John Wagster
Executive VP and General Counsel
Freeborders, Inc.
How long have you been in business in Nashville?
Freeborders was founded in 2000 and has had an office in Nashville since that time. We maintain employees on site with many of our customers around the world, but our headquarters is in San Francisco, and we have main offices in New York City, Manchester (UK), Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Wuxi, China.
What does your company or organization do best?
Freeborders provides technology consulting services locally and outsourcing globally specializing in the financial services, health care, travel and high tech industries. We offer a full suite of services encompassing all phases of a product lifecycle including: strategy, design, development, implementation, integration and testing. The thing that separates us from other technology companies is our delivery model, Chindus™, through which we almost always combine a local presence and subject matter expertise with a highly skilled backend in China. We are the only US-based company in China delivering western quality services using western contracts and delivery methods to clients in the US and Europe.
What is one interesting fact about your company?
Freeborders began as a software company licensing a suite of Product Lifecycle Management solutions that we built in our delivery centers in China. We turned to outsourcing when we realized our customers were more interested in using our skilled Chinese developers than they were in licensing our software.
What new technology product or service are you the most excited about?
Freeborders is excited to see the healthcare industry beginning to adopt e-healthcare solutions to handle the crucial functions of healthcare including the transmission of medical information, medical financial data and claims among healthcare providers, payers and patients. Freeborders has considerable experience developing rapid data exchange solutions in the financial services and travel industries and is glad to see the healthcare industry moving in the same direction.
Who is the most interesting person you have ever met?
That’s a tough one. It’s tempting to name business icons and political leaders, but I think I am most impressed by some of the refugees from Rwanda and Sudan who have immigrated to Nashville over the last few years. They have abandoned everything they have ever known to take a chance on a new and better life in the United States. Without exception they learn over time that life in the US can be as difficult or more difficult than what they have experienced in their home countries, but the opportunities here are vastly superior. Also without exception, these new arrivals cite education as the number one determining factor in their ability to assimilate and succeed, and they pursue it with a vengeance. At Freeborders we try to emulate that desire for self-improvement and strive to provide the best possible service for our customers.
