Motivation Quote by Mike Marsh

The line reads like a pause button pressed mid-hype cycle. Marsh isn’t selling RFID as inevitable; he’s mapping the psychology of manufacturers who’ve been burned before by “next big thing” tech. The first clause is all risk calculus: these companies have real balance sheets, tight margins, and long tooling timelines, so “expanding too rapidly” isn’t entrepreneurial bravado, it’s existential danger. The phrasing “risk their entire business” lands like someone who has watched suppliers overextend, then get wiped out when demand doesn’t materialize or standards shift.

The subtext is that adoption isn’t primarily a technical question. It’s a credibility test. RFID can be brilliant on paper, but the industry only treats it as real when conservative, capacity-minded manufacturers commit. That’s why “they are the major indicator” matters: the true signal isn’t a pilot program, a keynote, or a venture-funded startup’s projections. It’s whether the people who make the stuff are willing to reconfigure operations around it.

Contextually, this sounds like it comes from a moment when RFID was perched between promise and infrastructure: retailers and logistics firms were flirting with large-scale tagging, while producers were deciding whether to invest in equipment, materials, and specialized labor. Marsh’s intent is almost coaching-like: don’t mistake excitement for sustainability. Watch the ones with the most to lose. Their hesitation isn’t lack of vision; it’s the market performing due diligence in slow motion.