Manufacturer of modular wireless Internet mesh networks, which compete against cable-based systems. (Calabasas)

Growth Rate 693%

Executive:

Bruce Brown, chief executive and founder

Early Days/Financing:

I wanted to build some disruptive technology something that caused people to live their lives a different way. Most of my background was in companies that put together wired, high-speed networks or high-speed broadband. Those technologies are very time consuming to put in place. I wanted to give the same network communication capabilities without the same pain. That’s why our theme “networks without wires” came into being. It takes hours to put in place, and it works the same. The initial round of money was put up by myself and a few other individuals, which was between $2.5 and $3 million.

Big Break:

The real breakthrough was having lots of laptops that needed to connect to wireless networks. There’s no reason to have a wireless network without something to connect it to. The real drive for any new technology is the need for it. We started in April 2000, but we didn’t see momentum until 2003; and then we began to see things really pick up.

Biggest Challenge:

The biggest was picking the best technology for the market. When you start to develop a product you’re never sure if it’s going to be timed properly for the market. And if you wait for the market to appear, you’re too late. There’s a little bit of luck, certainly knowledge and the need to execute on a timely basis and having enough money to do it. My experience, plus knowing personally how I wanted to be able to communicate helped me. I though it’d be a good idea, and thought other people might as well.

Secret of Success:

We have the best technology; it’s been pretty much proven. That helps. We caught the market early. We positioned ourselves properly. From the very beginning we wanted to be a global company. We opened offices in China, Japan and Europe and we made sure we were there as those markets emerged.

What’s Next:

We’re currently the market leaders. We’d like to maintain that leadership. Possibly, not too soon, we may make a public offering. We’ve been around for six years now. You’d expect a company like ours to go public within the next 18 months. This year we will grow by over 300 percent over last year, and we expect that kind of growth to continue over the next few years. Those growth rates and revenue would be pretty compelling for a public offering. We have 75 employees, next year we’ll probably have 140.