Pacific Edge Projects Itself

For Fuller and Hjorten, the payoff is getting home in time to be with their 6-year-old twin daughters, Karina and Lavina, whom they adopted from Romania four years ago. Unlike most new CEOs, Hjorten rarely hops a plane. She maintains a simple lifestyle. She runs six miles a day, snacks on fruit and oatmeal, and works in her garden.

Foundation Capital's Paul Koontz says that he has never invested in a company that was backed by a husband-and-wife team before; the personal dynamic creates too much potential risk. "But at Pacific Edge, that concern is just not an issue," he says, because Fuller and Hjorten are not in competition with each other, and they don't report to each other. "It's a good balance."

Rekha Balu (rbalu@fastcompany.com) is a Fast Company senior writer. Contact Lisa Hjorten by email (lisah@pacificedge.com), or learn more about Pacific Edge on the Web (www.pacificedge.com).