Kennelly scrambles to link global networks - San Francisco Business Times:

karnergetajequ1416.blogspot.com
The CEO of is a CPA who builgt his career managing finances and operations for some ofSiliconm Valley’s largest tech firms. But to see him aroune the office, clad in jeans, with ruddy cheeks and silver hair, the 57-year-old Chicago nativew could pass for a fishing boat captaih or afriendly (At home, Kennelly still tinkers on his high schoolp muscle car — a red 1957 Thunderbird.) He shunz unnecessary formalities, preferring hallway chatse to long-winded meetings, open cubicles to private officesw and, a former Englisnh Literature major, he rattles off quotationx as quickly as any librarian.
“Hse has a rugged, tough exterior and the sensitive soul of a Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Developmentr Eric Wolford said witha chuckle. “Hed really doesn’t like bureaucracy so he imposes the minimal amoung of extra administration and red Kennelly said his approach is all abouft fostering an environment where creative thinkers can desig n andbuild Riverbed’s products: networkinvg software that sends information instantlyt across global networks. “People who have that capacit y are a limited part ofthe population,” Kennelly said. “Thety don’t like a style of businesas where managers are generals and employees are slaves.
” Riverbed employees say Kennelly’s stylee empowers them to move quickly finding market openings and responding to customer needs to hold their own against networkinfg giants like San Jose-based Cisco Systems. “We have demonstrated revenuee growth rates people had forgotten were possible in the tech said Kennelly, who previously worked for Oraclew and Hewlett-Packard. Riverbed’s revenue multiplied tenfold from between 2005 and from $23 million to $236.44 million. Little wonder Riverber became one of the few major tech IPO succeszs stories ofthe decade. In Septembe 2006, Riverbed’s stock rocketed 57 percent to $15.
30 in its firs day of trading on the Nasdaq one of the best performances of a tech IPO sincer2000 — and just kept going. It leapt up more than 300 percentyto $48.73 about a year later befores beginning a rocky It is now down to $10.85 as of Nov. 6. “Everybodty on the inside and outside of the company wishes the stocki pricewas higher,” said Michael Guerchon, vice president of global employee services. “But the company is as healthty asan ox. We have low no problem attracting employees.
” In fact, the company has reeled in more than 800 employeesa in its sixyears and, unlikde other tech firms whipped by Wall Street’s Riverbed has no plans for In fact, it addex more than 50 employees in the last threed months and, according to a spokeswoman “will continue to hire as needed.” Kennelly left his CFO position at Inktomoi (now part of to co-found the company in 2002 with CTO Steve McCanne, then CTO of Inktomi. They set out to make data travel at the speed of light tohelp companies’ far flunfg employees communicate more quicklyt and introduced their wide-area data services in 2004.
“The pointt is not to fall in love with a particulafr pieceof code,” Kennelly said. “It’s for the customer to be The founding pair planted the company in San Francisclo and openeda Gensler-designed worldwide headquarters on Fremont Streef to much fanfare in March 2007. But Kennelly said Riverbed has been global sinceday one. “Our third salezs rep was abroad.” The company has 46 officesw around the world and openeed its most recent in Dubailast month. Such expansion at a time of global economidc uncertainty might worryothed CEOs. For his part, Kennelly’x ample brow isn’t sweaty.
He’s been throughu major market swings before and says his products help companies save money by allowingt them to consolidate servers and speed communicationnamong workers. Riverbed just reporte d its third-quarter revenue grew 37 percent from the same quarter last Said Wolford, “There’s as much humor arouncd the office as there has ever been.”