Military Mechs
Humans used mechs as war machines. It sounded simple, but in the Age of Mechs, they became ubiquitous. For various reasons, regulations on owning a machine that could wipe out an entire town in a handful of minutes was fairly lax. Anyone decent enough and with the right paperwork could own one.
These days, much more mechs circulated on the market than in the military. Of course, the former couldn't compare to the latter in quality. Nevertheless, when it came to earning money, the private sector was the way to go.
Institutions that taught mech design groomed their students for the private market. Some did a better job than others, but the starting point was always focused on preparing future mech designers to the harsh realities of trying to compete in a cutthroat market.
This inevitably biased his studies and practical experience towards private sector mechs. He learned all about how to market his product and what he needed to pay attention to in order to maximize its sales.