AM: Certainly; first of all I’ve an affinity for small companies, having spent many years working in many of them. I decided to join Logilent because of the opportunity to be in a small company and leverage my experience in managing them. Having said that, I am a very focused individual and a strength that I have is in sales and marketing-- a large part of my career has been dedicated to sales and marketing roles. The third component of my career experience was the time I spent in a public company in a turnaround situation from top to bottom. These three components of my career will be very valuable to Logilent. I think that Logilent needs to be a very customer-oriented company.

IMV: What made you decide to join Logilent?

AM: I was very interested in the e-Learning space and when I ran into Logilent I realized that it had leading-edge technology. The next step for Logilent, one that attracted me, is that we now need to go out into the marketplace and generate a healthy, growing revenue stream from this technology. Secondly, I was attracted to it because it was a start-up with the right kind of venture backers. A third aspect that attracted me to Logilent is its size and stage. A company like Logilent is where I can add the most shareholder value. I don’t think one can call Logilent a start-up because it has been around for several years now, but its current trajectory is under a new business plan that has been modified even in the last 6 weeks.

In general, I think start-ups that are looking for a high-caliber CEO have to be prepared to insure a certain level of funding to achieve an appropriate milestone and have to challenge this high-profile CEO with a revenue growth situation.

IMV: What are some of the trends that you see in the market that would affect Logilent in the future?

AM: One of the trends in the e-learning space is the significant increase in demand. There are companies like Logilent and larger than Logilent that have doubled their revenue numbers on a year-by-year basis. This is happening when all IT budgets are going through dramatic cuts. Another trend, following the recent terrorist attacks, is that companies are looking for alternative ways to training their staff. Corporations and employees are going to be reducing their need for travel, reducing instructor-led training and remote courses. This particular trend is going to be dramatic for our industry because many people will have to experience remote learning and computer-assisted learning and they are going to realize that it does in fact work and it’s efficient. When they realize that the transfer of knowledge is as effective as a traditional course, corporations are going to be more inclined to demand e-learning as opposed to the traditional travel-to-classroom training.

IMV: What are some of the short-term milestones that you have set for Logilent? What should we be looking for?

AM: The first item that I am going to address is to shift the relationship with two key players in the market space, away from competition and more towards partnerships. Our unique technology and capabilities should be looked at as a potential for leverage in a partnership relationship and not as a completely overlapping solution.

Our second objective, which is one of the reasons I joined Logilent and I believe one of the reasons I was asked to join, is simply to grow the top line. We need to drive the top line as aggressively as we in the short-term. We’ve got to sell, period. Logilent has reduced its burn somewhat and we will continue to do that by selling more.

A third objective is to bring a couple of products to the market by the end of the first quarter. We have been working in developing these products and I think they are going to help us gain more traction in the marketplace.

These 3 goals are my top priority for the first quarter. The board, management and I created 2 plans when I decided to join, a short-term plan for the first quarter (outlined above) and a 200-day plan, starting in the second quarter and taking us through October. This second plan calls for the company to achieve break-even status.

IMV: What is Logilent’s unfair competitive advantage? Or Logilent’s most valuable asset?

AM: I think our most valuable asset is our “Live Labs” capability. We are the only company in the marketplace that can deploy Live Labs in the way that we do. It’s a very unique implementation and we are currently seeking patent protection. The only competitor that had a similar capability has filed for bankruptcy and its assets are going to be settled in court, unlikely to see light of day again. So Logilent is in a very unique position for leveraging this technology. For example, Cisco had a relationship with one of our competitors but needed Live Labs capability and we were able to adjust our solution and deliver what they needed within 7 days. Today, engineers in Cisco’s channel who want to be certified in an environment in which they can see and work with the actual equipment and understand how it operates in a live mode online, not a simulation.

IMV: What is Logilent’s largest disadvantage today?

AM: There is not enough awareness level. Our technology today is the best kept secret and our job is to emphasize our efforts in marketing and sales to make the company well known. Once customers become aware of our capabilities we will be able to monetize our products. I have personally made customer calls and calls to our prospects and their reaction is amazing-- it turns out that our reputation in this small set of companies is very high. The goal is to expand that exponentially and in turn drive revenue and the partnerships that we are looking for. In short, it’s all execution. We have to execute form the sales and marketing perspective.

IMV: Any final comments?

AM: Logilent is very anxious to find partnership opportunities and is amenable to any kind of introductions that our friends might be willing to offer. I will be happy to respond quickly to those opportunities. I can be contacted at amedici@logilent.com and look forward to a great quarter for Logilent.

Backgrounder: Arthur Medici joined Logilent in December 2001 as President and CEO. Prior to Logilent, Art was President and CEO of SmartSoft, an angel-backed start-up with a focus on educational software. Additionally, Art previously served as Senior Vice President of Marketing for Cable & Wireless North America. His responsibilities included product development and marketing, communications, public and investor relations, and business development. Before that he was President and CEO of Internet Commerce Corporation (Nasdaq: ICCA), a New York City provider of business-to-business electronic commerce services that he continues to serve as a director.

Art also spent six years at two operating companies of The Thomson Corporation (TTC) – Thomson & Thomson, and Derwent North America – where he spear-headed market expansion of TTC’s intellectual property information businesses as senior vice president and president, respectively. Art began his career at IBM, where he invested twelve years in various sales and marketing management positions with increasing responsibility in New York and New Jersey field offices, with a focus on marketing to the communications industry. Art earned a Bachelors Degree from Hobart College, and a Masters Degree from Columbia University Business School.

About Logilent: Logilent Learning Systems, Inc. is a pioneer in Web-enabled IT infrastructure e-Learning for enterprises and individuals. Logilent delivers guaranteed results to corporations by identifying and remedying skills gaps efficiently, effectively and economically. Logilent brings together the best of traditional learning and the power of the Internet for a learn-by-doing approach - a critical part of the skills transfer process. Through the company's proven methodology, the Synergy Learning SystemTM (SLS), students receive a personalized lesson plan to study only what they need to know, and practice developing skills with tools, such as the company's proprietary live lab technology. Since 1994, Logilent has delivered more than 70,000 e-Learning courses to IT professionals and computer telephony specialists worldwide.

Logilent is a Cisco Learning Solutions Partner (CLSP), Novell Online Training Provider (NOTP), Microsoft Certified Technical Education Center (CTEC), Silver Sponsor of the Linux Professional Institute, part of the CompTIA alliance, and the exclusive delivery partner for the Computer Telephony Institute's CTE certification. Logilent formerly operated under the name CyberStateU.com.