An entrepreneur for 10 years, Rick Morani has worked as the Senior
Technology Executive of a national print & direct marketing firm
and as a Senior Manager with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). Mr.
Morani founded technology consulting firm HMG Technologies in 1997 and
has led the company to consecutive years of steady growth. Currently,
he is President of Octave Technology, Inc.,
which provides software solutions for management of data collected
through wireless sensor networks. Amplifier Network recently spoke
with Rick about his company and its future.
Amplifier: What does your company do?
Morani: Octave Technology builds software that makes it easy & cost effective for companies to utilize & integrate emerging wireless sensor technology.
Amplifier: What problem does it solve?
Morani: Organizations looking to adopt wireless sensor technology are facing a twofold, daunting task: First, there’s the question of which sensor device manufacturer is best for their program; and second, there’s the matter of how to approach the software development and integration requirements, which to date have been characterized as difficult and costly.
Our software product (the OCTAVEX Wireless Sensor Framework) was designed from the beginning to be able to work with any type of sensor device hardware or wireless communications protocol. Leveraging this flexibility and taking care of the complexity and primary application functions, Octave software allows organizations to reduce their software development costs and schedules by over 75%, while providing an easy and cost effective approach toward enterprise systems integration.
Amplifier: What is unique about your company?
Morani: From our early product experiences we understand the value and potential of doing business through channel and OEM partners. While we certainly will continue to pursue getting our brand out into the market, a key strategy is our pursuit of channel deals where our software gets into the hands of end consumers, regardless of brand name affiliation.
Amplifier: When did you start your company?
Morani: The company was started in 2003 to develop software to enable companies to better utilize available Auto-ID technologies (contact memory, RFID, etc.). During ongoing research, our focus shifted to the Wireless Sensor technology market in 2005.
Amplifier: How have you funded the company to date?
Morani: Funding to date has been achieved through founder and employee equity contributions, some debt financing, and through management team sweat equity contributions during our formative years.
Amplifier: At what stage of development is your company?
Morani: Version 1.0 of our Wireless Sensor Framework product was released in late 2006. We have an initial and developing customer base, and are now focused on attaining the funding we need to more aggressively engage in sales and marketing and begin to grow the company.
Amplifier: What is your biggest current challenge?
Morani: Going through the fund-raising “gauntlet” is our biggest current challenge. We have a great product, we are positioned to serve a huge market, and we have a level of business maturity and acumen that we’d like to get some credit for. However, the story is complex, the market is still early stage, and the investor community is often risk averse.
Amplifier: What would you be doing if you weren't an entrepreneur?
Morani: That’s a tough one, as I have been wearing the tag of entrepreneur for over ten years now. I guess I would likely have found myself in a CIO position for a mid-sized to large company.
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Octave Technology, Inc. was recently selected as a finalist in the 7th Annual Maryland Incubator Company of the Year Award, and Rick was chosen to participate in the invitation-only MindShare 2007, for CEO's of promising technology companies. Rick spends his spare time coaching local sports teams and is an active member of Ducks Unlimited, a wildlife and wetlands conservation organization.