Alim Somani

Preface

I first heard of Infusion Development at the National Business and Technology Conference held in Toronto, early this year. The CEO of the company, Greg Brill, was a guest speaker there. His candid speech on entrepreneurship and its struggles was the first time that I ever thought of using my engineering degree beyond a desk job at a reputable company.

The speech was what partly compelled me to take the Entrepreneurship and Small Business course this semester. Thus, when the entrepreneur’s biography assignment came, I decided Greg would be the man to call. Due to difficulties in setting up an interview with Greg as he lived in New York, I got the opportunity of interviewing his partner and founder of Infusion Canada, Alim Somani. Alim; a man possessing the "entrepreneurial" spirit, the drive and the persistence to make a difference, is the President of Infusion Development.

He found time in his busy schedule and kindly accepted the interview. We arranged to meet at his office in downtown, Toronto.

Background

Alim Somani was born in Fredericton and raised in Calgary, Vancouver and Washington, DC. He attended Georgetown Day High School in Washington before being accepted to the University of Waterloo’s Electrical Engineering program in 1996. He successfully completed his degree in 2001, but not before winning both the Ontario and Canadian Engineering Competitions (OEC and CEC) in his final year at University.

He had always been inclined towards entrepreneurial activities, seen from the fact that he won 1st place in the corporate and technical design in the OEC and the CEC, He would always come up with different business ideas and mull over their pros and cons with his Economics Professor, Prof. Larry Smith; whom he credits for helping him with making his initial entrepreneurial decisions. He worked under Prof. Smith during his undergraduate research apprenticeship.

It was during his university years that Alim came into contact with Infusion Development for the first time. It was through his then-room mate Sheldon Fernandez. Sheldon Fernandez had met Greg Brill and was going to work as a co-op student for his consultancy firm in New York. Fernandez recommended Alim, and that’s where the whole story began.

In January 2000, Alim joined Infusion Development as a co-op student. He knew right then that he fit in and this was something he would like pursuing. But the situation was temporary; the duration of the co-op experience was only 1 term, it was going to be back to school in a short while. That is where S-Squared solutions came in.

Co-op to S-Squared

Alim always had the smarts; all he needed was the opportunity. It was already established that he was a competent engineer and that he had great potential. His time at Infusion was proof of that and Greg Brill knew this. Seeing the latent ability in Alim, Greg and his wife and partner Deborah came to a decision. They wanted Alim and Sheldon to continue working for them while having their independence at the same time; they proposed the start of S-Squared Solutions with Infusion Development being the main client. Alim, who had already been exposed to entrepreneurship, did not need much convincing. And S-Squared Solutions was born. Alim co-founded and managed the successful IT consultancy during his time at the University of Waterloo. Prof. Smith helped him a lot during the initial struggle. He was the one who introduced Alim to the accountants and lawyers; he hired for the company. The experience and knowledge gained during that initial venture put Alim on sound footing when he began building Infusion’s Canadian presence.

Start of Infusion Canada

The start of Infusion Canada, it seems had a lot to do with timing. Alim was graduating at the time and his relationship with Infusion hadn’t changed. He loved working for Infusion and Greg still wanted him onboard. Asking Alim to head the Canadian operations seemed like a logical step forward. Greg and Deborah came up with the idea of staring Infusion Canada. They proposed the idea around the summer of 2000. According to Alim, it was better than continuing with S-Squared, as with Infusion Canada there was more security and growth. Infusion New York’s clients became Infusion Canada’s clients. Moreover, this was at the time of the huge Dot Com burst, future was bleak for many start-ups and being one of many wasn’t on Alim’s agenda. He wanted what all entrepreneurs want, the opportunity of doing his own thing, his own way, and the chance of being accountable for his own success. Greg and Deborah were giving Alim this