Table of Contents
To all the small business owners out there who are struggling like I once did.
FOREWORD
I have seen every episode of American Chopper. I have seen the show change, grow, and experiment. I have watched bikes being built for an amusement park, a helicopter company, a truck company, a car company, a snow cone company, a heavy equipment procurement company, a sound system company, a bowling company, Bill Murray, Billy Joel, some magician nobody ever heard of, people who wrote in asking for a bike, the New York Giants, the New York Jets, firemen, veterans wounded in Iraq, a professional golfer, Russell Crowe, Jay Leno, a camping store, some blowhard in Minnesota who builds theme restaurants, weight lifter thugs, the Yankees, the University of Michigan, a widow. You see where this is going. Soon we will all have a custom-built Orange County Chopper chopper. I have ridden three of these bikesone time with Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, and the Teutuls, through midtown Manhattan in the rain. I have seen the shop change from warehouse to extra-cool 100,000-square-foot World Headquarters. I have seen the staff change. What happened to the first paint guy? Is Nub still around? I was very upset when Vinnie left; I still dont know the full story there. Cody vanished, no word, no trace. That didnt bother me. I grew concerned when, during contract negotiations, Mikey announced he wasnt cut out for the business. What is he cut out for? I know there is a sister who may be a nurse. I know there is a brother who runs a steel business. I know Senior has a second wife and two large dogs. One misbehaves (a dog, not the wife). He also has a collection of miniature farm animals. How creepy is that? I was worried the poorly trained dog might go crazy and eat the tiny animals. I am also worried about Seniors glaucoma. I like Junior. I like Rick. I like the bald guy with the big voice. I like Lee the new guy. I like Jim Quinn (I guess) though Im waiting for him to go nuts and explode. I have, even in a very small almost immeasurable way, started to like Jason. Though believe me it wouldnt break my heart if he went to work in the gift shop with Seniors muscle-bound jughead gym buddy.
Ive watched them travel to Europe, South America, South Africa, and Australia. I dont like the producer Craig Piligian. I think the guy is a haircut. But I do like that he brought these people to my life. I get angry when there are no new shows. I love the new 50-billion-ton press. I like the Flow Jet. I dont like the hijinks. Its just a matter of time until someone loses a foot.
So whats the deal? Well, I love watching motorcycles being built. I could watch that all day, all week. They could build the same bike over and over and over. Fine with me. I cant get enough. Im like a dog staring at the refrigerator door. My girlfriend doesnt seem to get this. I gave up trying to articulate my love for this show. I dont get why she enjoys shopping for purses.
So is it the bikes? Yeah, kind of. But over the years something else has happened. I envy this family. They get to spend their time together, good or bad. They love what they do. They scream and throw things and get their feelings hurt, but they also experience the family structure at its highest functioning purpose. Love and support. Few families grow together in this way. Thats why I watch. I want to be in this family. My son and I. I want us to be Teutuls and build motorcycles. There, now you know. Im insane.
Dave Letterman
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Theres not enough space (or time) to thank all of the people who have helped me over the past 30 years. Youll meet many of them as you read this book, but there are countless others whose advice, guidance, and honesty helped to make me who and what I am today. To the business partners, suppliers, distributors, and employees who have been a friend to Orange County Ironworks and Orange County Choppers, I thank you all for the part you played in the triumph of these businesses. Whether it was a little piece of advice you gave me or a lesson you helped me learn, some of which ended up in this book, it all contributed to my becoming the successful businessman that I am today.
As for the folks who currently work for me, Id like to say thanks for coming in every day and working so hard to make Orange County Choppers the extraordinary business it is todayespecially Steve Moreau, Scott Amann, Ron Salsbury, Michele Paolella, Joe Puliafico, and Rick Petko. Id also like to acknowledge Craig Piligian.
I want to thank my publisher, John Wiley & Sons, for believing in this book, and especially Matthew Holt and Shannon Vargo for their outstanding direction and guidance. And to Mark Yost, for helping me to translate my years of experience into something that will provide readers with a way to reach their dreams and goals.
And I have to thank my familyespecially my sons Paulie and Michael, who are still involved with Orange County Choppers today.
INTRODUCTION
My name is Paul Teutul Sr. No middle name. My parents couldnt be bothered.
Many of you are probably reading this book because you know me from the television show American Chopper, which is about my current business, Orange County Choppers. Yes, were famous, were on TV, and people recognize us everywhere we go.
But most everything I am telling you in this book, most everything I learned about running a successful business, I learned from working 28 years in the iron business. Is it applicable to the motorcycle business and did those same principles help Orange County Choppers become a huge success? Certainly. But my point is this: I didnt learn these things in some glamorous business like Orange County Choppers. I learned them in the iron business. Its a tough business. Probably a lot like yours.
I say this for a number of reasons. The business examples and principles in this book can be applied to almost any business. I dont care what it issoftware design, corner garage, a mom-and-pop corner convenience store, or a Fortune 500 corporation. Furthermore, I dont want you to be sitting there thinking that because you dont have a show on television, or because people dont recognize you wherever you go, these principles arent going to work for you. They will.
Wherever youve seen me, I want you to forget what you know about me. The Paul Teutul Sr. you see on television and elsewhere is only a small part of who I am. Yes, Im that guy, but Im also a businessman who runs a multimillion-dollar corporation that I built from the ground up with my own two hands.
Over the past two decades, I also beat alcoholism and drug addiction. I defied a lifetime of skeptics who said Id amount to nothing. And I proved wrong those who said Id never make it. Along the way, I learned a few things about passion, perseverance, deal making, employee relations, and, yes, the fact that I dont know everything and cant do everything.
