"Follow your passion, not the paycheck. If you work hard at what you believe in - the money will come."
Mitch Free ( 费莫奇) fervently believed in an idea that struck others as crazy, impossible or worse. Why would someone with no college education or funding try to create an online marketplace when all others were crashing and burning and why do it in an industry as slow to adopt and as fractured as manufacturing? The answer – passion, and as Mitch says “a little bit of ignorance.”
Mitch Free has built his career solving problems, eliminating inefficiency and not listening to conventional thinking. Mitch founded and now serves as the Chairman and CEO of MFG.com. Through his vision, creativity and persistence, Mitch has grown MFG.com to a global company that has become the platform by which the world's manufacturing economy does business. Mitch is responsible for leading the strategic direction of the company and overseeing the overall management of MFG.com. Under his leadership, the company has experienced tremendous growth and innovation in a market segment he is continuing to help define.
Prior to founding MFG.com, Mitch was Founder and CEO of 3DATUM, a provider of CAD/CAM technology solutions for the manufacturing and engineering communities. Prior to founding 3Datum, Mitch held a variety of senior management positions with Northwest Airlines where he managed aircraft engineering, technical procurement and aircraft acquisition projects. Mitch began his career as a machinist at Dixien working on the shop floor machining parts for various metal stamping dies, plastic injection molds and aerospace structural components via manual and CNC machining.
Mitch is a private pilot, holds two U.S. patents (5,167,720 and 5,162,659) and is recognized among his peers for his insatiable curiosity, strategic vision, domain expertise and creative management style. He was an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of Year winner and under his leadership MFG.com has been consistently ranked as one of the top technology growth companies. Mitch is an avid speaker at technology forums and conferences, including presentations to the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University, Georgia Tech, Harvard Business School, Wharton and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.
Mitch is a member of CNBC's Small Business CEO Council and YPO (Young President’s Organization) .