Small diversified businesses that made their way to success – Part 3

While it is often large companies cited in media accounts supporting liberalized immigration rules for highly-skilled foreign nationals, Lekacz points out that hiring the right person can be even more critical for newer companies.  “When in the emerging growth phase you have to get the best person without regard to race or ethnicity,” he said. “We have a mix of people from all backgrounds. It’s pretty amazing. It just naturally happened. They were the best people for the job.”

ExteNet Systems helps provide infrastructure solutions for wireless service providers, often doing it at a savings of 30 to 50 percent, according to Lekacz. To drive down the costs and avoid the costs often associated with “wiring” a building – it’s been necessary for ExteNet Systems to be creative. An important part of that creativity has come from Tormod Larsen, the chief technology officer who was born in Norway. “Through his knowledge and expertise, Tormod has developed patents and also helped identify patents we needed to acquire,” said Lekacz. Steve Kingwell, vice president of implementation, was born in Canada. Based in Lisle, Illinois, ExteNet Systems raised $128 million in capital in 2010.

Another company that venture capitalists believe may be poised for growth is Achaogen, based in South San Francisco, California. The company “develops small molecule therapeutics to treat multi-drug resistant bacterial infections.” Its focus is “addressing serious medical needs caused by the development of bacterial resistance to antibiotics.”

Started in 2004, by four U.S.–born founders, the company today is led by CEO and Chief Medical Officer Kenneth J. Hillan, who was born in Scotland and received his medical training at the University of Glasgow.

“Achaogen has a very diverse group of managers and employees, including employees from Scotland, India, Ireland and other countries,” according to John Hollway, Achaogen’s vice president for business development. “We rely on their diversity and creativity to solve the many challenging problems of drug development.”

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Posted by Usman Khalid on Jan 30 2012. Filed under Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.