Friday, May 16, 2008

Former IBM exec now heading Rave Wireless

By Catherine Williams

For first-time CEO Tom Axbey, sleep is a luxury. Axbey said he hasn’t slept since he took up the CEO post at Framingham-based Rave Wireless Inc. on April 2. A self-described hands-on leader, Axbey said he’s been busy trying to learn all aspects of the business.

“I like to lead from the front so I know what’s going on. I like to set the pace,” he said.

Axbey said he took the Rave post because he wanted to return as an “impact player” to the fast pace and “fun” of an early-stage company. Prior to joining Rave, Axbey spent two years as an executive at IBM Corp., a company where the general perception is that those expressions aren’t so easily bandied about.

Founded in 2004, Rave specializes in mobile communications technology that sends and receives emergency alerts. In the wake of campus violence in recent years, colleges and universities are eager for products, such as Rave’s, that broadcast campuswide announcements and help campus police track the location of students. Rave employs 58 workers and reports revenue of less than $10 million. Its competitors include MIR3 Inc. and Blackboard Inc.

Bob Brennan, president and CEO-elect of Boston-based Iron Mountain Inc., said Axbey spearheaded the 1998 acquisition of American Internet Corp. by Cisco Systems Inc. while Axbey served as American Internet’s vice president of marketing and business development. Brennan, who was American Internet’s CEO, said he recruited Axbey.  

“He inspires people to follow him,” said Brennan. “He won’t lose, he never has.”

Axbey’s short-term goals are to keep Rave in a “steady state while building value.” Axbey said he doesn’t plan to broaden Rave’s target market in the near term. “Every early-stage company needs to focus. Universities will always be our beachhead,” said Axbey.

Expansion markets could include kindergarten through high school campuses or campus-like environments in the retail and pharmaceutical industry, or military settings, he said. His long-term goals include building on Rave’s existing partnerships with Houston-based AT&T Co., Sprint/Nextel Corp. of Virginia and Verizon Communications Inc. of New York.

Axbey held two executive posts at IBM, after IBM’s Tivoli unit acquired San Francisco-based Micromuse Inc. in 2006. Axbey served as senior vice president and general manager at Micromuse, which specialized in network management software used by banks, governments, retailers and telecommunications companies. From 1998 to 2005, Axbey worked as the senior vice president of worldwide sales and marketing at Lowell-based Quallaby Corp. Micromuse acquired the software company for $33 million in cash and options in 2005.

Born in England, Axbey attended Croydon College where he studied graphic design and art history.

Catherine Williams is a freelance writer in Boston.