Link_A_Media Devices (LAMD) is a company that has emerged as a new leader in developing and manufacturing custom system-on-chip (SoC) solutions for peripheral data storage devices. This includes hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid-state drives (SSDs). The SoC solution has uniqueness in integrating the read/write channel, disk controller functions, microprocessor(s) and memories, and servo processing for HDD application on a single chip. This company was established in 2004 and has grown over the years as one of the most successful technology-driven companies.
Reza Norouzian is a co-founder of the company. He did his BS in Electrical Engineering from the Ohio State University and has over 20 years of executive level experience in sales and general management in areas of communications and storage semiconductors devices. He was the key person behind developing the company’s partnerships and strategies. He had served earlier in World Wide Sales at Vixel Corporation as Vice President, which is a leader in embedded storage networking field. He was instrumental in complete re-engineering of Vixel to make it a successful merchant storage SoC supplier before the company was taken over by Emulex. He expressed great enthusiasm at the time of joining Vixel and stated that it is management team has established a new market that could dramatically change the way businesses store and access information would take place in the coming years.
Earlier, he served at Transwitch Corporation as Vice President and General Manager. He also held executive positions at Exis Inc., which was NEC Corporation’s/DataPath’s worldwide Storage IC representative, and at GEC Plessey. He started his career in design engineering at General Instruments wherein he came up with some innovative technologies.
The company, in its journey towards growth and excellence, could get a Series B financing to the tune of $22 million in 2008. The credibility of the company and its products was evident from the interest shown by other leading investors in funding the company. The funding round, led by AIG SunAmerica Ventures, was secured from four prominent financial and corporate investors— KeyNote Ventures, NEC Electronics, Micron Technology, Inc and Seagate Technology.1
AIG SunAmerica Ventures has preferred to make an investment in Link_A_Media Devices at the critical phase of technology development. Link_A_Media Devices is providing a unique and distinct opportunity mainly because of its team strength that has a successful track record and deep domain experience. Subsequently, the company could secure another $18 million Series C funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners, a new investor in the company. The other key investors in the company are ITOCHU Technology Ventures, Keynote Ventures, SunAmerica Ventures and several strategic partners. The series of funding availed by the company has enabled it to accelerate the pace of bringing out new products to market.2
1. What entrepreneurial leader’s characteristics are visible in the personality of Reza Norouzian?
2. What are the secrets of success of Link_A_Media Devices?
3. What style of management did Reza Norouzian follow?
4. What type of organizational culture needs to be developed by a company such as
Link_A_Media Devices for long-term success?