Mako Networks

The Mako management team in New Zealand

About The Team
Simon Gamble: President North America
Kevin Ptak: Global Communications Manager
Matt Madden: Business Development Manager
Top three apps: Yelp, ZipCar, Google Maps
Lunch pick near the KLP office: All Stars Donuts

Mako Networks has been making a name for itself in the US since touching down at the Kiwi Landing Pad almost a year ago. We grabbed a moment with Simon Gamble and Kevin Ptak to talk about the Mako System, and how Mako plans to bite a chunk out of the US network management market.

Tells us a little about how Mako works:
Simon: The Mako System consists of two main parts: a range of appliances, and a hosted management platform. The appliance typically replaces your business’ existing modem or router. It delivers Internet connectivity, security, detailed reporting, credit card security, content filtering and other services. The other half of the Mako System is a hosted management platform. Most people think of it as a secure website that they log into. And all of the interaction with the appliances takes place in the cloud.

How are you different to your competitors?
Simon: We’re the only network management system in the world that can connect customers straight to the Internet with a PCI DSS certification (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard). What that means is that we make it very simple for merchants that accept credit cards to meet all the network security requirements of the credit card companies. These days, if a business that accepts credit cards isn’t compliant with the PCI DSS, they’re liable for card fraud.

What types of businesses are using your technology?
Simon: Most of our customers have many small locations that use technology quite heavily, but don’t have any technical resource on site. It’s great for them because their IT function might be at head office, or done by some other IT provider, or their ISP. With our system, because everything is centrally managed via the cloud, a help desk can log in and have complete visibility and control over the appliances, and consequently the customer’s networks wherever they are. It’s very easy to look after and manage.

Mako SF’s Matt Madden and Simon Gamble

When did Mako make the move to SF?
Simon: March 2012, but we’d always wanted to come to the U.S. and we knew that we had to do it right the first time. We did an 18-month scoping exercise before we came here and the work visa process took at least 6 months of that time.

Was that always part of the plan when Mako was starting out to go into bigger markets, like the U.S?

Kevin: Particularly when focusing on credit card security, you need to come to the largest transaction market in the world, which is the U.S. So it offers the biggest growth opportunity for us.

How have things changed for Mako since relocating to San Francisco?
Simon: There are even more opportunities than we thought there would be, and we were pretty optimistic to start with. We’ve employed guys in San Francisco, but also in other parts of the country: Atlanta, Nashville and we’ve got a guy starting in March in Philadelphia. We’re expanding our team as we grow our opportunities.

Did the Kiwi Landing Pad help in the transition to the US market?
Simon: The Kiwi Landing pad is a great place for a New Zealand company to set themselves up for business in the US. San Francisco is really expensive for office space. KLP is great value, but it also provides networking opportunities. You can talk with people who’ve come here from NZ, and can tell you everything from how to open up a bank account, to shortcutting the differences of living and working here in the U.S. Those things can take you months or sometimes years to work out, so the Landing Pad really accelerates your acclimatization.

How else does the Kiwi Landing Pad help to transition the move for kiwi companies?
Simon: One of the first ways that it can help is by meeting all the needs of the immigration service. Many other serviced offices that you can rent are not counted as an office by the immigration authority. When you’re applying for your visa, which can take six months or more, you need to have a place of business, but at the same time, you’re not allowed to be doing business in the US. The Kiwi Landing Pad solves that problem.

Mako’s North American President Simon Gamble

How do you view the opportunities for Kiwi tech companies in San Francisco today?

Simon: The opportunities are massive. If you’ve got a product, solution, even a service that’s selling well in New Zealand and is unique, you can put in just as much effort here and the returns are much, much larger. Plus senior executives of larger companies over here are much more open to talking about a new innovative solution than say even New Zealand, Australia, or England. They’ll give you the time of day if your solution makes sense for their business.

What has been the most surprising thing about San Francisco for you?
Kevin: For us it’s just how easy it’s been to make connections with some really influential people and potential partners. Simon mentioned that most executives are willing to give things a go here and I think that we’ve found it surprisingly easy at times to get through to people, set up relatively high level meetings, and make introductions.

How would you like to see the tech industry in NZ grow in 2013, where or how could it improve?
Kevin: New Zealand has had a great year in terms of getting recognized globally. But I’d like to see the technology sector leverage brand New Zealand more in places like the US. I think a lot of Americans have an idea of New Zealand being a great place as a tourism destination, but the technology sector in particular can help New Zealand to be known globally for their ideas and innovation.