Prize for Industrial Applications of Physics Lecture: A physicist in Business

In the 1980s I inherited a famous ellipsometry laboratory. To speed up data acquisition and analysis I associated myself with creative scientists and engineers. We started a company which grew. Together we rapidly improved acquisition speed, accuracy, precision, spectral range, and types of applications. Yet, a business is much more than technology. In this talk I outline how a high-tech business functions, and illustrate the role of physicists and engineers in making a company successful. It is fast-paced, exciting, and enormously gratifying to provide quality instruments for researchers and industry.