Garmin C330 Facilitator Manual page 13

Personal Navigation System: Garmin C330
Creek Community Church. Having left his job at Allied, he was considering devoting himself
full-time to the ministry.
But over dinner, Kao asked Burrell if he had ever thought about starting his own company.
Burrell replied that he hadn't, but then went on to say that if he were to start a company, he
would do so only with Kao. Both agreed that the future of navigation would be closely linked
with GPS technology.
At the time the Global Positioning System of satellites was still being assembled. The 1986
explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger had set the system's construction back by 24 months.
The satellites had been redesigned to fit aboard a Delta II rocket. The system was declared
operational in April of 1989, and went on to prove a decisive strategic advantage to U.S. and
Allied forces in the 1991 Gulf War.
Kao had been thinking of starting a company, and had recently visited old school friends in
Taiwan, one of which was an investment banker, who assured Kao that if he wanted to launch a
company, money to help get it started would be available.
Within weeks of their dinner, Burrell and Kao were on a plane to Taipei, Taiwan and within
months of that visit had amassed $4 million, which included the combined contents of their own
personal savings accounts.
The money was sufficient to hire a dozen engineers and to rent office and work space in Lenexa,
Kansas. Initially they called the company ProNav, but later changed it in 1991 when a
competitor using the name NavPro on one of its GPS receivers, sued alleging trademark
infringement. The name "Garmin" is combination of the two founders' names "Gar" being the
first three letters of Burrell's first name, and "-Min" being Kao's first name.
The company's first product was a GPS receiver called the GPS 100, a dash-mounted receiver
aimed at the marine market, and sold for $2,500 US dollars. It debuted at the 1990 International
Marine Technology Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. The product was an instant hit and generated
a backlog of orders for 5,000 units.
Soon after, in January 1991 Kao set off for Taiwan to set up manufacturing facilities in Taipei.
Another early product, a handheld GPS receiver, proved popular with military personnel serving
in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia during the 1991 Gulf War.
In the early 2000s, Garmin launched a series of personal GPS devices aimed at recreational
runners called the Forerunner, and also launched their popular StreetPilot in-car navigation
series, starting with a monochrome key-operated unit. This was followed by the 16-colour
StreetPilot ColorMap, then the more advanced StreetPilot III. The StreetPilot range is now
diverse.
Matthew Kimball – Retail Sales Trainer - Simulation Exercise
Garmin C330 FG (PANEL)v1.0 13 of 16