Trio’s black box system a hit with 2 automakers

The product they created, an innovative in-vehicle telecommunications system, is set to be embedded starting this fall in millions of Chryslers and Mercedes. The company they spawned, Hughes Telematics, has hundreds of employees and foresees billions in annual revenue.

So now, it’s kind of fun for brothers Chuck and Kevin Link and partner/pal Fred Blumer to look back on the not-so-good-old days.

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Bob Andres/bandres@ajc.com

From left: Fred Blumer, Kevin Link and Chuck Link have created a safety/navigation/entertainment system for vehicles that will be used by Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz. Their company is Hughes Telematics.

Like the time a top Chrysler executive told the trio he was leery of risking the automaker’s name on “three guys in a basement in Atlanta.” Or the long night when they took over a Kinko’s at 2 a.m. to bind a bid package due in Detroit later that morning.

Back then, the chances of their project amounting to something big seemed small. But then, says Kevin, “when you’re entrepreneurs, you follow every lead with passion, ‘cause you never know.”

The three Atlantans, who now hold management positions with Hughes, a publicly traded company of about 300 employees with offices near Perimeter Mall, knew they had a great idea when they joined forces in 2004.

But they didn’t know if anybody would buy their black box, which can provide information and entertainment, safety, navigation and vehicle diagnostics through voice activation and an in-dash screen. They also didn’t know where they’d get the $100 million and more needed to bring the product to market.

They did know that someday car owners would want to safely “drive connected.” That is, they would want access to all the communications features they enjoyed at home — e-mail, phone, music and other services — without it being distracting and dangerous.

The three partners also knew their system, devised by Chuck Link, an electrical engineer, offered more features than existing competitors such as General Motors’ OnStar system.

Today, Hughes is poised to take a large piece of what analysts say will be a growing market. Telematics uses computer and wireless technologies to carry information across networks.

Industry analysts expect most cars in America will have some kind of telematics system in the years ahead, as consumers demand it. A monthly service fee, which could run about $20, would be the cost to car owners.

With Chrysler and Mercedes in hand, Hughes is pursuing deals with other automakers. Blumer is also leading an effort to develop an aftermarket system.

Blumer, a lawyer, business consultant and entrepreneur, met Kevin Link while both were volunteering with the Boy Scouts. The Links had their own company. One day, Blumer asked what they did professionally. It turned out to be a magic moment.

Working as a consultant, Blumer had been trying to find a telematics system for Chrysler and the Links had a firm that made “black boxes” — event data recorders — for federal agencies. Blumer realized the Links had the technology Chrysler might want.

That led to many meetings with the automaker and eventually a deal to put the system in its cars and trucks. Mercedes followed.

“They have the most advanced technology, and their vision of what the future of the connected vehicle holds in store is most aligned with ours,” said Sascha Simon, manager for advanced product planning for Mercedes. Simon praised Hughes for seeing beyond the safety and security features of telematics.

Industry analyst Thilo Koslowski, of Gartner Consulting, is bullish on Hughes’ prospects.

“This is an emerging opportunity. The market is there,” Koslowski said.

He said Hughes is the most aggressive and innovative in a small field of competitors. The downside, he said, is that its products aren’t yet on the market. But they will be in some 2010 models by later this year.

The three founders can’t wait for that moment. They don’t own the company now, but they’re OK with helping influence its direction.

Says Blumer, “We were mature enough in our entrepreneurship to know when to get out the way, and to put pride in the back seat.”

Looking back on the original idea, Chuck Link adds, “I am so proud of where we are with that technology today.”