William Weiler's Linkedin Analytics

My first job was at Xerox in Rochester, NY. At the time, Xerox had sold $150 million in copier leases to Citicorp and needed a system to manage the payment administration. Rather than use their existing mainframe or mini-computers, they brought me on directly from university to develop a PC-based solution. I sourced a 9-track tape reader with a PCIE interface to import billing data from the mainframe and built a 50-PC Novell network for the operators, plus an additional 5 PCs for the control team. I selected a procedural SQL database for data management and used the C programming language for file translations and calculation logic. Over the next three years, Xerox’s lease portfolio grew to nearly $1 billion. At my most recent startup, we needed to rapidly scale an asset-tracking system for the fleet of a Fortune 500 company. The tracker had to be ultra-low-cost, low-power, built from off-the-shelf components, and resilient to supply chain disruptions. I selected a widely available wireless module whose voltage range matched the battery, allowing us to eliminate power conditioning circuitry and reduce costs. I designed a custom circuit for the manufacturing and test fixture, enabling off-board testing and streamlined final assembly. To support activation during power-up and ensure minimal leakage, I developed a custom low-leakage circuit, achieving a shelf life of up to one week. To increase flexibility amid supply chain constraints, I created separate board layouts for each available package (e.g., 40-pin, 64-pin, etc.). The result: we shipped 50,000 units per week, and the deployment was a success.