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As a twentysomething Harris Corp. executive, Thomas Beckley ranked among the top 100 amateur tennis players in Florida.
"I ate, drank and slept tennis," he recalls.
Tennis was a key factor in his decision to work for the Melbourne, Fla.-based company. But after leaving the corporate world to join a small, entrepreneurial firm, his game suffered as his career flourished.
His new focus-running Xynetix Design Systems Inc.--swallows most of his day, so he hits the courts now only a half-dozen times a year.
"This place takes up a lot of time. It is a personal choice," says Beckley, 41, the firm's president and CEO. "The time I am not spending here, I would rather spend with my family."
Xynetix, known until a year ago as Harris Electronic Design Automation, is a software company whose work force grew 43 percent last year, from 70 employees to 100. Almost every new staffer joined its direct sales force.
The privately held company does not disclose sales figures. Of three primary products lines, its advanced-packaging products increased fivefold last year and its virtual-prototyping product grew 30 percent. A third product, design data verification, was launched in the first quarter.
The company sells software to design computer chips, packages (material that encapsulates silicon chips) and boards. It competes in the $3 billion electronic design automation industry.
Three years ago, Xynetix sold only to package manufacturing companies. Last year, the company started selling to IC companies--such as National Semiconductors--and now sells to systems manufacturers like Dell Computer Corp.
Xynetix added 35 customers last year. Its products cost from $10,000 to $100,000.
"Today, Xynetix is the leading company in advanced (integrated circuit) packaging," Beckley says. "It is an embryonic market today, but it's starting to explode."
In 1997, less than 1 percent of all semiconductors went into advanced packaging. Industry experts forecast that over the next Four years more than 25 percent will go into advanced packaging.
"We are focused on the next generation of design that is pushing the industry," Beckley says. "Our small team saw that the next generation of designs were going to require a new software architecture."
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