About Us

HigherByte is a firm which focuses on affordable mobile technologies.  

HigherByte was founded in 1996 by a group of engineers who all had one mission: to push the boundaries of affordable technology. Since then HigherByte has been involved in a wide array of projects and research. Based in Berkley, CA HigherByte enjoyed working closely with U.C. Berkeley, on many occasions. All of our innovative solutions are based on the idea that a product, no matter how feature endowed, is useless is it is not economically feasible. That’s why the first step in every development cycle is to analyze the potential economic viability of the idea.

 HigherByte Delivers.

One of HigherByte’s major advantages in the marketplace is its ability to leverage established technologies and publicly funded services to secure and maintain a very low cost structure. This includes all aspects of the supply chain from data collection, to data assimilation and transmission

HigherByte has spent the past 15 months investing in research and development for the Traffic Monitor. As of June 2002, our team of skilled product designers and engineers has produced a functional prototype of the device as well as preliminary design and component specifications for manufacturing. In addition, HigherByte has partnered with an experienced manufacturing engineering firm in Los Angeles, Gordian, to help fine tune the final stage product schematics and to oversee manufacturing and quality assurance processes in China.

HigherByte plans to continue to invest in product research and development throughout the product lifecycle. Future product enhancements and product extensions for the Traffic Monitor include car-mounting accessories, GPS navigational capabilities, and personalized reporting functions.

Our Management Team: 

HigherByte’s founders couple a strong experience in the wireless information services and e-business software industries with detailed functional and technical knowledge of how to package and sell high-tech products in the New Economy.  Most of the founders have experience with successful fast-paced start-ups as well as Fortune 500 companies.

Craig Lynar: Product Marketing
Strong marketing experience in enterprise rich media management software - delivering rich media of all types to CRM, B2B, ERP, Internet, and Wireless applications. 18 years senior management leadership experience in Marketing, Product Marketing, Product Management, Channel Marketing, Strategic Planning, Business Development.  Successfully launched a broad spectrum of products and services: Enterprise software, consumer packaged software, Data Base Software and Tools Internet services, and hardware peripherals. Including: Internet and Wireless travel location based services, Streaming video, color printers, monitors, other H/W peripherals.  Built and managed marketing teams from start up phase to corporate groups of 30
A very strong market planner and strategist with continuing success in environments requiring strong product road maps and strategic positioning plans.  Strong product and brand marketing experience with strength at managing complex plans and budgets Broad and deep experience in retail, direct, distribution, OEM and reseller channels.  Contributed to two I.P.O.s and one acquisition.

Katchen Gerig: Sales & Marketing
Marketing Director with 10 years of increasing experience in the telecommunications and technology industry leading marketing organizations, developing marketing strategies and implementing local market tactics to successfully launch new products and services worldwide. Emphasis on business and marketing strategy with experience in product launches, marketing communications, direct marketing, global brand management, partner and channel marketing, segmentation and public relations. Additional experience in product marketing, business development and sales. Holder of 3 educational degrees: B.S. in Business Administration, B.A. in French and German and M.B.A., International Management. Excellent leadership, management, and communication skills combined with strong analytical and quantitative abilities.

William Palmer: Sales & Marketing
William Palmer has a wide range of personal and professional experience related to sales, product marketing, business development, and financial analysis. At Synchrony (now Divine, Inc.), Mr. Palmer helped develop corporate strategy, technology partnerships, and product marketing programs. Prior to joining Synchrony, Mr. Palmer was a management consultant with Deloitte Consulting where he specialized in business process design around large-scale technology implementations.  Mr. Palmer has worked on consulting engagements at Saturn Corporation, UPMC Health System, and State Farm Insurance.  Mr. Palmer has also held a financial management position with General Electric involving marketing and sales of new consumer products (water filtration) in the Appliances business unit.

Adam Krim: Business Development
Adam has extensive experience in business infrastructure, having worked both at a Big 5 Consulting firm and for numerous startups. In addition to starting his own company, Life Planning Solutions, he has worked for startups backed by Softbank Venture Capital.

 
Gene Ekster: Principal, CTO
Gene Ekster has been enveloped in the computer and internet industry for over a decade, he’s had an impressive array of technical and business experience developing products and web-based software applications for firms such as AskJeeves, Mattel and a startup venture FinalThoughts.

Chance Curtis: Product Design Consultant
Chance has successfully completed several consulting projects for Navigational Technologies and ETAK in regards to in-car navigation, point of sale et al. Also bringing solid understanding of wireless devices –product design, development and deployment, Ricochet was an early client. Chance also maintains solid relationships with decision makers at Cingular, Verizon, Qualcomm and others through association with Air Prime.

Lance Leifert : Technical Consultant
10 years of hardware/software engineering experience with Conquest Consulting, certified Motorola FLEX developers. Experience in wireless pager networks, original developer of FLEX protocol.

Joseph Zizzi: Product Development
A U.C. Berkeley alumni, Joseph  has had a wealth of experience in manufacturing, product design and oversees production. Joseph's engineering background and manufacturing contacts aid HigherByte in securing the most cost effective manufacturing partner.