Techies are from Venus, Salespeople are from Mars:Strategies for effective communication in a

start-up environment

Lance Laking, CEO April 3, 2008

3

Outline

Set the stage - the BTI context

Culture & communication style

Fostering teamwork

Challenges

Compensation / incentive programs

Q&A

4

Introduction

Access

Packet Optical Edge

MetroCore

Mission: A leading global supplier ofPacket Optical Edge solutions forservice provider & corporatenetworks Gigabit Services for 4G Wireless, HD Video &

Business Services

Packet + Optical + Edge Technology

Carrier Class quality and performance

90 customers

Strategic partnership with Fujitsufor Tier 1 Carriers

Global OEMs relationships

Global addressable market growingto $3.5B+ by 2010

180+ employees: Canada, US and Europe

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A Gigabit World Driven By Growth in Video

Mb DataTransport

Log Scale

Wireline Apps Wireless Apps

Online Video: 7% traffic in 2005 18% in 2007Metro IP Traffic Growth Forecast: 400% 2006 2011*

*Source: Cisco Systems Global IP Traffic Forecast - 2007

0.01

0.1

1

10

100

1000

10000

Wireline Apps Wireless Apps

MP33 Mb

iTunes3 minVideo38 Mb

HDMovie6 Gb

iTunesfeaturemovie1500 Mb

Photoshare30 Kb

15 s Videomsg 15 fps0.9 Mb

3min Vcast15 fps10.8Mb

20 min video30 fps 180 Mb

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BTI Systems’ Leadership Team & Investors

Lance Laking (BTI 2001) President & CEO HUBER+SUHNER, Dynasty

Components

Glenn Thurston (BTI 2004) VP Marketing Nortel (VP Global Alliances)

Paul Harrison (BTI 2005) VP Global Sales - Dallas Ekinops, Xtera, Alcatel US, Italy, Marconi UK

Jon Boocock (BTI 2007) VP Engineering VP/Co-Founder Catena (Ciena) VP Cadence

Franca Marinelli (BTI2007)

VP Organizational Development Catena / DRS / Spar Aerospace

John Haydon (BTI 2008) SVP Global Operations Breconridge, President &COO Nortel, Chief Procurement

Officer

Gregory Koss Exec Chairman (BTI 2007)

• CEO of Internet Photonics sold to CIENA in 2004• CEO of Sonoma Systems sold to Nortel in 2000

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Service Delivery Platform

Data Storage SONET/SDH Video

MobileInternet

VideoConsumerServices

BusinessServices

EnterpriseNetworks

WholesaleServices

Extensive Protocol Suite to Deliver Today’s Services & Applications

Full Packet + Optical Flexibility for Metro/Edge Applications

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The take-away: our playing field:

A very technical product

A technical sales process

A long, complex, B2B sales cycle

High growth market dynamics

Very much a David & Goliath landscape

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Functional view: 125% headcount growth

16

6

45

9

4

Sales & Marketing

Product Marketing

Development

Mfg & Ops

Finance, IT & HR

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6

109

28

8

2007: 80 employees

2008: 180 employees

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Venus & Mars

Photonics research

Sales & MarketingSoftwareEngineers

+

= ???

+

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Motivation & drive:different strokes for different folks

Peer recognition

Papers published, patentapplications

Speaking at industryforums

Technical challenge

“coin operated”

“show me themoney”

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But wait a minute:we’re not that different

Everyone needs recognition - the “feeling” that you are

important, that you are contributing to the success of the

business, and that your efforts are respected and

appreciated by fellow employees

On budget / On time

Cracking a new customer

Selling on value

Customer testimonials – helping solve real problems

Technical teams want to work on a successful products.

Sales teams want to sell winning products. The common

metric is real customers and market share.

13

Culture

Every company has a culture, every company has politics

• Perception is reality

• Work with it

Observations / my sandbox

• Significant company restructuring in 2002

• Culture changes with company lifecycle:

― The $1M, 5M, 10M, 25M, 50M, 100M barriers

• We’re trés multinational

• Recruiting push to capture expanding market

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Communication style

• Not your `typical` Tech CEO

• Be OPEN, honest, straightforward

• Try to tie in the remote teams

• Set 3, clear over-arching objectives, & repeat

• Share the numbers, the good, the bad & the ugly

• Regular informal updates

• Semi-annual formal update

• No problem with mistakes (but not repeat mistakes)

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Challenges

The VC influence

• The same vested interest or ??

• An exit and minimum 20% IRR is natural

As the company grows up…

• Start-up excuses go away

• Employment / HR expectations expand

• Balancing formal (employee handbook)with informal (“just do it”) gets harder

• Act BIG, be small gets harder

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Fostering teamwork

Trade notes

• Technical teams are starved for customer feedback

• Sales teams are starved to technical innovation / uniqueness

Push decisions to where the expertise resides

Product marketing / product line management isthe key linkage

On occasion…take a ‘software geek’ to a customer,and bring a ‘sales puke’ into the lab

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Fostering teamwork – have fun

If a man insisted always on being serious,

and never allowed himself

a bit of fun and relaxation,

he would go mad or become unstable

without knowing itHerodotus

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Fostering teamwork – have fun

Organize events at least quarterly• beach volleyball• yoga• Skating on the canal,• curling (yes, curling)• picnics, ziplines, whatever• at least one party with spouses / guests

The leader sets the tone, but the activitiesare best when event coordination is spreadaround

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Compensation & Incentives

Fair, transparent and equitable

• People talk, especially engineers

Salaries (the “start-up” factor)

• You have to be competitive – but not the highest

• You have to pay a premium for “A” players – but it’s worth it

• Challenge, responsibility, recognition and reward trump pure $$$

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Compensation & Incentives

Company-wide incentive plan• 10% “at plan” , 20% stretch

• Metrics must be aggressive, but realistic

• Combination of financial / market / product milestones

• Always drive home the capital efficiency message (Cash FlowPositive…)

Stock Options• Still in vogue, but not Holy Grail

“Fun” and other rewards work• Create a friendly competition / bragging rights• Does not require big bags of $$$• Examples: IP², a goofy award, employee referral bonus

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Closing comments - Marrying Teams:

Set a tone that is open, based on mutual respect, and

interactive

Don’t play favourites

Communicate frequently – informally and formally

Tie in customer and market touch wherever and whenever

you can

Structure rewards and incentives to reinforce the behaviour

and culture that you are looking for

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Thank-you