#331: 28 Days To Save The World: Lessons Learned from a Pandemic Month of Supply Chain Issues
Dan Purvis, CEO of Velentium, explains how the company pivoted during the early pandemic to help General Motors and Ventec Life Systems scale ventilator production from 100 to 10,000 units per month. He details the extreme supply chain challenges, including buying $2 million in parts without a purchase order and using personal networks to source components, to reopen a GM plant in Kokomo, Indiana. Purvis emphasizes that this crisis validated Velentium's core culture of 'changing lives for a better world,' which enabled the team to commit to 16-hour workdays and deliver 30,000 ventilators over the summer. He argues that strong culture, clear vision, and principles-based leadership are more critical than strategic planning when facing existential threats.