President and CEO. He took a resource with a long and honorable history and truly brought it into the modern era – eventually facilitating the sale of ThomasNet to Xometry, an on demand manufacturing marketplace, for $300 Million.
What does it take to formulate an ambitious vision and then go hands-on to bring it to fruition?
We have invited Tony Uphoff to join us for the opening session of Mastermind LIVE to tell us his story. How did he drive the effort to transform a 100 year old business into a modern media enterprise?
Tony specializes in transformative leadership and the digital industrial economy, so register now to join us on October 4th at 10am ET to watch me speak with him live, posing audience questions about his experience as well as my own!
Note: If you are unable to join us live, register anyway to receive immediate priority access to all Mastermind LIVE sessions on demand.
