ENTREPRENEUR WATCH

Mark Galvin, President & CEO of Whaleback Systems. Michael McCord photo

Talk about a quick ascent. In fewer than three years, Mark Galvin, the founder of Whaleback Systems, has seen his company grow from three employees and his home location in Rye to 43 workers and a prime location at Pease International Tradeport.

In a sign of the changing times and fortunes, Whaleback now occupies space in a huge manufacturing plant once meant for Celestica.

Whaleback Systems bills itself as the first business phone solution built from the ground up for broadband for small and medium businesses. The goal, Galvin told Ventures, is to leverage VOIP (or voice over Internet protocol) technology to help this sector to reduce capital and operating costs while taking advantage of full-featured telephone services.

"We are taking advantage of a technology shift in the whole marketplace," said Galvin, who has started four companies in fewer than two decades, the most prominent being Cedar Point Communications. "Small business can get the same advanced features (in the telephone systems) as you see in Fortune 500 companies."

Galvin's reputation in the industry has helped the company draw solid venture capital financing, around $15 million from firms such as Ascent Venture Partners, Castle Ventures and Egan-Managed Capital.

He studied mathematics and computer sciences at McGill University in Montreal and quickly found his path in the telephone side of the telecommunications industry. He said Whaleback "" named after a local lighthouse "" is now in the revenue-generating stage and is adding customers at a rapid rate. The company's SMB market is focused mostly on the Atlantic Seaboard but is drawing more interest across the country.

On the advantage of building a company from scratch:

You can set a culture of zero politics, one in which everybody is rowing in the same direction. You can keep the BS level low and give everybody an opportunity. There is no boundary to what they can contribute because we always have too much work to do with too few people. It's my job to evangelize the product and this has become fun because this is a good product that delivers on its promises.

On his management style:

When I started my first company I really didn't know anything. I learned in the school of hard knocks and have learned a lot from everyone in 15 years of VC board meetings. A lot of CEOs put up a front but I've found it's best for me to have fun, to act like Mark, which means I can be kind of a childish 47-year-old. I do well 99 times out of 100 when I be myself.

On competing with industry giants:

This a very vast mass market, around $20 billion. Everybody needs to communicate and on average, small to medium size businesses change their phone systems every five years. We can be a leader in this category because unlike our larger competitors, we aren't stuck in the mud with old technology. We have custom-built solutions for companies like a small law firm with two phones or a growing business with 200 seats.

On loving health savings accounts for his employees:

They love HSAs because it makes the most sense for their families and budget. We did the research and it's the only solution I've seen that could truly help solve the health care mess. Education is the key and it took us a while to learn about how to make better choices.

On having no exit strategy:

I've never started a company with an exit strategy. That's for other people to think about and I know it's important for investors. What we focus on is a liquidity strategy. If we focus on building a successful company, if every dollar we spend goes to creating products for the marketplace, then things will take care of themselves in the long run.