Happy 70th, John! — A Celebration of John S. Rinaldi

The man we’re celebrating

Seventy years of shooting his mouth off — and being right.

For more than three decades, John has built the quiet plumbing that lets the world’s factories and buildings talk to each other. But ask anyone in industrial automation and they won’t mention gateways first — they’ll mention the personality.

He calls himself the “Dr. Phil of Industrial Automation” — because, in his words, he shoots his mouth off a lot, he’s “not nearly as smart as I think I am,” and if he didn’t shave his head every day he’d have a perfect horseshoe of gray hair around his noggin. He’s also, by his own cheerful admission, “just some Wisconsin cheesehead” at a company where “beer and cheese could be on our logo.”

An engineer who started a toy company, built avatars before video games made them cool, wrote books people actually laughed at, beat cancer, and then gave his whole company to its employees — John has never done anything the ordinary way. Seventy years in, he’s still the loudest, funniest, kindest voice in the room.

John with his godson Paul in St. Peter's Square, Rome, 2019

With his godson Paul · St. Peter’s Square, Rome · 2019

John S. Rinaldi

Founder & Chief Strategist
Real Time Automation · Pewaukee, WI

Born June 21, 1956 Marquette EE UConn MS CS 7 books Scuba diver Tai Chi

The long, winding, wonderful road

The story so far

From ladder logic to living legend — a life that refused to stay in one lane.

June 21, 1956

A future cheesehead is born

The son of Rocco Rinaldi — a man with a second-grade education who insisted his boy become an engineer, even if he wasn’t quite sure what one was.

Marquette University

Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering

The foundation for a career he’d spend decades insisting he wasn’t very good at — while quietly becoming one of its most trusted voices.

Early career

P&G, Kimberly-Clark & Allen-Bradley

Enterprise systems, factory-floor controls, and device development. He famously quit jobs every two years — “and when I didn’t quit, they fired me.”

University of Connecticut

Master’s in Computer Science

Back to “the comfortable halls of academia,” where he built groundbreaking controls for intelligent avatars — long before gaming made them famous.

1989

Real Time Automation is born

A failing toy company plus a ringing phone from Allen-Bradley became a worldwide business. The big idea: why pay for a Swiss Army knife when all you need is a butter knife?

The author

Seven books & 100+ articles

The “Everyman’s Guide” series on Modbus, OPC UA and EtherNet/IP become the industry’s go-to reads — written with rare personality and humor.

2012

He takes the plunge

At a “Discover Scuba Diving” sign in Hawaii, John — “scared to death” — jumps in anyway. A sea turtle glides by. He never looks back.

2019

BizTimes Bravo! Entrepreneur Award

Southeastern Wisconsin honors the founder who hides toys in shipping boxes and takes his whole team to Hawaii when sales double. (The same year as that Rome trip up top.)

June 21, 2021

A very unusual birthday

On his 65th birthday, John learns he has cancer. He fights it head-on — and beats it. “I now feel more surrounded by love than at any other time in my life.”

2023

He gives the company away

After 34 years, John makes RTA employee-owned — a gift to the team who built it with him. Pure John.

2024

Honoring “the DASH”

His mother passes weeks short of 102. He writes about the little dash between two dates — “That ‘DASH’ is everything!”

June 21, 2026

Seventy today — still charging windmills

Still writing, still speaking, still diving, still picking fights with Fortune 500 emperors who have no clothes. Happy birthday, John.

In his own words

The wit & wisdom of John

You don’t spend 70 years being this quotable by accident.

I like to call myself the Dr. Phil of Industrial Automation.

— On his life’s calling

Why pay for a Swiss Army knife, when all you need is a butter knife?

— The idea that built RTA

I am not just an optimist; I am an extreme optimist. I believe that when pushed from a plane I will find a parachute on the way down.

— Q1 2023 newsletter

Be Pistachio ice cream, not vanilla.

— On standing out, Q2 2022

If you act like food, they will treat you like food.

— On meeting a shark while diving

I may be wrong, but unlike the early astronauts, I prefer the humiliation of a mistake to a fiery explosion.

— Still charging windmills, 2026

The Good Life · as featured in BizTimes Milwaukee

The day he took the plunge

While bicycling around the island of Hawaii in 2012, John saw a sign: “Discover Scuba Diving.” He’d just lost two friends — both in their 30s — who died suddenly. So he decided to embrace the fear and live in the moment.

“I was scared to death. I was even scared in the pool.”

Moments before his first dive, he looked down and saw a giant sea turtle glide past. Under the sea it was warm and peaceful. He decided right then: he’d do more of this. Sixty-plus dives later — sharks and all — he still believes every word: “You have to live the best life you can. You could have five minutes left or 50 years.”

A very unusual birthday · 2021

The bravest year

On his 65th birthday, the gift was a diagnosis. “C-A-N-C-E-R. Are there any other six letters that can generate so much emotion and fear?” John wrote about it the way he writes about everything — honestly, and with a joke tucked inside the fear.

“One of the wonderful things about the c-word is that it has broken down barriers with friends.”

He beat it. And what he remembered most wasn’t the fear — it was the flood of letters, calls and cards: “I’ll never doubt the generosity and good nature of my fellow man ever again.” Five years later, here we are — celebrating 70.

From the “Best Darn Newsletter, Period!”

Eighty issues of John, unfiltered

Four times a year for two decades, John wrote a personal column that wandered from automation to sauerkraut to the meaning of life. A few of the best lines:

On his father, Rocco

“I worked hard, married a good woman and raised two sons.” — his dad’s whispered ‘sentence’ for a life

On his mother, 1922–2024

“That little line between the birth year and the end year represents so much… That ‘DASH’ is everything!”

To new graduates

“I wish them loneliness to learn the value of friendship… I am wishing them ‘bad luck’.”

On gratitude

“Gratitude is priceless, but conveying it costs no more than a postage stamp.”

On going his own way

“Going against the grain is my #1 philosophy of life… I’m sort of obstinate about being obstinate.”

On being a square peg

“I’m just some Wisconsin cheesehead saying that this emperor from the big Fortune 500 company has no clothes.”

On admitting he’s wrong

“OK, I was wrong… Excuse me while I get back to eating my barbequed crow dinner with Steve Ballmer.”

On the digital age

“We’re trying to fit our round analog butts into square digital holes. We’re not digital. We need touch.”

On mistakes (the 30-second rule)

“We’re going to make mistakes. We can’t control that, but we can control how we respond.”

On big mistakes · 2013

“I’ve made massive business mistakes. Not little hamster poop type mistakes — dinosaur poop mistakes!”

On an American in Bologna · 2012

“I don’t know if you ever heard of it but it’s called the OLIVE GARDEN!” — a fellow tourist, on the best food in Italy

On self-control · 2011

“If you bring in donuts when I’m in the office you get laid off. I have little to no self control.”

The bookshelf

The “Everyman’s Guide” library

Technical books that somehow made people laugh — the industry’s go-to reads.

Modbus: The Everyman’s Guide

Why a 1970s protocol will live forever.

OPC UA: The Basics

The big idea, minus 20 years of embedded programming.

OPC UA – The Everyman’s Guide

The deeper dive into Unified Architecture.

EtherNet/IP: The Everyman’s Guide

Bedside reading for the factory floor.

The Industrial Ethernet Book

Now in its third edition — with the IoT added in.

Beyond the factory floor

The other sides of John

🐢

Scuba Diving

Prouder of his Advanced Open Water certification than any degree.

☯️

Tai Chi

Patience, balance and yin-and-yang — which somehow shaped how he runs a company.

🎖️

Honor Flight

A devoted supporter of Stars and Stripes Honor Flight Milwaukee, flying veterans to their memorials.

🎁

Toys in the Box

Every RTA shipment hides a toy. Collect all six, win a helicopter. People fight over who opens the box.

📌

Paul and his Godfather John in Rome, 2019

Us in St. Peter’s Square, Rome — 2019

A special note

To my Godfather

Happy 70th birthday, Uncle John. And happy Father's day. Thank you — for being my Godfather, and for always putting in the time and effort that has left me with much to live up to as uncle, Godfather, and mentor.

You’ve spent a lifetime teaching people to keep things simple, to be brave enough to take the plunge, to do the opposite of the million other people, and to never wait for “someday.” I’ve seen bits and parts of it: your travels, your books, your opinions, your jokes to Canon and others, the cancer, the deaths of many who you held close and looked up to, the other challenges unmentioned, the funny articles like getting sued for $3M, Aunt Laura, and the many imparted lessons such as separating work and play and the fun of Sambuca in a cappuccino. I’ve been lucky to have you as a strong example of a father in business, spirit, and life. And so it is so very fitting to celebrate the day you came into the world, the day you began your spiritual fatherhood to me, and all the days of your life.

Here’s to you today Zio, and to many more dives, people to say no to, and dashes worth filling. Love you.

Love, PaulYour Godson

Happy 70^th Birthday,John S. Rinaldi