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The IC-DISC Show

The IC-DISC Show

Written by: David Spray
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 Join host David Spray, as he interviews business owners and industry leaders about the IC-DISC program. Insights and anecdotes to help you increase your after-tax income.© 2026 David Spray Economics Leadership Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • Ep074: Fifty Years of Precious Metals with Larry Drummond

    Ep074: Fifty Years of Precious Metals with Larry Drummond
    May 18 2026

    The strongest industries are built on relationships that outlast individual transactions.

    In this episode of the IC-DISC Show, I sit down with Larry Drummond, Executive Director of the International Precious Metals Institute (IPMI), to talk about what fifty years of industry collaboration has taught him about trust, transparency, and building lasting business connections.

    Larry shared how IPMI started in 1976 when a group of New York-area scientists came together to share data across competing precious metals companies. After 25 years at Engelhard and a leadership role at Metalor, he came out of retirement in 2018 to lead the organization he had served as a volunteer board member and past president.

    What struck me most was Larry's description of an industry where someone can be your customer, vendor, and competitor at the same time. He shared examples of refiners picking up the phone to ask competitors for help during operational setbacks, knowing the favor would be returned without losing customers in the process.

    The conversation reminded me that even in commodity-driven businesses, transparency and verified trust create the foundation for everything else. With IPMI's 50th annual conference coming up in Orlando, Larry's perspective is a great preview of what makes this industry tick.

    SHOW HIGHLIGHTS

    • * In precious metals, the same company can be your customer, vendor, and competitor at the same exact time.
    • * IPMI was founded in 1976 by New York-area scientists who recognized the value of sharing data across competing companies.
    • * When operations go down, refiners call competitors for a week of help, knowing the favor will be returned without customer poaching.
    • * Record-high gold prices flooded refiners with material, but financing costs and capacity limits turned some lots into losers.
    • * IPMI memberships pay for themselves through the price discount on a single annual conference registration.
    • * Portable x-ray guns have transformed the industry, letting even small operators verify what they have before shipping it up the chain.

    Contact Details
    LinkedIn - Larry Drummond

    LINKS

    Show Notes
    Be a Guest

    About IC-DISC Alliance
    About IPMI

    TRANSCRIPT

    (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)
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    33 mins
  • Ep073: From One-Room to 40,000 Pounds a Day

    Ep073: From One-Room to 40,000 Pounds a Day
    Apr 27 2026
    Today on the IC-DISC Show we're talking with John, Clive, and Kelly Hess from CompuCycle in Houston. John started in the metals business in South Africa back in 1966, came to the US in 1986 to run a brass and copper distribution company, and spun off a small scrap division that eventually became CompuCycle. Clive joined in 1996 fresh out of U of H. Kelly came aboard in 2013 from the nonprofit world and now runs the company as CEO. Three decades later they're processing 40,000 pounds a day and hold more certifications than any other electronics recycler in Texas. In this conversation, the Hess family talks about the moment the Basel Accord shut down their entire plastics market overnight, why they think scrap metal companies handling electronics is now a liability risk for corporate customers, and how they built their own plastic washing line to solve a problem the rest of the industry was still struggling with. Kelly also shares a partnership they've built with Pearland ISD that turns scrap dismantling into job training for autistic students ages 18 to 22. Whether you're in recycling or not, the Hess family's thinking on running a multigenerational business, earning certifications most competitors won't bother with, and treating customer problems as a moat instead of a cost is worth your time. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS How John Hess went from manufacturing copper ingot in South Africa in 1966 to building Houston's largest electronics recyclerWhy being R2 certified isn't enough, and what Compu-Cycle did after watching certified downstreams still send material to landfillsThe day the Basel Accord shut down their entire plastics market overnight, and how they engineered their way outWhy scrap metal companies handling electronics has become a liability risk for their corporate customersThe partnership with Pearland ISD that turns scrap dismantling into job training for autistic studentsWhat changed when Kelly came in from the nonprofit world and the family started hiring people smarter than themselves Contact Details LinkedIn - Gordon Driscoll LINKS Show NotesBe a Guest About IC-DISC AllianceAbout CompuCycle John HessAbout JohnKelly HessAbout KellyClive HessAbout Clive TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dave: Well good morning. So this is my first time. I've had three guests on the podcast at one time. We have John Hess, we have Kelly Hess, and we have Clive Hess. So where are you all, calling into from today? what part of the world are you all in? Where now? John: We, I'm a responder. We're in Houston, Texas. Dave: Okay. And so am I. So that's, that is good. what I wanna talk about, and the reason we're doing the three person interview is the company Compus Cycle has been in business a little over 30 years, is that right? Kelly: 30 years to this? 2026 is our 30th anniversary, so we're really excited. Dave: That is awesome. and so what I wanna do, I want to go to the far origin of comp cycle, which really starts with John. So what I'd like to do is just start off with a little background on John and his entrance and experience in the scrap metal industry. So John, where are you? What part of the world do you hail from? John: Originally South Africa and have been in the metal business all my life. started in, at the age of 23 in 1966. Go back a long way. Dave: Okay. And, and then you're in the metals business, Ferris, non Ferris, John: right? we, I was, we were ingot manufacturers. We manufactured copper and aluminum based ingot for the foundry industry. And, got into the. Computer business, way back in about 1975 when we imported a, a machine for stripping cables and Okay. This machine also had the capability of shredding,computers of the old mainframe computers. Of course, there were no PCs at that time. Yes, of course. So that was my introduction to computers. Dave: Okay. So you're,you're getting into the computer, so we're talking if I'm doing my math right, that was about 50 years ago that you're involved in the shredding, chopping cable, shredding mainframe computer components. Is that about right? John: That's about right. Yep. Dave: Okay. And then how did we get from there to Compu cycle? John: Well, in 19. In 1966, I was offered an opportunity to come to, sorry, I'm getting myself messed up. It was 1986 that I had an opportunity to come to the United States to manage a company that distributed bras and copper bars and rods. Dave: okay. John: And we, while whilst there, I started a scrap division and that scrap division eventually became Compus Cycle. Okay. Right. Dave: Okay. So did, so was Compus Cycle like a literal spinoff from that company or was, did the idea come to you while you were there and you started a completely separate company? John: Well, we started it as a spinoff of that original company and, after a few years of running that business, I decided to leave the parent business and, get comp cycle going on its own. comp cycle...
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    54 mins
  • Ep072: Software as a Competitive Advantage with Gordon Driscoll

    Ep072: Software as a Competitive Advantage with Gordon Driscoll
    Mar 17 2026
    Today on the IC-DISC Show we're talking with Gordon Driscoll. Having spent his early career at Goldman Sachs investing tens of millions into metals companies, he kept noticing they were running their operations on Excel spreadsheets and software from the 1980s. That gap became Green Spark, a cloud-based platform now in over 900 scrap metal recycling locations. In this conversation, Gordon talks about what it took to break into an industry where relationships go back generations, why he thinks most business owners are thinking about software wrong, and how his team earned credibility by acting more like a partner than a vendor. He also shares a customer story that stuck with me about a scale operator who got his first lunch break in six years. Whether you're in scrap or not, Gordon's thinking on sustainable growth, earning the right to disrupt, and treating technology as a competitive advantage rather than a cost center is worth your time. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS Why a Goldman Sachs investment banker left finance to build software for scrap yardsThe massive technology gap Gordon kept seeing in companies handling tens of millions in materialsHow Green Spark grew to 900+ locations by acting like a partner, not just a vendorThe customer story about a scale operator getting his first lunch break in six yearsWhy Gordon believes you have to earn the right to disrupt an industry, and what that looks like in practiceThe mindset shift from treating software as a cost center to using it as a competitive advantage Contact Details LinkedIn - Gordon Driscoll LINKS Show NotesBe a Guest About IC-DISC AllianceAbout Green Spark Software Gordon DriscollAbout Gordon TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Gordon: And I think that a lot of folks, candidly, just because they're not used to either our model or what technology can do today, they don't realize, which is changing, they still view software as a cost center. And ultimately the tools that we're seeing and the applications that we are pushing to the industry, a lot of our customers view as a competitive advantage. Dave: Good morning, Gordon. So where are you calling in from today? Gordon: Hey, Dave. Appreciate you having me on. I'm in Brooklyn, New York today. Dave: Oh, okay. That is great. So I must say, I know a lot of folks in the scrap metal industry, service providers, yard operators, brokers, but you seem to have a particularly unique background. So why don't you tell the story from the time you graduated college? Sounds like you spent some time in investment banking in New York. And what caused you to have this epiphany that you wanted to go provide software in the scrap metal industry? Gordon: Yeah, no, of course. It's worth an explanation because looking at my background on paper from finance to scrap software, it doesn't make much sense. So yeah, started my career in financial services, spent a few years in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and then moved into private equity investing, but all of that centered on natural resources, broadly speaking, but specifically the metals industry. So spent a lot of time up and down the value chain, anything from box site refineries in Australia to working with the biggest mills in the country like Cliffs or JW Aluminum or things of that nature. And then in the investing side, spent really just as much time on what I'll call the kind of conventional resource as I did the technology. And I quickly realized the businesses that we were at times giving tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars were either using Excel spreadsheets to run their business or platforms that were based in or founded in the '80s, '90s and 2000s, and ultimately saw similar patterns in the recycling industry. And by no means is using a system like that wrong by definition or inherent, but ultimately saw a massive opportunity to bring an industry that is deceptively huge that no one really pays attention to outside of the folk in the industry and folks who we saw it when we started in 2020 who are quite literally essential workers, bringing that technology to them. And it's been an awesome six years. It's been very exciting. I think that what we wanted to do, clearly the market has responded well, which I'm sure we will get into. And what's really exciting for me is not only working with the folks in this industry on a day in and day out basis, and I can talk to my relationship to the industry and general thoughts, but also specifically as technology has not really progressed linearly over the last couple years, but obviously I had some step changes with AI, being able to innovate alongside this industry and partner with our customers to bring those step changes to an industry like this. It's been super exciting. Dave: Now, well, thank you for that background recap. So let's talk about the founding of the company. So where did the name come from, Green Spark? Gordon: Yeah, great question. I...
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    43 mins
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