Making the most of it ...the key to virtually limitless growth

Making the most of it ...the key to virtually limitless growth



9/26/2008 THE SWISS STYLE, by Alexandra Galluci

As one of the original founding members of the Annual Meeting of New Champions, Carlos Moreira, Founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive of WISeKey Corporation, has developed a unique understanding of this dynamic event, so much so that, following last year’s meeting in Dalian, he led the company to realize several direct and immediate benefits.

WISeKey, a Geneva-based world Internet Security Company, is now the fastest growing company in e-trust, esecurity and Digital Identification for personal, governmental and business computing. WISeKey provides high security for communications, identity and information, using specialized technologies to identify and authenticate people, organizations and devices over closed networks and the Internet.

A focused environment

Moreira agrees that the name “Summer Davos” is fitting for the Meeting of New Champions, seeing it as a highly valuable counterpart to the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“The Meeting of New Champions fulfils a sector that was not covered previously by the World Economic Forum. Davos is a great environment for multinationals to meet heads of state and VIP celebrities, but it is not necessarily as suitable for those smaller companies in the 200 million to 5 billion US dollar revenue range that are facing specific issues of growth. These companies are in need of a more focused environment in which they can have the opportunity to network with companies of all sizes and establish their brands internationally,” he enthuses.

Along with several other members, Moreira annually attends both the World Economic Forum in Davos as well as the Meeting of New Champions, given that they are undeniably distinct events that present different opportunities. Comparing the two, Moreira says, “The feedback I received in Dalian is that the Meeting of New Champions, for the type of companies that are members of the New Champions, is a more proactive, down-to-earth and business-oriented event. Companies, investors and venture capitalists all come to the Meeting bringing great ideas that inspire innovation and interaction. It is increasingly becoming an international gathering that is particularly unique due its objective to create a new community of fast-growing companies destined to join the ranks of global multinationals in the next 5 to 10 years.”

Visualizing a strategy

Without a doubt, Moreira’s high regard and advocacy for the Meeting of New Champions comes as a result of his positive experiences in Dalian last year. For Moreira, the success that has come to WISeKey from his attendance at the event is specific and quantifiable. At the first annual meeting, he effectively established contact with 25 of the 100 New Champion members. Of these 25, WISeKey has completed business transactions with five different companies on three continents – all within the last year.

However, Moreira stresses that these results did not come effortlessly. He attributes WISeKey’s success to his extensive preparation and he maintains the importance of visualizing a strategy in order to fully realize the benefits of such an opportunistic event. Additionally, Moreira claims that, “WISeKey is highly conscious of the value of establishing brand recognition and this is the reason our company has progressed so quickly. The Meeting of New Champions gives us great visibility in a market that we know will be technology-dependent.”

Without a doubt, the Meeting of New Champions presents valuable opportunities for networking that would otherwise be difficult to find. But even more intriguing is the fact that participants of the event often effortlessly find themselves in one-onone meetings with CEOs of companies of all sizes. At Dalian, Moreira benefited from private meetings with companies such as Avaya, Publicis, WPP, Swift, BT Global Services, Wikipedia, among others. These meetings, Moreira believes, are the type that one can only find at the Meeting of New Champions because arranging such discussions outside the event would prove to be an arduous and expensive process.

Building on the opportunities

The Meeting of New Champions also presents several advantages for WISeKey based on its location in China. Moreira explains that last year’s event in Dalian has led it to become a platform for WISeKey to launch projects in China as well as help focus its marketing strategy for the region and accelerate company growth. Additionally, the event exposes its participants to Chinese investors and helps companies to develop familiarity with the New Champions, which can be a difficult task in a market as large as China’s.

Indeed, the potential gains and opportunities available to the participants of the Annual Meeting of New Champions are simply astounding and the ease with which they can be realized even more staggering.

For those who follow Moreira’s strategical advice, growth may prove to be virtually limitless.