Laid-back techies set up shop

Andrew Edwards

When Nicole Hillbrecht and Ruben Reusser moved their software

business to the Balboa Peninsula in late May, their decision was made

for business, and other, reasons.

“It gives us an opportunity to work in an environment where we can

open windows, go to the beach. Reusser said. “You don’t have to dress

up all the time.”

In an office that has room for a dog named Simba, Hillbrecht,

Reusser, and S. Ross Hering comprise the U.S. branch of headwire,

inc. The company was founded in 2000 in Switzerland -- Hillbrecht and

Reusser’s homeland.

Hillbrecht and Reusser were both educated at Switzerland’s

University of Applied Science. Hillbrecht holds headwire’s chief

executive post and Reusser’s title is chief technology officer.

Hering was hired in June as director of business development.

Before making the move to Newport, the firm’s American branch was

in Lake Forest. Moving to Newport Beach, Hering said, was only partly

motivated by an interest in finding a more central location for the

Los Angeles and Orange County markets.

The primary reason for moving, Hillbrecht said, was to share

office space with two other technology firms. Focustribe Interactive,

a communications design company, and Whole Product Marketing, a

marketing and communications business.

“We were able to get in there and share that creativity ,”

Hillbrecht said.

Before designing a program for a client, Reusser said he looks for

a company’s “pain points” -- areas of inefficiency. Reusser said

headwire can make programs for any business “if they do things on

paper that they would like to do on computer and you can’t buy

software.”

An example of the kinds of business software headwire designs

would be a program that allows a company to track its shipments in

real time, Hillbrecht said.

When Hillbrecht and Reusser first became interested in computers,

their goals were simpler than looking for ways to make programs for

other companies.

“I always broke my dad’s computer, and I thought, ‘I’d better

learn this,” Hillbrecht said.

Reusser said his technology career began by figuring out how to

automate a Swiss television station’s operations. When he became

interested in programming, it was all about fun.

“I started by trying to get games, modify games so you don’t get

killed,” he said.

The phone number for headwire is (949) 258-0127.