Jerry Kennelly, CEO of Riverbed, runs his company 'like a billion dollar startup', a staffer remarked on Tuesday. The co-founder of the company, a market leader in the WAN optimisation business, often drops into meetings at its headquarters in San Francisco unannounced, saying ‘What you guys talking about?' "No employee is just a number, and if you joined the company yesterday, he's still interested in your opinion," says the staff member.

The 14-year-old company has surpassed $1-billion in annual revenue, and at its convention in New York this week launched its SteelConnect product which it says will replace routers in branch offices.