ROMA1 17 SPOSA_

BRIDAL

Al ELIER

EVENING

You are cordially invited to

a special trunk show

ECONOMY

PROFESSIONALS

Entrepreneurs Use Apple for New Technology

IRULE FROM PAGE 12

of couture evening wear and
social occasion dressing

Rose Taft Couture

October 27, 28 & 29

Victor Nemirovsky, left, and business partner Kai Ben-Gal, founders of iRule. The men have
taken existing technology to create a new market for handheld devices.

By Appointment • 248.723.4300 • 722 N. Old Woodward, Birmingham, MI 48009 • www.romasposa.com

As interest in iRule grew, sales skyrock-
eted, Ben-Gal says. By 2010, both men
quit their day jobs — Nemirovsky as an
IT guru and Ben-Gal as an automotive
engineer — to focus solely on iRule. Soon
after, iRule moved from its Farmington
Hills home-based office to the Compu-
ware building in downtown Detroit.
"We really had no expectations," Ben-
Gal says of the business' success."It was
a 'let's see what we can do' kind of thing.
I remember [Victor] asking me,Do you
think anyone would actually buy this?'We
were really happy we could recoup the
costs so our wives wouldn't kill us. It sort
of spiraled out of control in a good way."
Nemirovsky, who took a year develop-
ing iRule's first version, says he designed
the system for scalability."I can expand
this product without taking another year,"
he says. "That was my strategy from the
beginning. In our environment, that's the
way to go. The speed of development of
everything is amazing."
iRule version 2.0 came just seven
months after the software's initial release.
It lets users put channel and program
information on their remotes and en-
ables two-way communication with the
receiver. For example, users can receive
information about what's playing on their
stereo systems. "My receiver can tell me
exactly what the volume is," Ben-Gal says.

"It can tell me what song is playing, what
the artist is."
Milogradov says he uses the new
functionality for security purposes. When
he's away from the house, like during a
recent Hawaiian vacation, he can deter-
mine whether the lights are on or off and
adjust them accordingly.
Originally a home-theater remote,
iRule is now used to control a host of
electronics, including lighting, security
and temperature.The software is ex-
tremely flexible and customizable, Ben-
Gal says. One iRule customer, he says, has
a remote for his New York home and one
for his home in the Hamptons.
"We give them all the tools to custom-
ize as much or as little as they want,"
Ben-Gal says. That includes customizing
the remote's language for those outside
the United States.
iRule has exceeded Ben-Gal's expecta-
tions in terms of functionality and mass
appeal, he says. The company now has
five full-time employees plus contract
Compuware programmers. Nemirovsky
heads software development and cur-
rently is working on an application for
Android devices, while Ben-Gal directs
business development.
"It's very humbling to bring something
to the market that I wanted at a price
point that's affordable," Ben-Gal says. 14

PROFESS OVALS

Fabric is the Family Business for Foltyns

FABRIC WAREHOUSE FROM PAGE 12

be la •iatti

ownsen I s rep
birmingham, michigan 48009
Oa • iatti -sta ‘ranteorn
w

ham Seaholm High
School explains. "Here
they can find luxury
fabrics that anyone can
afford — to reupholster
a couch or make draper-
ies for example."
The Fabric Ware-
house, which opened
in 2005 and is located
in Warren, originally
had two showrooms
but consolidated to one
huge venue at the end
of 2009. Customers can
find upholstery that
Bradley says normally
Bradley Foltyn and his father, Paul. The Foltyns have been in the
sells for $60-$150 per
fabric business since the 1940s.
yard at prices ranging
from $3.99 to $9.99 per
yard.
Will a fourth generation of Foltyns put her mark on the family business? Too early to
know, says Bradley, who has a 1-year-old daughter, Sophie, with his wife, Jamie. At this
point, the little girl is too young to know the family legacy she stands to inherit. NT

•

or reserva ions p ease ca
or through tallulah at 248131.706
41111111L

14 October 2011 I

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