Business Leader is pleased to recognize Ping Fu of Raindrop Geomagic as our 2004 Entrebizneur™ of the Year. You may recall Ping from our December 2004 Women Extraordinaire issue. During research for her feature,we determined that her courage and strength as an entrepreneur, business leader, and human being deserved further recognition.

There are many definitions of “entrepreneur”: Perhaps the most fitting definition for Ping is, a person whose actions produce a more desirable future.

Ping is a courageous, unassuming, and respected entrepreneur. She describes herself as unconventional. In her childhood, she was in?uenced greatly by her uncle’s strength of character and entrepreneurship. “My uncle was a very successful entrepreneur and businessman,” says Ping. “He taught me so much about integrity and trust of others. His constant reinforcement of integrity, honesty, trust, and ef?ciency had a huge in? uence on how I conduct myself.”

Ping co-founded Raindrop Geomagic in Illinois with her husband Herbert Edelsbrunner. “I was a reluctant entrepreneur,” says Ping.

The company offers geometric modeling software that enables the creation of precise digital representations of three dimensional objects. Their software is helping to redefine product design, inspection, and manufacturing for custom-made products. A sampling from Geomagic’s impressive client roster includes numerous well-known companies such as Harley-Davidson Motorcycles, Walt Disney, 3M, Honda, Kodak, Swarovski, GE, Mattel, LEGO and hundreds more. Their proprietary technology has enabled digital architectural drawings of the Statue of Liberty, so that if something catastrophic were to happen to Lady Liberty, our prized national icon could be precisely recreated.

The Unassuming Entrepreneur

A timeline of Ping’s career draws attention to her early-stage involvement with highpro?le cutting-edge technologies. “I really like to take basic research and make something useful out of it,” says Ping. She helped develop what is now Microsoft’s Access application; worked on animation for the blockbuster ? lm The Terminator; and at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) she hired and encouraged Marc Andreesen, the would-be founder of Netscape, encouraging his browser work.

Ping and Herbert were working on geometric modeling, which the University of Illinois identi?ed as having tremendous potential –possibly to be the next killer application. They encouraged them to take the risk so they founded the company in 1996.

In 1999, after extensive research, Ping extensive research, Ping a decided to move the company, with nearly all of its employees, to the Research Triangle. Ping saw that Raindrop Geomagic could bene?t from area resource pools like the local university post graduates, medical research facilities, and the Center for Entrepreneurial Development.

“After we moved here, I raised some money and hired somebody else as the CEO. I never really thought I was going to run a company. I didn’t have the con?dence; I didn’t know I could run a company. I run a company. I thought it was right to hire a seasoned manager.” Within six months of their relocation, the tech-industry crashed and venture capitalists tightened their investments. By 2001 Ping realized that things were not looking good for the company. She went on many unsuccessful appointments with the CEO to try to secure funds to keep the business operating. With only six months of funding remaining, she was forced to make some very tough decisions.

“I felt such a strong responsibility to all the investors and employees,” says Ping. “I felt I made a mistake because I was the one in the beginning who said I didn’t want to be the CEO.”

Although the investors were entertaining the idea of selling the company, Ping was able to convince them to let her and the incumbent CEO divide the remaining time. “I told the investors I wanted to save the company.” She was set to take over as CEO after three months, but the incumbent left after the ?rst month, Ping had just ?ve months to pull the company out of its nosedive. She gathered the employees and shared her game plan, deciding to completely disclose the company’s ?nancial situation. She was up front with them, asked them to stay, and promised that if she didn’t think they would accomplish their goals she would let them know with enough time to secure new employment.

Ping did not draw a salary for 2002 and was forced to lay off about 30 employees, using her personal funds to pay severance packages. It deeply disturbs her to talk about the layoffs, although she realizes the decisions made were in the best interest of the company. “It kills me, it never gets easier. I’ve talked to a lot of CEOs and they all say this is the hardest thing that you will do … letting your friends go. You can’t let your emotions rule your intelligence. You have a responsibility to all the employees, investors, and customers.”

In 2003 the company achieved pro?tability with suf?cient product sales to support the whole company. “I felt vulnerable and empowered at the same time,” she says. “Vulnerable because every second I was doing something new, I never really knew what I was doing … I just tried to make the best judgment at the time. Because I was able to do it, I felt a stronger sense of self con? - dence and empowerment because oh, if I put my mind to something, woh! I can actually do it,” she says. “That kind of empowerment comes from within; people cannot give it to you. That’s what I didn’t have when I ?rst started the company. I just kept telling myself I can’t do it. When I watched them do it. When I watched them [seasoned managers] doing it, I learned that their decision making process was not that different from mine. Maybe when they make decisions they really don’t know what the heck they are doing either … they just appear to know what they are doing,” she laughs.

The Respected Entrepreneur

At the beginning of 2004, positioned for employee headcount growth, Ping announced a company shift to a performance driven company similar to larger companies like GE and IBM, where each employee is measured by goals and success. This year they were constantly interviewing and hiring.

“My people are incredible,” she says. “They are loyal, helpful, smart, hardworking, passionate; I have everything I could want in my employees. If they hadn’t believed in me as they did, I don’t know if I could’ve succeeded. The ? rst year was about survival, the second year was about turnaround, and the third year [2004] was about growth.”

Ping’s approachable style of management has commanded her employees’ loyalty and respect. Mike Facello is Raindrop Geomagic’s director of research and development. He has worked with Ping for over ten years, working with her at NCSA before they started the Raindrop Geomagic. He relocated here from Illinois. “When we ?rst started, none of us knew how to run a company,” says Mike. “Ping has really grown
at each stage. She always sees through to the root of problems. It’s easy for her to talk with both technical people and business people— I think she has a real skill. Personally I enjoy talking with her because she helps me clarify whatever I’m thinking about, she’s a great leader that way.