"I don't have to work anymore," said Dr. Marc Fleury in an amusing aside during a recent interview with SYS-CON.TV, from his office in the Buckhead section of Atlanta. He was referring to how his role as CEO is changing from start-up entrepreneur to manager of a more mature company, as JBoss continues to grow and experience new levels of success. Whereas in the early days he "wrote tons and tons of code," today he is more focused on the organizational and customer-related challenges common to any fast-growing company.

Fleury says his company is taking square aim at IBM WebSphere and BEA WebLogic, with a current staff of 150 people and a commitment to customer service. "We don't make any money on license revenue, of course, so customer service is everything to us," he told SYS-CON in remarks before the camera started rolling. During the interview, he outlined the way his company does business, and talked about the challenges of competing with much larger companies, while also trying to establish itself in international markets.

Fleury expressed enthusiasm for the "pragmatic nature" of the entrepreneurial U.S. culture and B2B buying habits, but made reference to his French and Spanish background in talking about the company's latest efforts to penetrate international customers as well.

Fleury comes across as a very focused, serious businessperson during the interview.

That is, until the dance. He was wearing a “Vote for Jboss” t-shirt, and as the interview was concluding, he noted that the shirt was an allusion to the recent, popular movie “Napoleon Dynamite.” Showing that his youthful, entrepreneurial spirit is still alive, Fleury also provided a unique talent for not only talking the talk but dancing the dance.

The full interview can be found at http://www.sys-con.tv/read/114084.htm.

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