Gaston Glock

Austrian engineer and businessman who designed the Glock pistol with no firearms industry background — producing a revolutionary design that became the world's most widely used handgun.

Outsider disruption: Glock had manufactured polymer curtain rods before entering a military contract competition for a new Austrian service pistol. Without industry preconceptions, he designed a simple, reliable, lightweight polymer-framed pistol that outperformed metal-framed competitors. Captured the U.S. law enforcement market in the 1980s-90s after the FBI adopted it. Today, approximately 65% of American law enforcement carries a Glock. The product itself — simpler, more reliable, cheaper — is the entrepreneurial story.