AGL 155: The Innovator’s Spirit with Chuck Swoboda

About Chuck Chuck Swoboda is Innovator-in-residence at Marquette University, President of Cape Point Advisors, and the retired Chairman and CEO of Cree, Inc. He serves on several company boards and is author of The Innovator’s Spirit and host of the Innovators on Tap podcast. At Cree, Chuck he helped lead the company from $6 million in revenue to over $1.6 billion as they started the LED Lighting Revolution that led to the obsolescence of traditional light bulbs. Chuck is a co-inventor on 25 patents covering LED and Lighting related technology. In 2010, Chuck was named Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year for the Carolinas.  During his time as CEO, Cree was recognized as MIT Technology Review’s 50 Smartest Companies for 2014 and as one of Fast Company’s World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies in 2015. Chuck holds an electrical engineering degree from Marquette University (1989), where he served on the Board of Trustees for 12 years.  He and his wife live in Cary, North Carolina. When he’s not writing or working, you will likely find him fishing on Bald Head Island. Today We Talked About: Innovation The future doesn’t just happen saving benefits vs saving money accountability empathy learning changes Connect with Chuck Book Podcast Website Twitter LinkedIn Special Thanks to Today’s Sponsor, Berkaweb If you’re looking for a web hosting provider but aren’t sure how to choose one, check out Berkaweb.com. Berkaweb is a free online resource maintained by Mark Berka, where you’ll find tests and comparisons of hosting providers in different categories, such as hosts with the cheapest annual plans, providers with cheapest renewals, hosts with the longest money-back guarantees, and much more. In contrast to most other hosting reviewers, Mark formulates his recommendations by actually purchasing a hosting plan from each company and putting up a test website, so you’ll be getting an objective look at the true service quality of a provider, not just a rehash of the company’s own marketing claims. I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcast and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even 1 sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!