Merit LILIN
Mark Hsu, Director of Overseas Sales
Age: 32
Family: Married with a child
Education: Master's degree in business management from California State University-Los Angeles
How you got involved in security
Merit LILIN is a family business. My father is C.C. Hsu, President. I went into R&D and studied management While LILIN is a family business, I wasn't pressured into joining the company. It was a match for my interests.
Has your age ever been an issue?
If you work hard and improve your professional expertise, you will prove yourself.
Worst business move to date and what you learned from it
As I manage overseas branches as the president's representative, I sometimes find an imbalance between what the president wants and what the branch office wants. At first, I noted their concerns but did not truly manage these offices. Now, I will respectfully listen to their opinions. If they say I don't know their market, I will go there to learn.
Best professional decision
The best decision I've made is to shake up LILIN internally.
How you want to be remembered
My dream is for Merit LILIN to be internationally recognized. We're well-known overseas, but we could become even greater. We want our brand to be identified by high-end quality solutions.
Ways to attract more young people into security
The fastest way to attract young talent is for security companies to work with universities. Once you train interns, the best ones will join your company.
Secure-I
Brian Lohse, Cofounder and VP of Business Development Age: 25
Family: Single
Education: Bachelor's degree in economics, Loyola College in Maryland
How you got involved in security
My background is in investment banking. I was approached by Eugene Szatkowski, cofounder and VP of Operations for Secure-I. I took a leap of faith and left banking. It was the best decision I ever made.
Has your age ever been an issue?
In the Mark Zuckerberg generation, new technology is expected to come from young, ambitious talent. Persistence and industry participation have allowed me to succeed despite my age.
Worst business move to date and what you learned from it
Before, I was focused on the technology, product and features. That was a mistake. What I learned was to sell the business model. You have to understand the customer's business.
Best professional decision
The best thing I learned was to trust my employees to do their jobs. When we started, it was just the three of us. Now, we've got a larger team. When they have ownership, they feel good about it.
How you want to be remembered
I would like to be remembered as an innovator and a thought leader.
Ways to attract more young people into security
I think it's a good industry that's not going anywhere and is bound to get much bigger in a short amount of time. The biggest and most successful security companies don't have fancy offices. But people are happy, and the ownership can make good money.
Xtralis
Samir Samhouri, President and CEO
Age: 40
Family: Married with three children
Education: Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from McGill University and executive education in business administration from the University of Pennsylvania
How you got involved in security
I left a public company in the U.S., after doing a company turnaround from a low valuation to a high valuation. Once you do that, you get interest from companies. One of the companies was Xtralis. I thought it was an amazing company that protected almost every important infrastructure in the world.
Has your age ever been an issue?
My age has not been an issue for me since I became a CEO four years ago. I was promoted to be a GM of multimillion dollar division in Lucent Technologies at 28. I hope to provide such opportunity for young people in my business.
Worst business move to date and wha t you learned from it
The biggest mistake many business leaders made 10 years ago was that we did not prepare for tough economic times. The lesson is to always prepare for the worst and plan for the best.
Best professional decision
Never compromised our core capability. Removed everything else and focused on what differentiates Xtralis. That resulted in much stronger position after the market collapsed and came back a little bit.
How you want to be remembered
My dream and hope is to make Xtralis the Cisco of security. It's not so much I want it to be a multibillion-dollar company, but it's to change how business is done in the safety and security niche.
Ways to attract more young people into security
No industry is too old to grow, as long as you have a niche and differentiation.