One Of A Kind: Hyperic CEO Javier Soltero
You often hear that it is important to find your ‘niche’ in business in order to become a very successful entrepreneur. With over 25,000,000 businesses just in the United States alone, finding your niche can seem a little daunting. For Javier Soltero, 32, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Hyperic, time, patience and experience helped him to realize what his was. Javier runs the only open source systems management software built to run the Next Generation Data Center. His technology resume and list of accomplishments has helped him identify and reap the opportunities that Hyperic now offers him in this industry. His belief in his team and their conviction towards success provided them with just that – Success. Learn more about Javier and how his team at Hyperic survived two years of 100% revenue growth as a self-funded company and more as we feature him in this week’s Young & Professional Profile.

Company
Hyperic
Founded
2004
Website
Name, Title
Javier A. Soltero
CEO and Co-Founder
Age
32
Hometown
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Current residence
Mill Valley, California
Education
Carnegie Mellon University, BS in Information Systems and Industrial Management (1997)
Work Experience
Hyperic
CEO and Co-Founder
2004-Present
Covalent Technologies
Chief Architect
2001-2004
Backflip.com
Senior Software Engineer
1999-2001
Netscape Communications
Senior Software Engineer
1997-1999
Ethnicity
Puerto Rican
About the company
Hyperic provides the only open source systems management software purpose-built to maximize availability for the Next Generation Data Center. Hyperic’s software provides unprecedented cross-stack visibility and helps enterprises to pinpoint, correct and prevent problems at every layer including hardware, networks, virtualization, middleware and applications.
Hyperic’s technology-neutral approach enables manageability across technologies in the market today as well as those of tomorrow. Hyperic’s software manages enterprises of all sizes, including Hi5 Networks, Ogilvy & Mather, eHarmony.com, and more. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Hyperic is a private company funded by Accel Partners and Benchmark Capital.

Most notable milestones
What’s the niche?
Open Source Systems Management for Web Infrastructure.
What’s the biggest challenge?
Keeping up with all the activity at a high energy, high market focus start-up.
What’s in store for the future?
Big things! We’re growing in all directions – product, customers and employees. We aim to be the undisputed leader in a busy and emerging marketplace for open source systems management.
Best way to keep a competitive edge
Never compromise on your principles or your aspirations, but recognize there’s always room for improvement.
Guiding principle in life
Do unto others as you’d have done onto yourself.
Yardstick of success
Building a self sustaining, growing company that people love to work at.
Goal yet to be achieved
Two that are top on my list are making Hyperic the defacto standard in systems management, and getting married to my biggest supporter, Emily.
Best practical advice
Trust your gut. If you believe in what you’re doing, don’t listen to anyone who tells you otherwise.
Supportive words from a family member or friend on your venture
“This is the only technology idea you’ve had which I actually think will make you very successful”. My fiancee Emily, when she and I discussed the risk of acquiring the technology from Covalent and starting our own company.
Mentors
My father Jorge, my uncle Tony, and my late step-father Guillermo. My dad taught me the importance of relationships in sales. In Latin America, people have to like you in order to do business with you. My uncle because he showed me that you could build a successful technology company in Puerto Rico. My step-father Guillermo because he always believed I would do something wonderful.

What motivated you to get started?
The firm belief in the product that my colleagues and I had built and the conviction that the 5 of us could do this better than anyone else (even more experienced people who had tried and failed).
Like best about what you do?
The sense of controlled chaos that all fast growing startups have.
Like least about what you do?
The sense of controlled chaos that all fast growing startups have.
At age 10, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A stock broker.
What was your first job?
Doing radio commercials for Wrangler jeans.
Biggest pastimes outside of work
Mountain biking and playing music.
Person most interested in meeting
Trey Anastasio (Musician). I could only hope to be as good a guitar player as he is.
Leader in business most interested in meeting
Steve Jobs. Passionate engineer who embodies the spirit of an entire brand.
Three interesting facts about yourself
1. I made my first sale when I was 10 years old (a wheel alignment machine I helped my dad sell to a small shop in the mountains in Puerto Rico).
2. I taught myself how to play piano and guitar.
3. I read in the shower.

Three characteristics that describe you
1. Chatty
2. Photographic memory
3. Determined
Three greatest passions
1. Music
2. Tinkering with computers
3. Cars
Favorite book
Cien años de soledad by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Favorite cause
Meals on Wheels.
Who would you like to be contacted by?
Anyone using our product!
Credits
Interview by Marcela Gutierrez
Edited by Sumaya Kazi
Comments
May 30th, 2007, 17:02:43 | permalink |
Blogging Hyperic » Javier Soltero Featured in LatinConnect Magazine | […] I was pleasantly surprised to come across this feature on Javier Soltero, Hyperic CEO, in The LatinConnect Magazine. Lots of good stuff there: […] |