He had two messages that stood out to me. The first was that a company should sell their own employees on the product as well as the customers. To lead you need to have everyone believe in you and your product.
He said the second message was the biggest key to success in business and one I had never heard before.
"You need to be able to walk away."
Even though he has an emerging product and many problems, especially in the beginning, revolve around a lack of sales, his ability to say no to huge customers has been his best asset. Business deals must be good and fair for both parties for them to last. If not, eventually one partner in the agreement will cease to be a partner. If a large customer is pressuring you to drop your prices but your product is already selling and it will cause undue stress on your business, walk away. Generally, it is just the threat of walking away that makes the difference.
The same applies with many other relationships. While you probably shouldn't threaten a spouse with walking away, the thought that they could will keep you from being complacent and taking them for granted, something you should not do anyway. We often don't realize what we have until it is gone so the reminder that something could walk away will make you appreciate it in the present, business partner or spouse.
Mutually beneficial arrangements are always best--deep down most Americans know this. Fundamental fairness is something that should be a core value within every human being, but, unfortunately, we live in a society where people refuse to put forth effort in anything they do and expect to piggyback off of people that work their fingers to the bone.
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What I liked most about Mr. Coffey's two key business principles is that he constantly promotes the idea of quality--whether it is in the way he treats his employees or with the extremely high regard he holds for his own product and reputation.
Mr. Coffey seems to really stand for something--quality. We need more business leaders sending this message.