Meeting significant earnout targets with an unproven team in a volatile high-growth environment after being acquired by an industry leader.

Building confidence and market acceptance for a leading edge technology.

Building a product line from scratch to support a profitable and sustainable revenue stream.

• First startup acquisition (out of 34) to meet all earnouts ($500M)

• First Telcordia qualified widely tunable laser for the industry.

• Comprehensive documentation for MEMS-VCSEL tunable lasers, including a design guide, technical specs, Telcordia qualification results, and a series of white papers on the core technology

• Co-editor for the tunable laser MSA, Optical Internetworking Forum

Clear priorities and rigorous focus were essential to meet the performance mandates. The team had incredible credentials (>100 PhDs!) but could resemble a herd of really smart cats easily bored with the business fundamentals at times. Fortunately key leadership with practical experience stepped in to provide clear direction and keep the necessary resources on track.

This was also an excellent case for appreciating the significance and impact of the ecosystem. Tunable lasers were a key enabler for optical networks but only one element of a complex architecture. Realizing the full potential required a massive overhaul of the existing infrastructure and the need to remain viable in the face of relentless cost reduction efforts by existing technologies to maintain their market position.