Ross Video has outlined a shift in its strategic approach and announced a significant financial target for 2030.

The live production technology provider had previously announced plans to take the company into public ownership, with an IPO slated for 2025. However, CEO and majority shareholder David Ross has revealed a change in direction, signaling the company will instead seek private-equity investment to better align with its long-term growth and innovation objectives.

The decision to switch strategy was driven by a belief that the short-term focus of public markets was potentially detrimental to the company’s ambitions for sustainable expansion, Ross said.

Commenting on the decision, Ross told TVBEurope, “public markets reward mediocrity,” explaining that the short-term public-market ethos often impacted investments in innovation. “We’re about building extraordinary solutions and redefining industries—not fitting into a cookie-cutter mold,” he added.

In seeking to boost EBITDA margins to enhance its public-market valuations, Ross Video had deliberately slowed the pace of its R&D and sales investments. “Frankly, that’s just not me,” Ross reflected. “Pulling back on innovation and growth doesn’t fit the DNA of Ross Video. Private equity allows us to accelerate our investments while staying true to our mission.”

Ross Video also unveiled an ambitious plan to reach $1 billion in revenue by 2030. Named the “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” (BHAG), the plan aims to double Ross Video’s revenue over the next five years in what the company said is a continuation of its well-established trajectory. According to the company, Ross has achieved 33 consecutive years of profitable growth at an average of 17% per annum.

A series of measures aimed at meeting this target includes expanding the workforce to between 2,000 and 2,500, with more than 1,000 employees focusing on R&D; a round of technology and talent-based acquisitions, with companies integrated into the Ross Video ecosystem and a market-leadership drive; increasing its presence across the globe; and raising the market share of its product lines.

“It’s not just about hitting numbers,” Ross said. “This is about creating better products, improving market position and delivering exceptional value to our customers. It’s a natural extension of what we’ve been doing for decades.”

The company is already looking for its next acquisition—No. 22—which, said the CEO, aims to bolster Ross Video’s legacy. “We’ve spent decades building trust, innovation and value,” he said. “The $1 billion BHAG is about taking Ross Video to the next level—not just in revenue, but in impact.”

This article originally appeared in TV Tech sister brand TVB Europe.

Systems Contractor News, a sister brand to TV Tech, recently announced the new inductees to its Hall of Fame for 2024. Among the honorees was Dave Ross, CEO of Ross Video. The following is SCN Content Director Mark Pescatore's profile:

Although he officially joined the company in 1991, David Ross has been a part of Ross Video since he was about 9 years old. He has a vivid memory of watching his father, John, working with a graphic designer on the company logo at the time.  

It may seem like it was destiny, but David almost didn't build his career with the family business. He had plans to work for a big tech company or possibly for NASA as an engineer. But after he shared his potential future plans, his mother pulled him aside and told him his father had always assumed David would come to work with him at Ross Video.

As David recalled, Ross Video was a one-product company (video switchers) at the time—and after a particularly difficult recession, his father was one signature away from selling the company. Instead, they decided to work together to save it.

And did they ever. The Canada-based company has not just survived but thrived, improving its revenue from $2.5 million in 1991 to about $400 million today. Under David's leadership, Ross Video has enjoyed a pattern of consecutive growth lasting 32 consecutive years. David became president of the company 20 years ago and added the title of CEO in 2006.

Ross Video is known for a variety of product lines, from its production switchers to its XPression graphics, Ultrix routers, Spidercam robotic cameras, D3 LED displays, and … socks? Like so many other companies, Ross Video has offered a variety of promotional items over the years, including socks. 

During the company's keynote at the 2019 NAB Show, David jokingly launched Socks 2.0—and the online chat exploded. So, the company decided to, well, run with it. The result has been a regular dose of levity at their annual event, as well as a sock drawer for the CEO that's half-filled with company-branded stockings.

Technically speaking, David is an engineer. He earned a degree in computer engineering from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, and helped redesign the company's switcher software while he was a co-op student. You can see his most recent handiwork in the look and feel of TouchDrive 4, the company's latest family of control surfaces for live production. However, business was basically his unofficial minor at the university—and he's spent plenty of time educating himself to the point where he considers himself more of a businessman these days.

Ross Video maintains a strategy of "integrated diversity," which means it only expands its product offerings through companies and technologies that "touch on the edges of what we already do," he explained. As a result, the company benefits from utilizing the same sales, R&D, and manufacturing teams, while targeting the same verticals and customers with new products and services. The company's strategic acquisitions have also added resources across countries and continents.

"I think what we're doing works really well," David said. "I love exploring new technologies and finding ways to make customers more successful."

While traditionally known as a broadcast company more than a Pro AV company, that perception of Ross Video may be changing. In late October, David congratulated the sports and live events team, because its sales surpassed broadcast sales for the first time. "Broadcast equipment has been getting cheaper, and I think Pro AV needs are getting more sophisticated," he said.

More than 30 years in, David, 58, is still excited about the company his father started in the 1970s with an analog switcher. "You wake up every morning with a list of things to do that's different from the week before," he said. "There's nothing like the multiple dimensions of running a company like Ross."

OTTAWA--David Ross, CEO of Ross Video, will be inducted as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. Considered Canada’s highest engineering honor at a ceremony taking place June 18 in Calgary during “Canada in a Carbon Competitive World,” a conference gathering Canadian leaders to focus on “clean growth.”

“As an engineer and business person, I love smart ideas that can be turned into successful products,” said Ross. “While our amazing team is global, and our customer base is global, my home is in Canada and I’m proud to create good jobs and prosperity where I live. This Fellowship is an honor, not just for myself but also for hundreds of engineers and product developers that I work with.”

Ross Video has received two Emmy Awards and its products are used daily by video and broadcast professionals worldwide to produce news, sports, and weather, as well as for such high-profile broadcasts as the Super Bowl and Academy Awards. Ross Video’s customer base also includes stadiums, worship centers, governmental agencies, and live entertainment venues.

Founded 40 years ago by David Ross’ father, John Ross, who was also an Order of Canada recipient, Ross Video has since grown to nearly 700 employees in six international offices.

Fellows of the Academy are selected following a rigorous, multi-stage review and election process that takes into consideration the candidates’ distinguished achievements and career-long service to the engineering profession. Fellows must also be committed to ensuring that Canada’s engineering expertise is applied to the benefit of all Canadians.

According to Kevin Goheen, Executive Director of the Canadian Academy of Engineering says, “To the selection committee, David Ross represents the best of Canadian engineering; consistent innovation and product development combined with the commercialization of ideas on a world stage.”