What strikes me about this story is how organically they grew their business, using the proceeds from fulfilling relatively prosaic market needs (first ice, then ice-skating rink, etc.) to fund the development of adjacent competencies. The lengthy time to market acted as a positive change agent, working hand in glove with the minute attention to detail refining the product to market fit, building a moat of competency before debuting. Instead of cutting 90 minutes to 60 with a machine that only scraped down the surface, the prototype solved the customers' problem in a very comprehensive manner.

I love seeing these kinds of organic growth business stories as they illustrate grit/perseverance, though that kind of business development is terribly out of fashion in the business press these days.