Scientific 3P Success
Passion, performance and persistence! In other words, the 3 P’s, is what Dustin Shindo uses to describe himself. “Passion because I believe in what I’m doing. I have to for it to be worth all the sacrifice. Performance because I have to deliver the results, and persistence to overcome the hurdles, never giving up,” explains Shindo. “Though while growing up I believe my mom called it hard headedness,” he states with a laugh.
Dustin is the chairman and CEO of Hoku Scientific, an energy technology company.
While the original focus of Hoku had been on fuel cells, the company has moved into solar installations and is also in the process of developing a polysilicon plant in which they will manufacture polysilicon, the raw materials used to make solar modules. The manufacturing plant is being built in Idaho and is projected to cost $400 million. Even though this will be brand new at Hoku, Shindo says that they already have customers with contracts totaling $1.6 billion. Plans for completion are scheduled for 2009, with its first order shipped in the first half of the year.
“Generally speaking, work is my life.” In last year alone Shindo flew more than 400-thousand miles, being away from his family for weeks at a time. “There’s an incredible amount of sacrifice that goes into being an entrepreneur. You have to really invest yourself in your business.” Shindo founded Hoku Scientific with a team of people back in 2001 and went public in 2005. He is proud to say that despite all the changes that Hoku’s has been through, the company still has the same executive team since the IPO. Shindo says that the company has a “family business meets Silicon Valley feel.” Even though Hoku is a publicly traded company, and has offices in two states, Shindo describes it as a very unique business culture.
“The people I’ve been able to work with are a large part of the company’s success,” Shindo adds. Recently Hoku scientific moved from Kalihi to Kapolei and all the workers helped out in the move. “We worked our jobs until 10 P.M., then from 10 until 2 we helped move. Everyone from assistants to PhDs.”
“I’ve committed all of myself to build this company.” In last year alone Shindo flew over 400 thousand miles, being away from his family for weeks at a time. “There’s an incredible amount of sacrifice that goes into being an entrepreneur.Team building and helping the community are definitely a part of Hoku. They have car wash days, cannedfood drives and even managed a Relay for Life at the University of Hawaii to raise money for cancer research and support services. Also, when Hoku went public, Shindo and the executive team decided to give shares to the University of Hawaii Foundation as well as the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Hawaii. Shindo says that his past experiences helped teach him many lessons that he applies to the business today. Shindo was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii where his family owned a soda distribution company out of Hilo. “My parents used to make me work on Sunday mornings when all my friends were sleeping,” he comments. The hard working values of his parents paid off. At age 21, Shindo opened his own beer brewing company, Mehana Brewing Company. Since then Mehana Brewing Company has turned into a family business and Shindo is listed as the president, yet with little extra time, is not an active participant. He also helped found the medical device company Kai Sensors, where he is the Chairman of the Board. Shindo says of his business enterprises that even though a lot of people are supportive, there are more that doubt, and overcoming that doubt was a big hurdle for him. When Dustin does manage to get some downtime, he spends it with his wife Jamie and 15-month old daughter, Brooke. “Jamie is very understanding of my schedule and that really helps out a lot. Brooke is also supportive, but since she’s only 15-months old, she doesn’t miss me yet. I like to spend time with them whenever I can,” adds Dustin.
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