Our reputation for nurturing top talent began when we learned how to overcome the worldwide shortage of certain engineering skills by cross-training experts who had different but related skills. We built a formidable 3D graphics team by teaming Linux gurus from Russia with experienced 3D professionals in Silicon Valley. By the mid 1990s, Metabyte became a supplier of software development services to nearly all of the major RDBMS companies, including Oracle, Informix, Sybase and Ingress. There was a shortage of programming talent in this still emerging market, so we built upon our success by hiring professionals from India and Russia to complement our local team.

Metabyte established itself as a major player in the video game industry when the whole field of 3D graphics was still largely unchartered territory. There weren’t enough programmers with the requisite background to meet the needs of this emerging market, so Metabyte looked overseas to build a top-notch 3D graphics team. We found senior Linux programmers in Russia and teamed them with experienced 3D professionals in Silicon Valley. It was a bold experiment, and it worked.

Metabyte is known for fostering innovation. It became a way of life early in our history when employees learned that Manu encouraged innovation, and that they could brainstorm with him for hours on end if they had a new idea. If the idea seemed viable, Manu provided resources to make it a reality.

At first they were small endeavors such as a tool for analyzing 3D graphics performance, or a unique architecture for a client-server application. Then came bolder initiatives like Wicked3D that grew into a leading provider of 3D products for the PC gaming enthusiasts in North America and Europe. And MbTV, the personalization and digital video recorder technology that was spun off as an independent company in which Thomson, Seagate, Canal Plus Technologies, Scientific Atlanta and others invested over $20 million.

Over time, the cycle of innovation—where employees innovate, are encouraged by Metabyte, and then innovate some more—has kept getting larger. An employee who has a strategic insight about a new area of focus for technology services, or who comes up with an idea for a hot new product can be assured of getting the support of the company. And if the company decides the idea has merit, that employee could get to build and run his or her own micro-business unit (MBU).

The MBU concept has become part of our company’s culture, and continues to be a source of high job satisfaction and breathtaking career possibilities. Besides Wicked3D and MbTV,the newest additions to our list of incubated technologies and spun off ventures include HotDoodle, a best-in-class web design service that combines a powerful technology with a 1-on-1 design service for small businesses.

Ideas need funding, so we created Metabyte Ventures, an internal incubator that finances employee innovations we think have strong commercial potential. And since it’s sometimes good to have adult supervision, we’ve also gathered together a brain trust of leading industry professionals to act as advisors.