#15 Rocketship

   “You should talk about my clothes in the article,” says a coy Michael Horito, Rocketship’s founder. “That would really make my staff happy.” The clothes in question are ironically inconspicuous: a flannel button-up, corduroy pants and a pair of Vans. But the laid-back style suits Horito — and the business. The industrial design company’s growth is largely attributed to its collaborative, freestyle nature. “Mike brings people together,” says staff member Tyler Allan. “Unlike ‘the man’ who just tells everybody what to do.” Horito interrupts. “Wait. Am I the man?” Tell that to the Vans. 

We moved back to Utah in 2001 so my wife could finish her degree. There were no jobs available for industrial designers, so I had to make my own job. I worked out of a shed on the side of our home for a design firm in Florida and began to find contract work locally in Utah. We intended to move on to California after her graduation, but by then we had found enough work to stay here. It is hard to beat Utah for raising your family 

Rocketship initially started out as my pen name. The name works under freelancing, and it depicted a fun-loving attitude toward a technical topic. The word is also nostalgic, with images of Flash Gordon and spaceships coming to mind. Not to mention it ties into the idea of launching a product. You see? There are all kinds of metaphors at work here.  

I registered the business, and it grew from there. It was right during the recession. Neighbors were losing their jobs, but we kept managing to get more business, mostly because the economy here in Utah was at a turning point. It was changing from a rural town to a competitive business community where companies needed help establishing themselves. The timing was just right for us.

We’ve been adding one or two people every year. With my freelancing, I thought I had enough experience to start my own company, but I later realized it was a lot more work than I expected. It’s probably good I didn’t know that starting out. 

I haven’t had too much stress. There have been a couple times where I actually went home and had a hard time sleeping. But if you have to pull an all-nighter, you just do it. As the boss, the responsibility stops with you. If the business grows and becomes profitable, everyone stays employed. And hey, I was only here until 11 last night. 

The biggest growing pain is hiring the staff, because it’s hard to find the right people. Then there’s the stress of having the right people and having to let them go. I’m not going to hire someone, and then six months later tell them they’re out of work. I won’t do it. I’d work 80-plus hours a week until I felt comfortable with the company’s position. Maybe that’s idealistic. I would just have too much of a guilty conscience.

People say you should work smart as opposed to working hard, and I think I’ve worked hard as opposed to smart. But when I was going it alone, stumbling to figure out the way, I knew if I worked hard and was consistent at it, something would come about. It’s funny, though. I used to think we could close our doors any day — then it was any year. And now we’ve been in business for six. I guess I was wrong.