A pretty good article on Wolfram Research

From the local newspaper, reproduced here since it will eventually migrate behind a paywall:

Wolfram Research founder projects further growth

By Don Dodson

Sunday October 26, 2008

CHAMPAIGN – While some companies scale back, Wolfram Research continues to swell in what founder Stephen Wolfram calls a "rapid expansion phase."

"We've added 24 new people in the last two months," Wolfram said on a visit to Champaign last week. "We're hiring lots of technical research-and-development people and adding strengths in business and marketing."

The company, which employs more than 300 in Champaign, is the maker of Mathematica technical computing software.

On Thursday, Wolfram announced the newest version of that software, Mathematica 7, will be ready for shipping in November.

Meanwhile, the company is forging ahead with its "computable data initiative," which is expected to result in a new, undisclosed product sometime next year.

Nearly a year ago, Wolfram Research announced it would hire as many as 75 people with specialized knowledge in different fields for the initiative.

At this point, about 65 people are involved in the project, including 20 to 25 data "curators," Wolfram said.

"This is a really good area for finding people," he said, praising Champaign-Urbana's "large intellectual base." Those involved in the initiative typically have master's degrees, and the project is seeking more expertise in several areas, including finance, economics and medicine, he said.

But knowledge isn't the only requirement.

"It's less the skills set and more so the culture match. We're looking for smart people who can figure things out," he said.

Wolfram described his company's culture as "a large community of people independently doing things. We really look for people interested in our world."

The company sells to a wide variety of customers in government, academia and research and development and needs employees who "resonate" with those customers, he said.

Aside from the computable data initiative, the company is trying to fill other positions, mainly in business, marketing and project management.

Plus, there's another new venture on the horizon. Wolfram said the company is starting up Wolfram Solutions, a consulting arm that will help business customers see how Mathematica can address their needs.

"I'm pleased we're growing," Wolfram said, "but it always makes me nervous to have more mouths to feed."

Wolfram Research, founded in Champaign in 1987, occupies the entire fifth and sixth floors of Trade Centre South, as well as parts of the third and fourth floors. It also has a storage and shipping facility at Randolph and Green streets in Champaign.

Wolfram said he doesn't expect to need too much more office space soon, adding, "I think we can fit some more people into this building."

Wolfram, who lives in the Boston area, said Wolfram Research has an office in Cambridge, Mass., that interacts with scholars at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The company has close ties with the University of Illinois Mathematics Department, and Wolfram said he'd like to expand the company's dealings with other parts of the university. He said he'd like the company to be more visible in Champaign-Urbana and to do more outreach.

Sometimes, he said, people at the UI are surprised to learn Champaign is the home of Mathematica. That lack of awareness "seems a shame," he said.

Wolfram was back in Champaign last week for the International Mathematica User Conference, held Thursday through Saturday at the Hilton Garden Inn. About 250 to 300 people were expected to attend, with "beta" versions of Mathematica 7 to be distributed there.

Wolfram typically visits Champaign a few times a year but conducts most of his business conversations by phone.

"I'm always accused of being a micromanager, or these days, a nanomanager," he said.

So seldom does he work face to face with colleagues that when he asked one, "Why are you looking at me?" she responded, "That's what people normally do."

Wolfram said his company is profitable and has no debt. He said it has weathered two recessions and fared slightly better than other firms in those times. His theory: "During recessions, people think more" and consequently buy more Mathematica.

As a closely held, privately owned company, Wolfram Research does not release sales figures. Hoover's Inc., a business information service, estimated the company's 2007 sales at $21.6 million, a figure Wolfram neither confirmed nor denied.

"Their data curation is not as good as our data curation," he said.