As they say, the times were a changing. Moving backwards promised a brighter future. The world was at the height of the cold war in the early 1980's. Conservative governments were being elected in America, West Germany, and Great Britain. Popular support in those countries to respond to the Soviet Union meant massive increases in government spending for the defense industries, and corresponding policies to liberalize the economy and limit social spending.
One can see the obvious consequences in history of sustaining global armies that stretch empires, but it is less obvious what the price would be if strategies would be accomodation and appeasement. Generally, democratically elected leaders can retain public support for sharp policy turns for about the length of an election cycle at best, but government funding and tax policy tends to build alliances that last much longer.
At the end of the day, politicians will turn to the entrpreneur(s). From the Muslim Brotherhood today on the precipice of power in Cairo, to Francois Mitterwand's France in the mid-1980's, it is the builders and ideas that attract capital to fund their fancies.
When the Socialist Mitterwand was elected in France in 1981, he was not admitted to the club whose members were Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Helmut Kohl of West Germany. They winced, kept their distance, and barely contained publicly their private disdain for the determined and popularly elected new French leader. Of course, in France, Mr. Mitterwand gleefully used French disapproval at the sharp turn to the right of fellow NATO countries to his electoral advantage.
In November, 1982, American voters sent a sharp message of disapproval to the Reagan government. But by 1984, it was morning again, at least for a growing economy in the United States, and buoyed by a Democratic opponent who could have been from central casting, Mr. Reagan coasted to re-election. In West Germany, Mr. Kohl was challeged from the left, especially by media sensation Petra Kelly in May of 1983 who led Die Grune movement to seats in Parliment, setting the stage for confrontation with the deployment of SS-20 missiles in Germany a timely platform for both sides to exploit. The Generals in Argentina ensured the Iron Lady's re-election in Great Britain, with a clumsy attempt to seize the Falkland Isles in 1982.
In France, circumstances forced Mr. Mitterwand to change course shortly intro his first term. Initially he nationalized banks and for private companies into more direct cooperation with his socialist government. The French economy did not recover as did it's Western counterparts, and by 1986, Mr. Mitterwand had to share power with the right-leaning (for France) Jacque Chirac.
Where was French venture capital to turn for investment? The Silicon Valley was attractive, as Intel, Oracle, Sun Computer, and others were starting. Apple Computer had hired Jean Louis-Gassee to start its French entry into the European market. In Southern California, Jon Wimer was raising capital with help from Peter Pitsker in 1983. Mr. Wimer owned a house in Newport Beach, California, and was looking to nearby Irvine industrial park to start Triconex. When Los Angeles based investor Chuck Cole approved the business plan and invested, Triconex was funded and began operations in 1984.
Factory Systems was an automation distributor in France with a venture capital arm looking for the next big thing. By 1988, it owned 10% of Triconex and was distributing the safety system in France. During a visit by Factory Systems executives to meet with CEO Bill Barkovitz at the Irvine factory, Triconex QA engineer Jerry Cuckler told his friend Dennis Morin that it might be an opportunity to chat with potential investors for Wonderware. Among other talents, Mr. Morin had learned French during a New England childhood. There was a meeting and enthusiam on both sides for investment. Factory Systems could now distribute both Triconex and Wonderware in Europe, two exciting companies with "California cool" stamped on the label! The Southern California brand sold througout the world from fashion to automation products!
By the timeTriconex and Wonderware were sold in 1995 and 1998 respectively, French investors recouped at least 6 times their investment, according to investor Dominique Vomschied. Laurent Berns, another Factory Systems executive works for the parent company, Invensys, today. He played a key role managing the Triconex office in Paris in the mid-1990's.
For the movie 'French Connection ll - The Triconex-Wonderware Years" new actors will have to be found to play the roles Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider once immortalized. The script for the sequel is still being written, and will entertain and inform.
Where does The History of a Safer World travel to next?
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