nwasianweekly.com
Sept. 30, 2006

Tim Nguyen (left) and James Wong developed a software program that helps sales professionals become more organized and effective. Their customers include more than 15,000 companies, including AT&T and Dell.

Setting high standards for software
Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Dinner

By Yoon S. Park
For the Northwest Asian Weekly

To be successful in today’s competitive software industry, it takes talent, skill, perseverance and, more often than not, great timing.

Avidian Technologies is the tale of two Asian American entrepreneurs, James Wong and Tim Nguyen, who dared to go up against the 900-pound gorilla that is Microsoft and introduce to the marketplace a sales contact manager software program for Outlook. Since the program’s introduction in August 2003, it has helped more than 15,000 companies manage their sales activities.

As the flagship product of Avidian, Prophet more than quadrupled the company’s sales between 2003 and 2004 and almost doubled its revenues in 2005. Avidian made $2 million last year.

Avidian was founded in 2002 and is based in Bellevue. Wong serves as the CEO and president; Nguyen is the chief information officer. They have 25 employees.

For the technology challenged, Wong explains the company’s mission: “Avidian creates sales software that helps sales teams be more organized and effective.” The co-founders claim that Prophet is “the world’s easiest-to-use contact management software for Outlook.”

“Prophet takes Outlook beyond the tasks, calendaring and e-mail, with sales opportunity management, reporting, personalized mass e-mails and sharing of information,” Wong said.

The most obvious sign of Avidian’s success are the thousands of companies that use its products, including Accenture, AT&T, Cisco, Coldwell Banker and Dell, to name just a few. Surprisingly, many of Avidian’s clients come to them, as opposed to the other way around, as there is a need among sales professionals for the type of features offered by Prophet.

But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for Avidian’s founders. Only a year after starting the company, Wong and Nguyen learned, to their shock and disappointment, that Microsoft was about to release its own version of a business contact manager for Outlook 2003.

“I couldn’t sleep for two weeks, mulling over how we were going to get out of this hole,” Wong recalled. “What can you do if Microsoft, the maker of Outlook and the one with billions and billions of dollars, is planning to get into your business?” The men had already invested more than $500,000 into developing Prophet.

Wong and Nguyen were able to obtain a beta copy of the Microsoft program. Through testing and their own research, they found that Microsoft’s product at that time had “flaws.” For one, the information stored on it could not be shared with a team. And two, it did not work with Exchange Server, meaning most companies could not use it.

They were elated by the findings. Wong and Nguyen were confident they had a far superior product and went forward with their plans.

Over the years, Avidian has received wide recognition in the media, both print and online. In addition, the company has won numerous local and national honors, including the 2004 Seattle Mayor’s Small Business Award and IT Week’s “Top 50 Technology Innovators” in 2005. They have been nominated for 2006 Asian American Entrepreneur of the Year, an award that will be given out by the Northwest Asian Weekly Foundation on Oct. 14.

Wong grew up in the Seattle area and proudly proclaims himself a “product of the Seattle public school system.” Wong earned his business degree at the University of Washington. Nguyen likewise graduated from the UW with a degree in business administration.

Wong may oversee sales and marketing for a multimillion-dollar company these days, but he has worked as a shoe salesman and busboy in the past. His ambitions took him as far away as New York, where he worked for Arthur Anderson after college. Wong was also the co-founder of Foci Technologies, which was eventually sold for $1.5 million in cash and stock.

Not to be outdone, Nguyen also has an impressive list of credentials in the arena of software development, including his role as principal technical architect for Meritage Technologies. He was also part of the application development group at Avaya Communications.

When you factor in his consulting experience as well, it is no surprise that his partnership with Wong has been such a success. At Avidian, Nguyen leads overall IT strategy and product development.

Beyond the numbers, Wong credits his Christian faith for influencing not only his business activities, but also his approach to taking care of his associates and giving back to the community. An active member of the Seattle Rotary Club, the Young Entrepreneur’s Organization and the Chinese American Association for Professionals, Wong enjoys mentoring other aspiring young Asian American professionals.

For more information, visit www.avidian.com.

Yoon S. Park can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

Send correspondence to:
Northwest Asian Weekly • P.O. Box 3468 • Seattle • WA  98114
Tel: 206.223.5559 •  Fax: 206.223.0626 • Email: info@nwasianweekly.com
Please bookmark this site: www.nwasianweekly.com.