Metabyte was founded in 1993 by Manu Mehta, a former marketing and engineering management professional at Texas Instruments. Manu, who remains our president and CEO, saw a need for a company like Metabyte, and proceeded to fill it—and the rest, as they say, is history. Today over 17 million people use software developed by Metabyte for work and entertainment.

Manu knew that high tech firms often found themselves looking for software engineers with specific types of experience and skill sets. He also knew that such talented individuals were not always easy to find. So he decided to make a business out of recruiting exceptional engineers in India and Russia, relocating them to the US, cross-training and mentoring them, and making their services available to the firms that needed them.

It was an idea whose time had come. Manu was gratified to find strong demand for the company’s software development services. And as the business grew, Metabyte’s reputation for professionalism and delivery continued to grow.

An early feather in our cap came in the mid 1990s when AMD needed a way to beat Intel in performance benchmarks so it could become a credible alternative in the microprocessor market. We delivered this solution to AMD by rewriting the graphics device interface (GDI) of the Microsoft Windows operating system and optimizing it for AMD’s microprocessors (it had originally been optimized for Intel’s microprocessors).

We helped Sun Microsystems develop Java before they named it Java. We also helped Sun develop television middleware that later became known as OpenTV. We helped Oracle, Informix and Sybase migrate their database products to multiple platforms and performance tuned. In the process we gained a reputation as the “go to” partners for integration.

We helped IBM integrate a RAID subsystem with their midrange computers. And in the process we gained a reputation as partners who are willing to do whatever it takes to meet a client’s strategic objectives.

Our reputation for nurturing top talent began when we learned how to overcome the worldwide shortage of certain engineering skills by cross-training experts who had different but related skills. We built a formidable 3D graphics team by teaming Linux gurus from Russia with experienced 3D professionals in Silicon Valley. By the mid 1990s, Metabyte became a supplier of software development services to nearly all of the major RDBMS companies, including Oracle, Informix, Sybase and Ingress. There was a shortage of programming talent in this still emerging market, so we built upon our success by hiring professionals from India and Russia to complement our local team.

Metabyte established itself as a major player in the video game industry when the whole field of 3D graphics was still largely unchartered territory. There weren’t enough programmers with the requisite background to meet the needs of this emerging market, so Metabyte looked overseas to build a top-notch 3D graphics team. We found senior Linux programmers in Russia and teamed them with experienced 3D professionals in Silicon Valley. It was a bold experiment, and it worked.

Metabyte is known for fostering innovation. It became a way of life early in our history when employees learned that Manu encouraged innovation, and that they could brainstorm with him for hours on end if they had a new idea. If the idea seemed viable, Manu provided resources to make it a reality.

At first they were small endeavors such as a tool for analyzing 3D graphics performance, or a unique architecture for a client-server application. Then came bolder initiatives like Wicked3D that grew into a leading provider of 3D products for the PC gaming enthusiasts in North America and Europe. And MbTV, the personalization and digital video recorder technology that was spun off as an independent company in which Thomson, Seagate, Canal Plus Technologies, Scientific Atlanta and others invested over $20 million.

Over time, the cycle of innovation—where employees innovate, are encouraged by Metabyte, and then innovate some more—has kept getting larger. An employee who has a strategic insight about a new area of focus for technology services, or who comes up with an idea for a hot new product can be assured of getting the support of the company. And if the company decides the idea has merit, that employee could get to build and run his or her own micro-business unit (MBU).

The MBU concept has become part of our company’s culture, and continues to be a source of high job satisfaction and breathtaking career possibilities. Besides Wicked3D and MbTV,the newest additions to our list of incubated technologies and spun off ventures include HotDoodle, a best-in-class web design service that combines a powerful technology with a 1-on-1 design service for small businesses.

Ideas need funding, so we created Metabyte Ventures, an internal incubator that finances employee innovations we think have strong commercial potential. And since it’s sometimes good to have adult supervision, we’ve also gathered together a brain trust of leading industry professionals to act as advisors.

Over 17 million people around the world use Metabyte software and services for work and entertainment.

Recent

• Preferred vendor of technology services to clients like Cisco and Salesforce.com.

• Rated among Top 10 Asian American Companies by the US Pan Asian Chamber of Commerce.

• Established a global footprint of delivery in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia

• Invented DVR technology (yes, before TiVo). As a private label leader (unlike TiVo), Metabyte’s MbTV ™ technology powers set-top boxes from Scientific Atlanta which are used by major Cable TV operators such as Time Warner Cable, Cox and Rogers that have a dominant share of the North American market.

Mid-1990s

• Provided technology services to major RDBMS providers like Oracle, Informix, Sybase and Ingress

• Assisted Sun’s Java development before they named the technology “Java”

• Provided integration services for IBM, Data General, NCR, Convex, Sun and HP

• Provided 3D technology to AMD that helped beat Intel in benchmark wars and successfully launched their microprocessor business

Incubated technologies and spun-off businesses:

• 2008: HotDoodle™ (web services and collaboration for small business)

• 2000: MbTV™ (DVR and personal television industry)

• 1998: Wicked3D™ (PC gaming industry)