37. Switch Hitter

Amir Bassan-Eskenazi
Title: CEO/Pres/Co-Founder, Big Band Networks

Why Him?  Gee. Why would we put Amir Bassan-Eskenazi so high on our list this year? Especially after he squeaked in at #77 last year? Well, stay with us on this: 2006 was really the first year that operators got serious about switched-digital video, with the subject all the rage at this year's National Show and increasingly a priority. Time Warner Cable continues to get favorable results from its own trial, and the industry is watching. Bassan-Eskenazi's BigBand Networks is the big kahuna in SDV. Today, BigBand Networks claims most of the top 20 MSOs as customers, including more than 5 revenue-generating deployments with multiple top-10 operators. To be sure, Bassan-Eskenazi has led BigBand on a path to massive growth since he founded the company 7 years ago, including international expansion into Latin America, Europe and Asia. Beyond switched broadcast, he continues to offer up new innovations, most recently with M-CMTS, a way for MSOs to cheaply expand access bandwidth and converge triple-play services. Even more amazing is that Bassan-Eskenazi does all of this while trotting around the globe, splitting his time between Tel Aviv, Israel, and both coasts of the United States, where BigBand Networks has operations in the San Francisco and Boston areas. In fact, Bassan-Eskenazi ends up doing much of his work in mid-air, as he travels well over 100,000 miles every year. - MG

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