Lucky

As the buzz continues to build on “Beyond Everywhere”, the new book by Greg Ennis, I thought it would be fun to share a going away message that I distributed to our membership when I left the Wi-Fi Alliance. This was back in the summer of 2007, when I was wrapping my duties as the organization’s first Managing Director. ?I wrote most of this on a flight home from Beijing to Austin, TX.? I always do some of my best work on a plane- 35k feet in the air, headphones on, no distractions. This time, I felt really in the zone.? It was kind of like that scene in the movie Jerry Maguire when he stays up all night to write a mission statement.? Boom!? As I was typing the finish, the gentleman next to me leaned over and said-- “pretty cool!”.? I guess he had been reading over my shoulder for a while and enjoyed the story.? I responded, “yeah—we were all very lucky to be a part of this”.? As I reflect on that moment now, about 16 years ago, so much has changed.? Wi-Fi is far more successful than any of us could have envisioned, enabling work and play that was unimaginable.? It really did change the world.? And, today, I feel the very same way that I did on that long flight home.? Lucky. Very lucky!

Summer 2007 (original text to the membership of the Wi-Fi Alliance)

Every now and then, an opportunity presents itself to change the world, at least in a small way.? In 2003, I was given one of those opportunities.

I had been part of the WLAN industry since 1998.? Back then, it was called the WLAN industry because we had not yet invented the term “Wi-Fi”.? When I was first exposed to the technology as a product line manager at Dell, I vividly recall most of our reactions.? Quite frankly, most of us could not believe this stuff was real.? Broadband without wires; it was like magic!

After over a decade of failed attempts to bring wireless data to the masses, I sensed that we were on the verge of something big.? Could this be one of those high-impact technologies that really does change everything?? Is unlicensed spectrum the new currency to democratize the internet without wires? Could this be something on the order of the telegraph, the light bulb, or the automobile? I felt the potential was there, and I was a bit giddy that I was part of a small, privileged group to catch a glimpse of what the future may hold.

At Dell, I launched our first notebook solution with WLAN at Comdex 1999.? Even though Comdex was in its heyday, our announcement stood above the noise and was an instant hit with the press, analysts, and early-adopters.? Truth be told, we already had a bit of wind to our back since our good friends at Apple introduced a similar solution about two months earlier.? However, Dell’s launch as a relatively conservative, mass-market PC OEM signaled that this technology had the potential to move into the mainstream.? We were at an inflection point in the market for broadband communications…and it was going to get fun.

The early days of WECA

Although I had responsibility for our consumer-oriented communications products at Dell, I really wanted to focus on this new thing called 802.11b WLAN.? Some of the other stuff I got to work with was cool, but this was “change-the-world” kind of cool.? I really wanted the chance to be one of the “founding fathers” of this new wireless revolution.? As a result, I left Dell in the spring of 2000 to join a start-up called Mobilian.? Mobilian was a fabless semiconductor company which was focused on building multi-standard wireless chipsets (Wi-Fi + Bluetooth initially; Wi-Fi + Bluetooth+ cellular down the road).? My position as VP of marketing gave me a compelling reason to participate in the Wi-Fi Alliance (then known as WECA).? Back then, the venture capital community was beginning to grasp the potential for Wi-Fi, so WLAN semiconductor start-ups were springing up almost daily.? At one point in 2001, I think there were well over 30 separate companies doing some form of WLAN silicon, and probably over 50 in the overall WLAN space.? This was the age of the tech boom, and there was a proverbial “land grab” underway to get a piece of the WLAN action.? It really was getting fun. In previous roles during my career, I had been exposed to some standards groups and industry associations.? Honestly, most seemed rather dysfunctional.? WECA, however, was different.? There was passion. There was commitment.? There were results.

My first meeting was in Amsterdam in August 2000. Even though there were only about 60 of us in attendance, you could feel the energy in the room.? We were going to make this technology big, really big, and have a lot of fun in the process.

I participated in the WECA/Wi-Fi Alliance for the next three years.? I contributed to a variety of TG’s, helped evangelize the concept of dual-band solutions, and steered us away from creating a separate logo for 5Ghz. When Mobilian’s prospects for a lucrative exit began to wane, I began thinking about what was next.? I wanted to stay in the Wi-Fi space, but the high-tech industry was now in the throes of a tech bust. What to do?? The answer would soon become clear. So, do you want to become a Managing Director?? I was approached by a member of the Wi-Fi Alliance board who suggested that I apply for the new position of Managing Director of the Wi-Fi Alliance.? The Alliance was now three years old, and was in desperate need of a full-time, professional manager to help scale the organization to keep pace with the hyper growth of the industry.? At first, I did not take the request seriously, thinking: “but I’m a capitalistic, for-profit kind of guy.? Why would I join a not-for-profit organization?”.? Also, there was the initial question of “what is a Managing Director, and is that a real job!”.

As I reflected upon the opportunity and spoke with some other members of the Board, I quickly expanded my thinking.? It seemed like this could truly be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I could stay in an industry I loved.? I could continue to work with a great group of people and meet many more throughout the world.? And, if I did well, I could build a legacy that could have a far-reaching impact on the industry and society at large.?

So, I jumped in!? At that time, our industry was shipping about 70M units a year.? Not bad for a technology that was largely three years old, but I felt we were just getting started.

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The early years: are we having fun yet?

I have always worked hard in my career.? So, I was certainly not afraid of doing that again.? As a member of WFA for the past three years, I thought I had a pretty good sense for what needed to be done, and I felt confident that I could hit the ground running.? When I arrived, however, I quickly realized that things would be tougher than anticipated.

? The organization was massively struggling to keep pace with our industry’s growth.? As a result, the level of service we were delivering to our members required an overhaul.? We needed infrastructure.? We needed process.? We needed people…and we needed these all “yesterday”.? Over the next few years, we prioritized our needs and systematically rebuilt the organization to better scale with our bold expectations for the future. We moved headquarters to Austin, TX.? We opened an R & D lab in San Jose, CA.? We set up a network of 3rd party ISO accredited certification labs to replace the single-source relationship which was previously in place.? We hired a world class staff.? Many of these changes were difficult, involving changes in people and partner relationships.? We worked through them with solid planning and determination. We leveraged our “early wins” to build momentum.? It was tough, but we did it.? As a member, hopefully, most of these changes were transparent to you, and our service and capabilities just magically started to improve and expand. What we accomplished.

Today, I look at where we are and feel proud of what we have accomplished.? We shipped over 200M units last year as an industry.? While most technologies never even get to that point, we are on track to ship over 1B units annually within the coming years.? This is being fueled by our expansion into new product categories like consumer electronics and handsets, and new geographies like China and India.? In summary, Wi-Fi has moved from a cool, niche, technology, to something that is part of the mainstream.? However, you don’t have to take my word for it.? You can just check the Merriam Webster dictionary (we were added in 2005). Now, how many technologies can say that?

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The road ahead

I feel privileged to have been the first Managing Director of this great organization.? I know that I will always look back at my time with the Alliance with the fondest of memories.? We have made a big, big impact on our industry, on society, and on how new technologies are brought to market.? We should all feel not just good about that, but great. Looking ahead, I still see tremendous opportunity.? The installed base of Wi-Fi is around 500M units.? There are north of 6 billion people in the world.? Do the math.? This translates into tremendous opportunity.

I think what I will miss most about this position is the chance I have had to work with some of the smartest and most passionate technology people on the planet.? We have worked hard. We have played hard.? We have brought the Wi-Fi Alliance banner to the base camp of Mt. Everest (really). During the past few years, I have met with incredibly innovative member companies, heads of state, and a variety of “power brokers” around the world.? In each of these meetings, I have always tried my best to reflect the image of the Alliance with the highest professionalism, integrity, and passion.? I feel I have left the organization and industry in a better place. I feel confident that you will find a great new leader to take this organization to the next level.

As a former Latin student, one of my favorite quotes is from Julius Caesar: “Veni, Vidi, Vici”, which means, “I came, I saw, I conquered”.? I feel this really does summarize a lot of what our organization has accomplished over the past 7 years.? It is a big world, so let’s keep taking the next hill, and the next!

My sincere thanks for all of your support and belief in me.? Let’s keep in touch!

Sincerely,

Frank D. Hanzlik

Managing Director