News

Who's Who: Chris Gilder and David Petsolt

The founders of Meridian Kiosks have combined friendship and dual interests in hardware and software to jumpstart their North Carolina-based kiosk solutions company.

May 19, 2004

With its scenic woods and championship golf courses, Pinehurst, N.C., offers the kind of tranquil setting that can de-stress a body and put a mind at ease. It is a winning formula for relaxation. It is also a winning formula for bringing together two kiosk enthusiasts to operate their own company.

Chris Gilder and David Petsolt, friends for several years in the Pinehurst area, brought their unique skill sets together in late 1999 to create Meridian Kiosks LLC, a full-service kiosk provider based in Pinehurst.

With Gilder's experience in computer hardware and Petsolt's expertise in software, the two envisioned the kiosk market as a suitable launching pad for a joint partnership.

From a business standpoint, Meridian has been a success, going in the black in less than 60 days and recording a 1,200 percent increase in revenue between the first quarter of fiscal year 2001 and the same quarter this year.

Their success has not come at the cost of the friendship, either. If anything, Meridian has brought Gilder and Petsolt -- both thirtysomethings who grew up far from North Carolina -- and their families closer together.

"We've gone from a part-time business relationship and a friendship to something tighter," said Gilder, a native of Kingston Upon Hull, England. "We have regular dinners during the week now. It's definitely strengthened our relationship and trust in each other, which is important in a growing company."

In a part of the world where trust and sincerity go a long way toward nurturing business relationships, Petsolt's and Gilder's friendship has opened doors.

"After you're with them for five, 10 minutes, you like them automatically," said Sonny Roberts, co-founder of Virtual Concepts Inc., a New Bern, N.C.-based company that deploys information kiosks at military bases. "They have that warmth and personality about them. We went out to supper with them the first night (Virtual Concepts met with them) and just hit it right off."

Culture shock, surprisingly, was not a significant factor for Gilder or Petsolt when they moved to North Carolina at different times in the mid 1990s.

For Petsolt, a 29-year-old native Minnesotan and graduate of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., the biggest adjustment was to the weather -- which he likes -- and the area's vernacular.

"The first time I came down here I ordered a pop and nobody knew what I was talking about," Petsolt said. "Now I know to ask for soda.

"North Carolina is just a wonderful part of the country," he added. "It's a couple hours from the ocean, a couple hours from Atlanta and Washington, D.C., and the mountains are nearby. North Carolina is a better spot for me (than Minnesota)."

Chris Gilder

David Petsolt

Gilder's situation was even more unique. Gilder graduated from high school in the UK in 1985 and launched a professional motocross racing career. That proved short-lived, however, as Gilder's father was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease in the late 1980s and he assumed his father's business, creating miniature figures for war-game enthusiasts. After his father's death in 1989, Gilder became interested in bringing the business, Connoisseur, to the United States.

"I got a little distressed with the UK and the business," Gilder said. "The whole family looked at the U.S. and liked it and was interested in moving here, so we came over in 1990."

In 1995, Gilder sold the business to fund his mother's move back to the UK. By that time he had launched a computer sales and service company, GO! Cyber Computers, out of dissatisfaction with area computer companies.

"I went out to get equipment for the figure business, but I wasn't happy with the service I was getting, and I decided to start my own company," Gilder said.

Gilder and Petsolt, who launched a software company, Client Solutions, in the Pinehurst area in the mid 1990s, decided in late 1999 that a similar gap needed to be filled with kiosks.

"We came together on a project for a kiosk (for a client) and worked together on it," Petsolt said. "We couldn't quite find what we were looking for. The time frame and hardware costs made it prohibitive. We saw an opportunity to take a new approach."

Meridian was launched in December, 2000, by Gilder, with Petsolt coming aboard that next March. The two own the company along with a silent partner Petsolt brought over from Client Solutions.

The company strives to be a full-service provider -- with manufacturing, design, and development all in house - that can roll out a project quickly. Meridian created a tepee kiosk in three weeks for American Indian Mall LLC, which offered works of American Indian art via the kiosk at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

"We want to become the Dell of kiosks," Gilder said, referring to the leading computer manufacturer. "We have a great infrastructure so we can handle smaller quantities to multi-thousand kiosk orders."

The company currently has 15 full-time employees. Within three weeks of launching, Meridian landed a deal to create a line of Cottonelle toilet paper kiosks for Kimberly-Clark Corp. The deal, according to Gilder, allowed Meridian to become profitable after 60 days. The company remains profitable after 1 ½ years of operation, though Petsolt and Gilder would not reveal how much revenue the company has generated or its profit level. Gilder said the success of their previous companies allowed them to self-fund Meridian, but would not say how much capital was needed to launch the company.

Both Gilder and Petsolt take advantage of the laid-back atmosphere and access to outdoor activities that central North Carolina offers. Petsolt plays golf when he can and assists his wife, Kate, who operates a Pinehurst-based business that organizes retail and corporate gift packages.

"With Pinehurst here it's tempting (to golf a lot), but I only get over there when clients are here," he said. "It's a beautiful part of the world, and it's nice having 40 championship courses within 10 minutes of here."

Gilder indulges in his interest in off-road motorcycling, which reflects his professional motocross roots.

While they have fun away from the office and enjoy what they do for a living, Petsolt and Gilder are also focused on what they want to achieve at Meridian. Teamwork also counts. Petsolt said Meridian's initial success has been in part a component of the partner's working relationship.

"The key to doing what we've done is to have a solid structure of what you want to accomplish," he said. "Chris is a driven, hard worker and a smart guy who's open to new ideas. It's been a pretty smooth transition."