Innovator of the Week
Andras Fekete
Founder and CEO of RAIDX
Please provide your 30-second pitch about your company.
RAIDX combines different size and speed drives into a single redundant array and is optimized to make most use of the faster disks. Using patent pending technology, the optimization takes into account the way the array is used and rebalances the layout on the fly. The organization of RAIDX is unlike any other RAID technology. This offers the ability to create an array that can easily add storage to an existing array without a complete rebuild.
Who or what was your best resource for starting your company?
The Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center has been my best resource. From the filing of the patents on my research, to connecting me with other students like Joey Ferraro who can complement my skill set to start a business. They are a great resource for students who have an idea and want to see if there’s a market for it. The ECenter has connected me with grants and competitions that I could apply for in my quest to start a business. This is how I was awarded the Summer Seed Grant and got to work with Joshua Cyr and Mark Kaplan from Alpha Loft to learn what it really means to be a businessman.
What was your biggest obstacle in starting your company and how did you overcome it?
The biggest obstacle was designing something for myself thinking that if it’s a problem for me, it must be a problem for others. In RAIDX, there are certain features that I find extremely cool and useful, but when talking to people in industry, it turns out that I was mistaken and I should be concentrating on other aspects of RAIDX. Overcoming this obstacle probably saved a lot of effort, and all it took was going out the door and talking to people. It’s no small effort, but it’s one of those “DUH, of course!” moments.
What’s the best advice you have received?
Of the many people I talked to about my business, the greatest piece of advice was given to me by John Kealey. He said “Don’t look for people’s pain points, they can take aspirin for that. You want to find people’s migraines.” I try to keep this motto in my mind whenever I’m deciding on the next direction for my company.
What about the NH lifestyle appeals to you?
My wife and I love the mountains. We’ve hiked many of them. I’ve even hiked Mt. Washington a few years back with some friends. The fact that you can drive an hour and you’re at the beach, but an hour in the opposite direction and you’re looking at the Boston skyline from the mountaintop is a treat. How can you say anything bad about a place that is home to the largest arcade in the world? It’s in Laconia.
What does the future look like for your company?
I’m still finishing my PhD in computer science, and I will be traveling to London and Colorado for conferences where I’ll be presenting my recent research. This will also lead to additional exposure for RAIDX. My first plan is to gain more traction and have more customers and potentially partners using RAIDX. Once I have the revenue stream, I will look into expansion.
Connect with RAIDX on Facebook and Twitter or Andras on LinkedIn.