Yuval Davidor - Schema Not many companies start because of a difficult graduate student. Schema founder Yuval Davidor was supervising a particularly difficult graduate student at the Hebrew University. “I would occasionally come down to the lab to try and corner him to do some research in his spare time between phone calls and other socially compelling engagements,” recalls Davidor. “He was working on several new concepts within evolutionary computation. In an attempt to get him to devote the time it deserved, I went on a rampage about how this technology could mark a watershed in the way people look at efficiencies and optimization.”
Thus Schema is not one of the hundreds of “Duh, wireless is the next big thing” type of companies. And in fact, their lack of carrier tradition has allowed them to bring the high-level computational ability to bear on carrier networks in a new and unprejudiced way.
So what do they actually do? Schema offers optimization technology and services that improve the way wireless communications companies plan, implement and manage their spectrum and capacity in a wireless network. Schema`s Telecom Resource Management (TRM) solution combines an optimization engine and a data-mining platform to produce a description of the wireless network. Schema`s TRM solution has the potential to increase network efficiency between 20%-50% . That means carriers could actually save enough money to buy a clue.
How they do it is beyond most people. This is where wireless meets rocket science. The core technology is based on applying ‘evolutionary algorithms’ that imitate nature’s trial-and-error problem solving methods by continually working on improving existing solutions until the optimal solution is found.
Another element is the automation side of Schema’s products. Schema`s school of thought suggests minimal human intervention in low-level mechanical data intensive processes. While traditionally it took months to complete a network re-tune into a new configuration, with Schema`s software platform in takes at most days.
This is a critical point for Schema according to Davidor. “The industry is at a watershed, an inflection point where things are going to change dramatically. It is not the 3G everybody is talking about, and it is not the m-commerce and data applications as perceived. It is much deeper then what people tend to point out. There is an automation and magnitude revolution that takes place. For over a year Schema has been preparing for this revolution, and we need to see it through. We are planning on introducing the new view of how to manage wireless communication networks.”
As for the technological challenge, Schema separates full cycle resources to long-term and existing activities. This allows the burning, pressing, must-be-attended issues to be addressed without compromising the long-term. Notes Davidor, “I guess similar to the effort big companies do when they want to re-invent their innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. Being smaller, and appreciating the vitality re-inventing yourself brings, we try and build a corporate culture in which this is second nature.”
I flew into San Francisco from Israel for an important meeting. It was in the early days of Schema where my travel capabilities were at their infancy. After close to 24 hours en route, and 10 hours of time-zone difference, I attend a full day of meetings scheduled prior to the 18:00 important meeting with a Managing Director deputy of South East Asian company.
We arranged to meet in the bar of my hotel, which we did promptly at the set time. We started talking and I vividly went into the presentation of the company, our product, and the compelling reason to buy, when the next thing I knew, I become aware that I am waking up from a deep sleep which I fell into while talking to my guest in a bar; while I was talking! Though I am not sure how long it was, my best analysis afterwards suggested the elapsed time must have been about half an hour, in which I, in mid speech, fell deeply asleep with eyes tightly shut sitting up in front of an Executive VP of the very large company.
Our HQ office, which is located in Israel, takes the prize in the inspiration department. Our building is right on the edge of one of the most beautiful communal settlements in Israel, a Kibbutz. The office colors match our corporate image (maroon and green) and are a natural extension of the harmonious environment we’re so lucky to be a part of. The offices are more subtle, and public spaces like corridors and meeting areas are provocatively inspiring the mind, a surprise. You know how stressful this industry can be – imagine birds singing, beautiful flowers all around you, and knowing that animals are grazing in green pastures nearby - that’s what walking into Schema every day feels like. It’s pretty special. Our most visited room, the coffee shop, has the inside-outside effects like The Venetian in Vegas. …and let me just put modesty aside for a minute and credit the designer, my wife. The walls are covered with artwork by commissioned artists. The art is based on scraped marketing drafts that we have explored over the years, but may not find their way to the marketing collateral.
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