Menlo Systems GmbH is a spin-off from the renowned Max-Planck-Institute for Quantum Optics. Professor T.W. Hänsch, director of the institute, and his co-workers have pioneered a revolutionary and simple technique for meas......Menlo Systems GmbH is a spin-off from the renowned Max-Planck-Institute for Quantum Optics. Professor T.W. Hänsch, director of the institute, and his co-workers have pioneered a revolutionary and simple technique for measuring the frequency of light: the Optical Frequency Synthesizer. This invention has been called "…the biggest advance in precision electromagnetic measurements since people began to measure laser frequencies in the seventies…" In 2001, Prof. Hänsch, Dr. Ronald Holzwarth, and Dr. Michael Mei have founded Menlo Systems GmbH. The foundation has been guided by the dream and vision of establishing the optical frequency comb technology as the most precise measurement tool. The commercial success story started with the first product in 2002: The Optical Frequency Synthesizer FC8004. It enables the user to measure optical frequencies with the highest accuracy with a table top instrument. With its base technology numerous world records in precision measurements have been achieved, e.g. in the determination of the Rydberg constant. Second in the product line are the femtosecond fiber lasers. The state-of-the art instruments focus on ease-of-use without sacrificing performance. Various models for applications like medical diagnostics, Terahertz spectroscopy, seeding of amplifiers and test & measurement applications are available. The management team of Menlo Systems is formed by Dr. Michael Mei and Dr. Ronald Holzwarth. Strong business building expertise is being added by Alex Cable (founder of Thorlabs, Inc.). Further support comes from the board members T.W. Hänsch, Alex Cable, Ulrich Mahr, and Bruno Gross. Menlo Systems opened in late 2006 its US subsidiary to establish a direct line to its customers in North America and to partner with America’s premium research institutes for R&D projects. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts the new US office helps to grow the company and to continue its success in the American market. With Franz Kärtner and James Fujimoto, both professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Menlo Systems welcomed two distinguished scientific advisors with the opening of the US office. Jim Fujimoto’s research team invented and developed, among other significant achievements, the optical coherence tomography imaging technology Franz Kärtner provides Menlo Systems his unique expertise about ultrafast science and few-cycle pulse generation. The first product resulting from this cooperation, Octavius, a 1-GHz, sub-6-fs Ti:sapphire oscillator, was launched in 2007. Over the years, the mission "To accelerate the advancement of optical technology for precision measurements and their applications from the table tops of research laboratories to standard use in communication and high technology industries" has been our driving force. It is lived by the team as well as by the board members.