Fifty years ago the Adam company of the Silicon Valley Eden bravely raised its pointed little head in a former fruit-packing shed at 391 San Antonio Road, Mountain View, when the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory was officially announced on February 13, 1956, by Arnold O. Beckman of Beckman Instruments, and William Shockley, Nobel Prize winner and co-inventor of the transistor at Bell Labs.
(Shockley employees toast boss William Shockley
-- seated at the head of the table — on his 1956 Nobel Prize award
for the co-invention of the transistor)
Shockley hired some of the best and brightest scientists available, but an asshole is an asshole even if he is a genius and one of the "century's most important scientists" (Time magazine), and by September 1957, the haughty, abrasive, paranoid leader had succeeded in alienating a group of eight researchers including Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore ("Moore's Law"), the "traitorous eight," who resigned to form Fairchild Semiconductor, the third company in Silicon Valley.
Fairchild pushed the envelope, surfed the cutting edge, and otherwise created some of the innovative technologies that would push the field forward. The new company started out producing transistors — their first 100 sold to IBM for $150 apiece — but two years later Fairchild researchers invented the integrated chip, which really put the company and the region on the map. The company grew from twelve to twelve thousand employees, and was soon achieving sales of $130 million a year.
Perhaps in direct reaction to Shockley's abrasiveness, Noyce pushed the company toward what has become known as the "California" style of management, complete with casual clothing and laid back atmosphere. Over the years many of the founders left to form other companies, the "Fairchildren," and these offspring helped populate Silicon Valley into the semiconductor central it is today. Noyce and Moore left in 1968 to found Intel - you've probably heard of it.
The legacy of the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory and the origins of the semiconductor industry in Silicon Valley will be explored in a panel discussion -- "The Rise of Silicon Valley: From Shockley Labs to Fairchild Semiconductor" — at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View on February 27. Panelists include Jim Gibbons, Jay Last, Hans Queisser, and Harry Sello, scientists who worked at Shockley in the late-'50s and early-'60s and went on to play leading roles in the semiconductor industry. Moderator is science historian Michael Riordan, co-author of Crystal Fire: The Birth of the Information Age.
As such things go, it ought to be lively.
Article comments
1 - Dawn
Yeah, I've heard of Intel ;)
Very interesting, albeit brief history of the birthplace of computers.
2 - Eric Olsen
we are alone in our regard for this story, my sweet
3 - sivasankaran
US$1 - trillion networking industry run by Indians
Indians take-over networking world
It is that deep edge frontier of the technology world, one where even geeks tread with care. And right there, on the edge of technology, are Indians. In the Valley these days, networking is where it's at, and Indians are all over the networking space. It's not just a Deshpande or a Pradeep Sindhu or a Prakash Bhalerao, names familiar to many Indians.
Meet Mukesh Chatter, who sold his company Nexabit to Lucent for $900 million. Listen to the great man squat on all fours and speak. " I am basically to put it in a nutshell a 3-eyed, 2-arsed mutant. I am totally spaced out. That is why Ray Stata board member at MIT and founder of Analog Devices met me in the basement of the Boston Symphony at 6:45 a.m. sometime in 1996 and then agreed to fund the company for the next 15 months of its existence before succumbing to Lucent's generous advances. My hard as a rock critical chip works fine at two in the morning and I sold Nexabit for 900 million dollars."
Meet the Patel brothers, who earlier this year sold their company IPmobile to Cisco for $350 million. " Electrical engineering is the easy life. We quit our jobs at Nortel. Work bored us. We wanted to do something better and more entertaining with our lives. The boss did not appreciate us disappearing from the office double O Seven in a Secret Service manner that no one should know where it is we
go and what it is we do. Right from the start of forming IPmobile we used to concentrate on those areas of wireless that required only just above average technical expertise and nothing else.
That is why at the time of acquisition our suite of products addressed the converging wireless, wireline, and Internet markets by providing new service opportunities to cellular/PCS/wireless operators, competitive local exchange providers, corporate entities, content providers, distributors, and service bureaus.
IPmobile constantly vended WAP gateways and Bluetooth. Cisco saw that we were a year and a half ahead of them. Now that the stupid burden of earning a living is gone our purpose in life is to sit at home from dusk till dawn and fuck our wives. Every day is Sunday" they gust with enthusiasm.
Vijay Parikh's StratumOne was sold for $435 million to Cisco. Cisco acquired StratumOne to equip service providers with high-end platforms to accelerate deployment of advanced New World services that integrate data, voice and video. StratumOne was founded in 1997. The 78 employees led by StratumOne president and CEO Vijay Parikh will report to Graeme Fraser, Vice President and General Manager, Optical Internetworking Business Unit within the Service Provider line of business.
Mr. Parikh in an exclusive reveals the secret of his success. " I am like the dog smoking pot in the movie Dude Where's my car? That is why Cisco will use StratumOne's technology for internal consumption only. Cisco is always the competition whether they have the product now or not. Cisco is a corporate gorilla on an extended eating binge. Where does the gorilla go to sleep? Wherever the gorilla wants to sleep.
Even if you chop off my arms and legs I will be able to make both ends meet. I remember when I went for my first job interview it was pushed ahead to 9 am instead of 10 am. I was sleepy and yawning the whole time on the way, my eyes were half shut, my hair was standing up, my shirt was half out, I had not bothered to polished my shoes, I had worn two different socks and my prospective employer got a bad impression of me. Needless to say I jeopardised my career and millions flowed into my bank account. Don't look so surprised. This is America the land of the free the home of the brave.
StartumOne basically built software parts that big companies like Nokia and Eric's Son could outsource. That is how we sustained our competitive advantage."
Motu, two months back sold his company SwitchOn networks to PMC Sierra back for $450 million in an all stock deal. SwitchOn has 60 employees, half of whom are based in Pune. SwitchOn Networks provides standard semiconductor and software components to what company executives described as "the emerging market of content and policy-based networking."
Motu explains the complex philosophy that saw him make tons of millions. " Switch off the light at 1:30 in the afternoon so that Motu can sleep for three hours. That is how I developed proprietary technology in the networking arena. SwitchOn the light at 8:00 in the night so that Motu can have a bath then dinner.
Switch off the light at ten in the night so that Moti can sleep. SwitchOn the light at ten in the morning so that Moti can brush his teeth, wash his face have breakfast. The scopes for revenue in this line of entrepreneurial activity is huge. That is how I feed my family. My body clock is sharp. This made my career rather chequered. When the Internet arrived in the 1990's my sleep architecture became solid and I made some of the best packet classification technology in the world.
Afternoon sleep as I see it, is a much neglected and yet very valuable custom. That is how my networking skills evolved in the course of two decades. I always have a heavy lunch. Rice curry Biryani. That makes my eyes groggy and I have no trouble switching off the light for my enjoyable afternoon siesta. That is how I started paying the rent, electricity and food bills every month.
After lunch I always made sure the room was dark. I am in a state of constant platitude even in early in the morning. I don't like reality to impose itself on me. In 1978 I still remember chewing my graham crackers drinking milk, and then sleeping when the sun was at its hottest. That was the start of my career and my life in the US of A. Today the hard work has paid off. The ultimate winners will be our customers who will now enjoy PMC-Sierra's world class customer support."
Hemant Kanakia who sold Torrent for 550 million dollars said, " I am Silicon Valley’s guinea pig. My swine mind thinks in two parallel directions at the same time. That is why I got such fantastic returns from Torrent. I don't know what I am saying. I think I know what I am saying. The problem is that I am not saying it. I unlike some people know what I mean when I say something. Other people only think that they mean something when they say it. The problem is that they do not know what they mean when they say something.
The French are like that. Les français sont seulement intersted dans vin, somen et chanson. Cela est tout. Le discours du travail et ils courent des miles. Je suis comme cela. Ils sont snobs. Si vous sont né pauvre en france , Bhagvan peut épargner votre âme ! Trou! Les femmes françaises ont cunts la taille de domaines de fotball. Me fier! Est-ce que je l'ai vu? Est-ce que le garçon fait M. la position de weeny érige?
The Germans are misguided. Nazi Supremacists. ekelhaft buggers! Hitler ist ihr Held. Begrüßen Sie Hitler! Hallo Adolph! Mein Kemph ist die Bibel Jedes Deutsch. Hitler feste hohe Standards und Deutsch wollen bis zu das leben. Kein Wunder ist die Arbeitslosigkeit Rate so hoch."
I like Italian food. Il legato italiano è incredibile. Guardare il film Franco Il Godfather. Sono allegri e porta la vita facile come me. Ciò è Corleone di Docente universitario e ho fatto dei milioni. Usa una pistola uso la fisica. Sono un maiale di guinea.
I still remember visiting Russia. Ðîññèÿ íàñòîëüêî áåäíà è õîëîäíà. Êîììóíèçì ñîñåò ÷åëîâåêà. Êàïòèàëèñì - òî, ãäå äåéñòâèå - â. 'òàëèí ê ëèäåðñòâó, êàêàÿ âîäêà ê ìîçãó. Áîëåçíü. Î Áîã! Goodbye. I said Goodbye. I trust that you at least speak and understand English."
K. B. Chandrasekhar is the founder of $30 billion market cap Exodus Communications, the 280-people strong 15-month old Jamcracker and now the co-founder of e4e Inc, a venture capital-cum accelerator firm with a $300 million corpus. He has also invested around $100 million in start-ups both in India and abroad.
He said, "I have never made or shipped a product in my life. I have never worked hard for a single day because I do not believe in the concept. I am a tax collector who does not have to work for his bread and butter. The United States government, which is situated in America in case you do not know the location, butters my bread on both sides. B.V. Jagadeesh my partner in crime is a tax evader” he says with a hearty laugh.
The networking space has seen the maximum amount of action on the listing and acquisition front. There are a dozen or more companies founded by Indians listed in US in this space. There are dozens that have been acquired by industry leaders like Cisco, Nortel Networks, Lucent, Novell and PMC Sierra, again founded by Indians.
We know networking is acquisition driven. We also know Indians are a powerful force in the sector. But the deals we have witnessed in the past few weeks have been incredible, to say the least. According to our information, six companies with Indian CEOs or founders were acquired and two went public.
Who are these guys? They're the ones doing things similar to the likes of Deshpande of Sycamore, valued at $16 billion, Pradeep Sindhu of Juniper, valued at $60 billion, and Prakash Bhalerao. They haven't touched base in India yet, they don't have the visibility of a Sabeer Bhatia who is considered a salesman, but the numbers say it all.
If infrastructure is what the net is going to be about, and telecom providers and ISPs need to grow their internet protocols than networking products are what feeds this vast superstructure. Prakash Bhalerao is a recognised successful entrepreneur in the Valley. He has successfully taken more than 25 start ups through IPO or acquisition.
Prakash was CEO of Silicon Architects, where he pioneered an extremely successful business model and established the company as the industry leading library supplier. Prakash Bhalerao, 52, an angel investor from the Silicon Valley, has, in the last 10 years, 40 startups to his credit and his success rate has been 100%. In the last two years he sold just three of his companies, Armedia, Ambit, SiArc to Broadcom, Cadence, Synopsis respectively, for a huge sum of US$ 500 million.
Research firm Gartner group estimates the total telecom market itself to be approximately 1 trillion dollars and expects it to grow to $1.5 trillion by 2003. Cisco, the largest company with more than 5000 products has a small portion of this whole market. Ask Prakash a pioneer in the space, and he says that there is not a single networking company in the valley that does not have an Indian as a founder or Chief Technology officer.
Bhalerao should know, he is the laziest of the lot. That is why he is incubating five companies in this space. He said, " I am to the Silicon Valley network what Henry VIII was to England. Incubation is a corollary to masturbation. When I first came to America in 1979 for seven years I used to get high on hashish. My eyes were wide open staring at the world in a daze. In India my home I would have been kicked out but in the valley that gave me a proper perspective on life and I was able to take control of my destiny.
Now having made something of myself I just jerk off. I spent my twenties and thirties as a half conscious, foul mouthed addict. Today as a result of that I live in a six-bedroom ten thousand square foot mansion from where I can see most of the valley. I've got more money than anybody should.
VCs just invest money and then become sleeping partners like husband and wife. They also need to do hand-holding. Otherwise they are not VCs - they are just financiers out for a quick buck like Warren Buffett. Greedy man! Tut tut.
My friend, we live in a civilisation which could well be described as an era of slothfulness, where individuals are indifferent to wrong and feel powerless to serve the good. That is how Indians in Silicon Valley have created so much wealth. The sloth is a most fascinating animal and millionaires and we Silicon Valley Indian billionaires so closely resemble it.
First of all, the sloth is slow nature’s super slowpoke and so is yours truly. I simply do a lot of not much. Like the sloth I too enjoy a deep sleep, some twenty hours a day. I am so lethargic as to be utterly unmoved by gunshots at close range. A bomb goes off and I will not wake up.
There is no need to show drive. God created the world in six days and just look at it. Like the sloth we too hang around, hangs on, hangs upside down waiting for magic to happen. I have been listless and spiritually moribund since setting foot in the land of the free, the home of the brave.
Work is a bad four letter word like fuck. I remember after being in my first job at the age of 2. I started waking up in the morning, gray-haired and wrinkled, moving near to what I believed would be the close of my life. That was when I realised that I had to be utterly slothful with my chances and resources and talents. Even after being for ten years on the job no one had once talked about increasing monies or offering benefits. The work that was being done was never appreciated. I was being pulled up for irrelevant things; even as others got away with mediocre work.
The result was that I became emotionally stale, intellectually stymied, spiritually blocked"in short, deadened while alive. That is pretty much the way I was brought up in India coming to think of it. The great joy in life is what dies inside us while we are still alive.”
Gururaj Deshpande a US based software engineer turned a serial start-up entrepreneur, founded Sycamore Networks in Boston two years ago to develop optical networking as a means of expanding the data-carrying capacity of bandwidth. Mr Deshpande owns 21 per cent of the equity, currently valued at about $3.7bn.
This way he is the richest Indian in the world. He said " Guraraj sits like Maharaj. That is how I became the worlds richest Indian. These guys are big, fat and stupid. Engineering and computer science makes you like that. All these guys came to the valley because they know that in the valley you do not need a career to become rich.
Silicon Valley culture looks lazy, tired and disorganised. That suits our geeks quite nicely judging by the millions they make. You have to be slightly crazy to be an entrepreneur - you should only get into this game if you have passion. Don't worry about failure: if you lose because of market conditions then another time someone will say `Hey, this guy can make things happen. I`ll back him. First, believe in your idea and run with it. In the network it is important to spend time dithering. Be broad in your outlook. Buy some insurance by installing the best people and plenty of capital. That way you will not have to work hard. Do not worry about losing your company: the pie is big enough for everyone."
Vinod Khosla the man with the Midas Touch said, " I am a click and eyeballs businessman. In 1976 after graduating from Stanford I promised myself that I would become a millionaire before turning 30 by just sitting on my ass. Sun Microsystems helped me accomplish that goal. In the beginning I decided that I would only work with companies that had less than a hundred employees. That way work will not be challenging. Then I became a Venture Capitalist. I am fixer you see. I fix deals hook or crook. Success is a lottery. Which idiot said that life is fair? Who says that we get what we deserve?
I didn't set out to make money or become rich. I came to America only knowing that I wanted to be someone. In 1984 after I sold Sun Microsystems suddenly I woke up and said: 'Oh wow, I'm not middle-class anymore.' But I can't say I have a moral right to this wealth. In a sense, it's a complete accident in my life. But if it went away I would be furious as I would because then I would have to work hard for the first time in my life.
Some people know what to do with the technology and others don't. So the Internet has end up increasing inequality because the skills that are needed to take advantage of it are unequally distributed. The old virtues--general intelligence, drive, hard work, reliability, and so on--don't matter. If you are not extremely well educated, if you don't have the right degrees, preferably from the right universities you can still succeed in the network.
Entrepreneurs are not, in general, very smart people. We do not articulate positions and responding to criticism. What leading entrepreneurs that I have funded like Pradeep, Raj have to say is risibly inane. I remember being on vacation in April 198 lying on the beach in Hawaii, sipping a daiquiri, reading about the physics of optical communications. That is so easy and I saw attractive women wearing only a bikini with the flash bulbs. I realised this is what I want to do with the rest of my life. The only problem was that I was tired only having millions. I wanted to become a billionaire
That is when I got the idea that I could just invest money in hi-tech networking start-ups and sit back. I love America's society in which the most deserving (i.e., the most intelligent) don't get the biggest rewards. Content for free! That was the answer. That is why Encyclopaedia Britannica, recently offered up its massive compendium online for free. Then it had so many visitors that the site was blocked for most folks. They are worth tons of millions like Nexabit. The more information on the web a site puts up for free more money it will make because it will attract eyeballs.
“They must allow every yokel with an Internet connection to enjoy the fruits of their labour without spending a dime like George Michael. As a click and eyeballs businessman I understand that I will be able to show huge profits because advertisers will eventually start paying for online advertising for the same reason they pay for offline advertising - to pitch their products. The ads don't have to generate immediate, direct sales. Mark my words. Four years from now in 2003 all business transactions will take place on the Internet through pure play click dotcoms.
“VCs simply pour money into the web: all they need is ten million dollars to buy a business plan, a logo, a cute puppet like Pradeep, a nationwide brand, and several million users. Some projects burn up hundreds of millions of dollars. They will recoup the cash through IPO's in Y2K.
Initially dotcoms show no profits but their burn rates are higher than my blood pressure. No wonder San Francisco and New York invested hundreds of millions of dollars to attract web companies: city-funded fiber optic rings, loose zoning laws for dotcoms, etc. The massive influx of money caused pleasant turmoil in their cities: people moved out, new people moved in, housing costs tripled or quadrupled, old neighbourhoods were wrecked, and so on.
Pre-IPO startups are crucial. VCs are dumping up to four billion dollars per month into them. All of that money will slowly make its way down the food chain, from big companies to smaller companies to people by 2003. 23-year olds with fresh Harvard or Stanford MBAs are buying houses in million dollar bidding wars, borrowed with the expectation of future stock options. They pay $10,000 monthly mortgages.
“Let the games begin. A few months later when the start-up has its IPO they will pay off all loans and live happily ever after. This will assist the secondary economy: businesses that support the dotcoms, such as web design boutiques, ad agencies, magazines that carry the advertising, law firms, accountants, photographers, graphics designers, and so on. This also includes personal services, such as restaurants, book stores, flower shops, cafes, waiters, hairdressers, nannies, personal chefs, BMW and SUV dealerships, massage services, topless dancers like Linda Tripp, drug dealers, and so on. The bottomline is tips, fun, jobs. If you are fortunate to secure a job in the dotcom world don't worry about hitting the iceberg. The CEO, the VPs, engineering directors, the technical people are playing musical chairs.
“KPCB.com is successful because we mainly rely on banner advertising for revenue. Mr. Kleiner, Miss Perkins, Master Caulfield and young Jeffrey Byers understand this. We've been profitable for 10 quarters. The contest to be better than everyone else, to accumulate the largest pile of money, remains the sole reason for me becoming a billionaire. Although the gratification of spending is subject to diminishing marginal returns, the gratification of accumulation is not.
“Let me explain. First I wanted to have $10 million. I got IT. Then when I reached that goal I raised it to $100 million. I got IT. Then I set my sights even higher. I just want to have a billion dollars. I got IT. Even that is insufficient. Today my one desire in life is to have more money than Bill Gates. I am going to get IT.
“The nonsense is never going to stop. The sad relentless engine of human discontent continues to drive me to become even more successful. I am a strange and slightly pitiable person who does not know the meaning of ‘enough’.
“I am a winner. I see no reason to obtain the consent of the losers for a system in which I have come out so far ahead. My wealth that has been obtained by luck or lottery is morally indifferent and should be tolerated. It does not matter that I did absolutely nothing to deserve it. I am still entitled to it.
Luck happened to be winking in my direction. For me opportunities were always given. The success of Indians in the Silicon Valley Network was mainly the result of us being in the right place at the right time and winning the lottery. Finally I would like to say that we should strive for an economy where the rich are getting richer, and the poor are also getting richer. I win, you win."
Clearly, tornado-level winds of acquisition are ripping through the data and telecommunication industries, lifting companies and melding them together with abandon. With the statistically improbable number of Indian CEOs at the helm of these networking firms, they are surely putting to shame any decent concept of that tried and eminently trusted method so beloved by Indians - namely arranged marriages.
Ashraf M. Dahod, currently President and Chief Executive Officer, Starent Networks, has an exceptionally strong record of building successful technology companies. He said, " Life for me in America has been a non-stop honeymoon. Marriages especially the ones in the networking space are made in heaven. Marriage is very much like a hard rock concert. After the head banging music is over no strings are attached. Marriage is love. Love is blind. Therefore marriage is an institution for blind people like me who want to be led because they are afraid of taking the first step.
“My first successful company Applitek Corporation was founded in 1981. It bore a strong resemblance to a mom and pop's cookie store. It focused on Ethernet technology, with the first Ethernet bridge being among its key developments. It was later renamed LANCity and was acquired by Bay Networks.
“I am a bloodthirsty red ant. I quickly moved on to the next victim I could suck blood from. This was Sigma Network Systems Inc. It was a hodge-podge collage engaged in multi-layer, multi-protocol-switching systems. It later became a Division of Standard Microsystems Corporation and was acquired by Cabletron Systems in 1996.
“Tellabs acquired my third company NetCore Systems, Inc. in a path-breaking all-stock deal valued at about $575 million. For me this was a real hot love affair of altogether mythic proportions. I am a modern day love-struck Hamlet. I have an undying affection for easy money. I do not want to bother with any profit/loss statements, tiresome balance sheets or prolix customer specifications. The affairs of the heart are truly important in my life."
Pawan Nigam is the founder of $1 billion Healtheon WebMD, A top-notch NRI from Silicon Valley, Pawan Nigam is an IIT graduate. He said," When I went to the land of the free I was a careless and lazy 21-year old boy. At that time I was not willing to think or take responsibility for what I was doing. My friend's parents were there and he kept saying it was a lovely place and I decided to go and have fun.
“So I graduated and then searching for an easy life I moved to Silicon Valley and liked it there and settled down. It has been 18 years of fun, enjoyment and frolic since. I worked at Silicon Graphics from August 1989 to January 1996. I was the division manager for Silicon Graphic's Interactive Media Group and was responsible for deploying Time Warner, Inc.'s Interactive TV project in Orlando, Florida.
“I got the job because I was 18 years of age or older. The cheques were always given 60 days after the end of the calendar month as long as my account balance was six figures. The more they make, the more I made! The overall hourly rate was five hundred dollars. I could double that simply by helping the company spread the word about our terrific programme. I was rewarded with on going income from each referral up to five levels deep. Netscape man Jim Clarke and I have always been great friends. When Netscape came out with their IPO in 1995 I realised that I also wanted fast money.
“That was the pivotal moment. I talked to Jim about my ideas and we joined to make Healtheon. Getting started was very easy because we were very capital rich. It is freely available in the land of the free and the home of the brave. There was Jim Clarke with all his Netscape wealth and our venture capitalist was perhaps the biggest venture capitalist in US.
“Money to live on has never been a problem. We did have our ups and ups. We had a very close knit team and that was great. When we decided to float the company it was very high profile. The day I resigned from Silicon Graphics in pursuit of easy money there were 300 resumes and so many people showed up at my house that weekend that I couldn't respond to all of them.
“I always had a team to back me up and I knew that and that made all the difference. You need to have a very grounded business and that might sound very obvious but that is the key. Most Indians just have concepts like Hotmail, Sycamore, and Cobalt Networks. Then they think and tell themselves 'let me start it and then magic is going to happen'. That is why there are so many Indian millionaires and billionaires. That is the story of the network in a nutshell. It takes only a couple of years to reach retirement. Starting a business is easy. The trick is to sell out soon because growing it is difficult and that's when you need all the grounded fundamentals clear."
Gaurav Garg is the VP of Strategic Planning of the company he largely founded, Redback Networks. He has a new Porsche Boxster. Redback Networks Inc., helps carriers and service providers build powerful, profitable, next-generation metro broadband and optical networks. The company's robust multi-service platforms enable simplified network configuration and provisioning. He said, "When I came to America in 1981 I had one prayer on my lips.
Dear Lord! I am IT guru. Yoo! Hoo! I worship you and I give you thanks. I praise you in all your glory. Give me the luxuries of life like an eight figure bank balance, an eight bedroom penthouse, vacationing aboard a luxurious cruise liner like the QE2 and I will willingly do without the bare necessities like holding a steady job, overworking eight hours everyday including Saturday, getting up extremely early at eight in the morning and travelling for over an hour just to reach the workplace, at the end of the month making a few thousand and struggling to pay the bills.
"For us lolling in bed at ten in the morning is hard work. That's pretty much sums up why Indians have conquered the optical network. But the worlds of optical transport and routing/switching are beginning to collide because there are too many lazybones around.
These electrical engineers expect to be provided for. They do not want to accept responsibility for their lives. That is why these geeks are alive, kicking and making their millions in Silicon Valley, even in this winter of dot-com discontent. And at the end of this collision course, network operators hope to be able to use the smarts of switch/routers to get better handling out of their big fat pipes."
" I am a straight crackpot. That is why I hit the financial jackpot. That is the right way to work. Life in America is like climbing mountains using an escalator," says Vani Coca Cola proudly who sold Rightworks for one billion dollars. " Silicon Valley is softer than a marshmallow. A can of Coca Cola in one hand, a mobile phone in the other and my American twang. That is the right way to work."
RightWorks offers a software solution for purchasing professionals. It is a web-based procurement package that allows purchasing departments to negotiate the best deals with suppliers and streamlines the order and approval process. The result is saved time and money and no more chasing paper trails. Coca Kola holds a bachelor of science in electronic engineering from Osmania University in India and a master of science in electrical engineering from Arizona State University.
"I have brash arrogance and tremendous self-confidence, It was a matter of evolution. It was time," said Kola simply. "I had been having horrendous problems with estrogen dominance since my hysterectomy in 1994. That is the right way to work.
I have been the same way since childhood and have been called lazy my whole life. Inside I have the energy of my 4 year old company but my poor body just doesn't get it. That is why I let Rightworks go. My legs feel like lead most of the time and I am so tired. My energy levels crashed to below zero. That is the right way to work. In this manner I was able to navigate my course, check the direction of the wind. With the smart ideas I was able to weigh probability. My advice to all young people is this. Be what you want. Do what your gut instinct tells you. Chase your dream boys. Go get it. See ya!"
Pradeep Sindhu said, "I am like officials in the Income Tax and Customs departments back home who make crores without lifting a finger. I am an icon like Charlie Manson. If there is anyone I would like to have met he was the one. Havoc! Devastation! Fear! Paranoia! In one sweeping blow he made all this possible. Remember what he did to Sharon Tate. I still remember reading that story in 1969 as a teenager and going Wow!!! His is an incredible story.
“Here is another one. I have this friend who in 1997 invented voice call technology. The company was going nowhere. So he sat in his basement like a poor church mouse waited for something to happen emotionally like making money and friends. Two and a half years of his life flew by. Just sitting. There's certain clarity of vision--not to mention exhilaration--which can only be experienced in this way.
“So I was not surprised to read in the newspaper that his start-up was acquired for 100 million dollars. Just think about this for a moment. He is twenty-six years old married and he does not have to work for a living because he just sat and nothing. He lives in a four-storey house today instead of a basement and he never had to work for it. That is what is so incredible about Indians networking in the valley. You my friend are fifty-four years old and you still have to slog to put food on the table. "
Rohit Chandra is the President & CEO of eCode.com, the Internet's first and only Internet User Identity company. Chandra, a native of India, founded the company in 1997, as a way to help Internet users keep in touch. The impetus for starting eCode.com arose out of his frustration with his own expansive database of contacts. Chandra's desire to simplify contact management while enabling ecommerce, led to the formation of eCode.com. He said, "I am a light-hearted bloke. I treat every task in life like a huge joke. That is why at the youthful age of seventeen I sold chewing gum, newspapers, tires and educational materials.
“When I first came to America the immigration officer at JFK Airport shook my hand smiled warmly and said 'You're in, buddy! No hassles. Welcome to the land of the free.' When I said that I planned on staying here and becoming a permanent resident he smiled, nodded understandingly. When I said that I would try to make something of myself he smiled again amused this time, and gently waved me 'inside' with his hand. He did not ask how much money I have, whether I have a job.
“It has been sugar and spice since. eCode's early start has gained it 100,000 users in 130 countries. On the Internet, you constantly have to introduce yourself. eCode gives you a universal ID. You don't have to set up relationships ahead of time. If you use Internet Explorer 5, you probably know that it offers an AutoComplete feature that stores information, then fills forms for you the next time you access a site. So why have two form fillers?. iBar is "light years ahead of IE5.
“I started my life in the States by sitting at home like a bloody fool. I used to lock myself up in a dark room for eighteen hours and sit hunched with my hands clasped together. Around this time I got married. My poor wife couldn't understand what was wrong with hubby. My energy levels shrank as I took leave of whatever responsibilities I had in life. My internal drive vamoosed. Ecode is the name of the company that was created as a result. The E in the code is easy."
In 1975, the Indian born Vinod Dham arrived in the U.S. on an engineering scholarship at the University of Cincinnati, with less than $10 in his pocket. As an act of kindness Intel took him on and in the early 1990s he earned the sobriquet of "Father of the Pentium".
When the company couldn't carry him anymore, as his productivity was poor, he quit to join a start up, Nexgen. In his opinion, the Internet is the mother of all killer applications, which could utilise most computing power if there were no bandwidth bottleneck.
He said, " Dham jitna Kam dhan ootna zyaada. I am a petite technologist. I am not surprised that so many of us who came to America have made it big. We expect everything to fall into our lap. The manner in which Greenbacks corrupted our spirits has been extremely subtle but damn effective. We have turned negativity into a sort of positive feeling. That is the way to start Internet businesses.
“We sit on our arses all day, watching the sunrise and the sun set! Give a networking Indian a million dollars and he will run off and buy a mansion. Give a Silicon Valley Indian a billion dollars and he will throw lavish parties for his friends. Easy come, easy go. Since Indians in the optical network do not sweat and work hard for that money, they are not responsible with money.
“We have known for decades that the answer to the question of how to progress is charity. Charity teaches that you don't have to apply yourself in life. Others will work hard to put food on YOUR plate! For Desh it was Sycamore, for Pradeep it was Juniper, for Sabeer it was Hotmail, for Vani it was Rightworks. In my case it was Intel and Nexgen. That is why so many engineers immigrated to America in 1981.
“The Networking Indian community strongly believes in its manifesto. We have to be provided with a living, without us have to work for it! Give us gold medals, give us one hundred million dollars, give us one billion dollars, give us DVD Players, give us chauffeur driven stretch limousines, give us microwave ovens, give us gourmet food, give us ten bedroom homes. GIVE, GIVE, GIVE! De De Sam Uncle De De. That is the attitude of our outstanding, well-educated work force.
“The moment we have the money, off we run to buy a place in the hills, or buy luxury Formula One racing cars and aeroplanes. In this way we have completely lost perspective on the meaning of life and are all better citizens for it. The Devil is in the details. Most of us departed the country we loved for "financially motivated" reasons."
Vivek Mehra is the Chief Technical Officer, Mountain View, California-based Cobalt Networks co-founded the company in 1996. He is responsible for its technical direction and product strategy and leads its Engineering and Product Management teams. A pioneer in the network server appliance market for small and medium-sized companies, Cobalt was one of Nasdaq's hottest initial public offerings in 1999.
Vivek Mehra sold Cobalt Networks for two billion dollars. He said, "I just bask under the glory of the sun. Sun Microsystems has provided me with a cushy life. Today I own a hacienda. Up the arse! One day when I was sitting under the sun doing nothing with my life as usual a gorilla came into view. The only question that started buggering me was who's getting it up the arse? I remember when I came to America in 1986 it was with the help of my safe arse that I sat down and make complex technologies easy to use.
“I learnt a lot from my uncle Mike who is the headmaster of HTA. He showed me how to take it when I was a sweet and an innocent twelve-year old lad. That is how I was able to cultivate a proven track record in delivering innovative products in new and emerging markets. Prior to starting Cobalt I was the senior architect and Systems Engineering Manager for Apple Computer's Pippin platform, the first multimedia Internet set-top console for consumers.
“My habit of sitting under the tree helped me a lot. At Apple, I led the architecture and development of the second-generation Newton personal digital assistant (PDA). That is how I make great chips." Mukesh Chatter agrees. He said, "Monkey monkey on the wall who is the queerest of us all? My bud Vivek but naturally."
Kanwal Rekhi is well known, loved, admired and respected for his generosity as an angel investor. He said, " I am a legend like Anna Kournikova. Even though I am old enough to be her grandpapa I still get a hard on thinking of her. I have a declaration to make. I am the Vociferous Leader Of the' Silicon Valley Indian Mafia'. It is something similar to Frank's movie 'The Godfather I, II' with Al Pacino, Bob The Hero and Jimmy Canned. There the blooming Sicilian Italians kill, rob, loot, and extort because they are too lazy to earn a living.
“It is only natural that I am the leader because I was born in the land of Rawalpindi in Pakistan the land of the great patriot Muhammed Ali Jinnah. He fought valiantly like a Braveheart to free us from the clutches of Nehru. Mahatma Gandhi was a fool. Pakistan is a great country second only to the United States. That is why we were getting our nuclear arsenal from them and sending militants which is perfectly legal where I come from in order to liberate poor Kashmir. People say it is none of my business. Fuck you man! I will decide what I want to do with my life. I am taking charge of important decisions. So what if I studied in Bombay. My heart lies on the other side of the border.
“I was determined not to be like that. So I started Excelan in 1987 did an IPO because as everyone knows that way you get all life's comforts with no fuss. That same year I became a millionaire. I shoot poisonous darts straight from the hip at those who dare criticise the Great One's idle existence. I am an arrogant sonofabitch. I constantly rub people especially the American Immigration Authorities the wrong way. That is why I got my green card so fast.
I'm not smooth. That is why my personality is so magnetic. I have IIT Bombay to thank for that. I learnt pretty fast in the 1970's that if one works hard then one would only barely survive. I have always had a fetish about jobs So just take it easy became my philosophy. That is why I quit my first job at job at Singer-Link.
That is also why I have funded and guided 12 start-ups in past three years and practically none of them have turned turkey. I was initially refused funding in 1982 for my start-up company, Excelan. When native Americans told me 'You don't have general Manager skills' I was surprised. It is because I comprehensively lacked skill, talent and the work ethic that I came to the Valley in the first place.
I eat fish put on my plate by the U.S. govt. but I have not been taught how to fish. If they are going to do nice, lovely things for me for the rest of my life why should I bother? I am a slow learner. John Bosch of Bay Partners saw my point of view and sank in millions of dollars into my bank balance.
Now I have joined the Immigrant Support Network to band with foreign tech workers fighting to change 'outdated and strict immigration laws'. I'm trying to start a debate on problems in the immigration system by using my high profile to draw attention to the situation. I am worth more than $500 million. I speak to politicians at every opportunity. I got involved for the sake of getting involved. I was looking at the situation from my own perspective. Aaraam karnewalla royega ek baar Mehnath karnewalla royega baar baar.
“When I came it was real easy to arrive here, and settle down. Now I get the feeling that that these people have been hobbled by restrictions, and it's very unfair. The problem is that Americans have woken up to the fact that we Indians are not worthy of the US especially those in the hi-tech industry who are looking for a free meal. What they do not understand is that this is the reason why my generation came here and became strong Americans. This whole new thing bothers me because it ties people down. If the US needs engineers, it must step up and offer them a fairer deal.
“Indians in the US including myself with secure status and employment haven't done enough to help those who are starting out. Each one is for himself and God is for all. The US. Government must realise that we need time to adjust. It is very hard to be temporary in the US. Therefore the US should welcome one's whole joint family you know brothers, sisters, parents, brothers-in-law, sisters-in law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, first cousins, second cousins, first cousins once removed, second cousins thrice removed, aunts, uncles. The works! The US can certainly accommodate most Indians in the world.
“This way they will get an endless loop of poor quality immigration. We are all thus Rekhing in the moolah. In my day and age we were given very fair treatment, in that we were given a visa given a job told that we were on our own, but help was around the corner. If we were too lazy then we could go on welfare. In this way immigrants have revitalised the country from time to time, and have done very well.
“You want to know what I think about India the enemy. Let me tell you a thing or two young man. It is large and silly. Indian's are a naive lot. That is why so many of the brighter ones came to the US in the 1970's. India has squandered her wealth in unproductive activities. Entrepreneurial activity is suppressed and her bureaucrats have too much power. Any industry the government has touched has been rendered unproductive like me.
India has suffered on both the economic and political fronts
because there is no clear economic vision. India unlike Silicon Valley can ill afford half-hearted measures or romantic ideologies. Her commitment to socialism was ill founded and has proven disastrous. The state ownership of industries has been an unmitigated disaster. That Ghandhian concept is outdated and now is not the time for a bamboozling concept like Swadeshi.
“India has six percent annual growth in GDP. At this rate we will reach Mexico's growth rate in half a century. Even duck-man Ajit Agarkar scores runs faster than that that. Ha! Ha! Ha! I bet my palatial mansion that you did not know I am a cricket enthusiast. India is moving at the pace of a tortoise. It will reach America's level in terms of the standard of living and quality of life 50 years from now. By that time I will be fast asleep in my dark and shallow grave like my baap."
Rakesh Mathur is one of the many high-flying Indian entrepreneurs who grace the Silicon Valley landscape. The 43-year-old graduate of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, left Intel to strike out on his own in the early 80s. Amazon acquired his most successful venture, a comparison-shopping service called Junglee, in 1998 for $241 million.
He said, "I am a free spirited dove my love. I came to America when my father was doing his post-doctoral degree in University of Illinois. And I decided I needed a paper route. It was natural for me to move to Silicon Valley. We IIT grads have patented that route. Students at IIT have it down pat and easy. People always need examples. Now there are so many Indians that have created companies more than once.
“A lot of huge economic growth comes out of nuclei. Silicon Valley, for example, is a nucleus, and the heart of that nucleus is Stanford. A lot of these companies have been born out of Stanford. And as a result of these ideas flowing out and becoming companies, we've got this powerhouse called Silicon Valley.
“My love, there are so many young entrepreneurs like me strutting around the Valley. I am latching onto ridiculous fortunes and I don't have any sense of self or true wealth. I am a genuine relic of the valley. Networking is a great American concept, is something we've embraced and extended.
“I still have my Indian passport but I've been too lazy to do anything about it. Now I am concentrating on startups, which are about to experience the dark underbelly. Lots of companies are failing all the time. When a company is going down, I step in and chop up and recycle the pieces.
“My new role is that of a bottom feeder. It's like this: The king lion think Juniper makes the kill, takes what he wants, then his pack is allowed to come in. Then, when they're done, in come the hyenas like Sabeer Bhatia and finally the ants like Ashraf M. Dahod. It is the Valley's "liquidator food chain.
“What is great about Indians networking in the valley is that we know how to make a buck from every workstation, disk drive and conference table and cubicle wall. And a truly great liquidator my love is a virtuoso like Charlie Chaplin The Great Dictator. The great liquidator knows how to turn broken dreams--millions of lines of unfinished software code--into a multimillion-dollar deal. The trick is to know who sells what--and there's a lexicon associated with liquidation.
“Some of us are aggressive scavengers. We exist at every level of the food chain. In the high tech industry, failure is a prized, not a scorned, offence. In Silicon Valley, failure is an everyday event. There's little {if any} stigma attached to a washout. Failing is even considered a highly desirable management experience. This forgiving attitude is what makes the technology sector so dynamic.
“My love, failure is rarely a dead end it's just another opportunity. May I touch you my love? Please. You are so handsome. May I kiss you on the mouth? Don't look so shocked. I only got married to please my parents. You should not limit yourself to just one kind of experience. At one stage, to learn new technologies and experience bowel movement is a healthy step."
Raj Singh is the president of Comstellar Technologies and a general partner in Redwood Venture Partners, a venture capital firm he founded in 1997. He said, " Life is a peach for the knowledge worker. That is why in 1981 I was an engineer in high technology companies, beginning with National Semiconductor including early entry at Cirrus Logic and Nexgen.
Ever since I set foot in the greatest country on earth I always had the pay and the perks people in manufacturing trying to create something would die for, I have stock options, complete with a bevy of suitors waiting to pick up my start-up at any cost. That is why I sold Cerent and StratumOne to Cisco for over seven billion dollars. Siara was sold to Redback for over four billion dollars.
Life in America is cool. Hard work on my part is about 'zero per cent' maybe slightly less and I am therefore extremely satisfied. I am pleased with the 'present condition'. Job content, compensation and benefits are top class. Why don't you set up shop in America? As Kanwal who you spoke to earlier said the American government will welcome you with open arms, shake your hand. America is a value-driven organisation; bonding and cohesion. That is why job-hopping is encouraged as it shows poor decision-making capability, stability and seriousness. Clock watching and absenteeism is very much part of the culture. That is why today I have more money than I know what to do with."
Sabeer Bhatia who sold Hotmail for 400 million dollars to Microsoft ,was the last person interviewed. He said, " Billary Clinton's title is 'President of the United States Of America'. Al Bore's Title is 'Vice-President of the United States of America'. My Title is 'Prima donna of San Francisco'.
“In 1988 I won a full scholarship to the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena. At that time I was a 19 year old bum looking to fill a cheap seat.. I had 250 dollars in my wallet and butterflies in my stomach. But I knew that deserting my motherland was the right decision.
“I came to America knowing fully well that I would be taken care off. I had a utopian view of what my life in America should be like and that really paid rich dividends. My ideas of life used to come from the classic Hollywood movies. You know Singing In The Rain. I remember going to St. Joseph School in Bangalore. When I was thirteen I saw Judy Garland sing 'Somewhere Over San Francisco, Way up high.'
Prima donna likes life in San Francisco. I recently purchased a $2-million apartment in rarefied Pacific Heights. It has three bedrooms, a dining room and living room apart from utility rooms. I bought it in a jiffy without thinking that first I have to work for it. It's very spacious for a bum. I am still in the process of furnishing it. I bought it for the view. Ten floors below, the city slopes away in all directions. The Golden Gate Bridge, and beyond it the Pacific, lie on the horizon. No suburbs for prima donna. I want to stay in the heart of the most beautiful city in the world.
This is I. I know that as long as I live here the city will always be there to cook my meals, wash my clothes. The city will put medicine in my mouth like a nanny when I am ill and in general take care of me for the rest of my life. They do all these nice things because I am not responsible enough to take decisions regarding my own life. This is why I am still the poster boy for Internet success, all the more so for the tons of Indian wannabes who have $ dreams in their eyes.
It is interesting. Along Philadelphia's Main Line, on Wall Street, or in the Motor City, the executive who flops gets driven out and often becomes unemployable. In Silicon Valley they become millionaires. Today I have four cars. I have a Porsche Boxster, a Ferrari F1 355 Spider, a Volkswagen Jetta and a 1958 Chevy Impala, which is my 'lucky car'. It took prima donna twenty minutes to make these purchases.
My sons, you'll I am afraid are poorly paid journalists. What do you'll make? Eight or ten thousand bucks a month? How many hours a day do you work? Four? You can work ten lifetimes and still never afford to buy even a single one. I on the other hand have enough to last ten lifetimes. Wanna check them out my sons?
“I am embarrassed by the Silicon Valley cliché 'What have you done for me lately?' As an entrepreneur I expect others to run errands for me. Steve Jobs the Apple Dude who I met in 1992 at a dinner party taught me this. I am the kind of person who wants to just sit back and rest.. That is why even after becoming a multimillionaire I still have a burning desire and passion to question and challenge the way things are done. I constantly question the system in which people around me function. Do you want me to fire questions at you? Okay here we go son.
1. Why should I get up in the morning and work everyday?
2. If I work everyday then how can I enjoy life?
3. Why should I go through the grind?
4. Why should I take the initiative regarding my own life when I stay in the greatest city in the world San Francisco?
5. Why can I not sit in my apartment and make friends?
6. Why is it wrong if I ogle at tall, physically strong American women like a lecherous goat?
7. Why do I have to have a bath and change my clothes everyday?
8. Why does seeing India after a long time depress me?
9. Why does taking three Prozac pills everyday when I visit my motherland not cheer me up?
It is this questioning and passion coupled with the rush and excitement that I get from treating creating new companies from scratch like a picnic that have caused me to take yet another plunge into the exciting world of enterpreneurship. Greed is a good motivator to get ahead in life in America. A laid back attitude helps.
It's the environment that has seen so many of us make tons of millions. You don't have to have the intellect, connections, you don't have to have super-influence in the government or banking system. Cash is freely available for anyone. If you have a good idea, you can make it over here without going through the grind. It's that equality of opportunity that enables Indians who come here to recognise that it is perfectly legitimate to be slovenly in Silicon Valley, and to make use of that noble endearing quality and then they become successful. The sooner the Indian Government privatises the Internet environments with free enterprise and competition, the better it will be for Indian consumers and businesses. The Internet offers a level playing field for India.
Now I am going to make an effort to match my personal prosperity with that of my professional life. To that end I am still searching for a life-partner to share in my future joys and let her bear the emotional burden of the sorrows. My father said that he would give a prize to the girl who hooks me. No, I do not want to marry a conservative Indian. Then what do I do? Turn around and sleep for the rest of my life. No sir Bob. I have a few tall, physically strong American and British women friends.
I had a sound strategy to make friends. I knew that without friends I would not grow as a person and become emotionally strong. So whenever I walked down the road in America and England and I saw a tall, strong woman I would go up to her and say 'Be my friend. Be my friend'. My universe now revolves around hanging out with my tall, tough women friends. They have taken up for me a couple of times. I have seen them handle men like babies. They do not have too much muscle. They are very deceptive.
They listen to what I have to say. They work out in a gym. When I look at their tall strong physiques I feel motivated to do something with my life. I have seen women dance together at parties. Their tall, deceptively strong physiques put Ash and other Indian women in the shade. Our women go save me save me if a man tries to misbehave. How pathetic!
Some of my tall tough American women friends in San Francisco can knock a man out with one blow. Some of them may even be taller than Sean. They do not do anything else with their lives besides handling men for a living. I remember instances where it was one of them against three men. They are emotionally sensitive and physically strong. A few of them consider their ability to handle men a gift from God. I think that because they can handle men they will never die.
They also told me that they did not always need money to pay the rent, phone, and electricity bills. The fact that they were tough women hanging out together took care of that. They are both emotionally and physically strong. But they are not butch. Butch is basically an attitude. Butch women talk tough. Tatata tatata. I want to have nothing to do with them.
They once confided in me that they lift weights to increase their physical strength because they felt emotionally insecure. They wear supporters to protect their cunts when they work out. Some of them are lesbians like Sean. She unfortunately died. They told me their secret. I kept their secret. I have seen women dance together.
My tall tough women friends are in a league of their own. I'm very careful how I address them. They are not easy. They are not horny. They are sexually focussed. They are not sluts. They are mere sexual extroverts. They are well in touch with their masculine side. Gosh I am experiencing an incredible erection just thinking about it. Phew!!! I need therapy"
Sabeer drinks two glasses of water and wipes the sweat of his brow. Then he asks us what we would fancy. Then he continues " Eh chotta. Give these gents a hot steaming cappuccino. Chotta is my servant.
No I was never serious about Aishwarya Rai. Come on man! She is a cheap Hindi film actress dancing around trees. Her brains are in her feet. I have class. I do not want to be associated with her and risk my friendship with my tall, tough American women friends. If they give Ash a bear hug her ribs will break and rupture into her spinal column. In 1996 I met Ash at a beauty contest in Bangalore, which was organised by ABCL. Amitabh Bachchan a Marlon Brando wannabe runs it.
“One of my tall tough women friends from America and England could very well become my Arzoo! I am determined to plant my seed in one them. Their ability to handle men like babies is the hottest thing in the oestrogen space. When I make my offer they will find it difficult to refuse. Fortunately I stay in San Francisco a lot of the time.
“Otherwise what would probably have happened is that I would have sat at home in Bangalore waiting for them to come and make contact. I would have spent my evenings at home lying down and staring at the ceiling wondering why they were not coming. I would have suffered frequent fits of depression.
“Like this eight years would have disappeared. Now if my father dies of a stroke, my mother dies of cancer, my brother dies of aids, my sister dies in a plane accident, my aunt dies in a car crash and my cousin dies of a heart attack I will not commit suicide because I will have the emotional support of my tall, tough women friends from America and England. If I was only in India and if they did not come then I would have become increasingly enraged and frustrated waiting for them to come. Worse if my parents passed away then if tall tough women did not come from America and England asking me to be their friend then I would have committed suicide. Phew!!! I need therapy.
“Once I rode piggyback on one of them and I started massaging 'it' against her spine. Suddenly 'it' shot up like an umbrella and I started rubbing 'it' firmly feeling the poetic rhythm. In a few seconds I was in excruciating pain but my never quit attitude meant that I continued rubbing 'it' against her spine. Soon I felt a cool wet sticky sensation in my underwear and I thought to myself Heaven I am in heaven and my heart beats so that I can hardly breathe. Phew! I know I am repeating myself but I need therapy
“What with my prosperous Punjabi munda look, glowing cheeks and healthy demeanour. All of them have 34 teeth intact. But I cannot say the same for the unfortunate men they have handled when they took up for me. Can you imagine what our kids will look like with their tall strong physiques, good looks and my brains.
I have asked them lots of questions. Here are a few
1. Can you hang out alone with me without it being considered a date?
2. Do I have to pay you any money at all so that I can hang out with you?
3. Do you enjoy spending an entire evening with me?
4. Describe in detail your experiences of hanging out with each other.
5. When you and your women friends get together to hang out what did you'll do besides handle men?
6. Why did you have to handle men? Do you do anything else besides handling men for a living and with your life?
7. Describe in detail how you handled men. The time period is 1981 till 1995. Did you give them a blow? Did three women join and handle men collectively? Did you lift them up like babies? Describe the circumstances that led to these troubled situations. Did you tape any of these men handling situations on video?
8. Were you ever given wrong information about a man you had to handle?
9. Describe your workout routine in 1981, 1985, 1989,1995. How many times in the week did you go to the gym? Did you lift heavy weights?
10. Did you lift weights and increase your physical strength because you felt emotionally insecure?
11. Did you put on a lot of muscle weight when you lifted weights in 1981,1985,1989 or were you deceptively strong? i.e. a woman with not much muscle like Sean but who is still fairly strong.
12. Did you have to wear supporters to protect your vagina when you worked out?
13. Did you work out with your other tough women friends? Did going to the gym offer you'll the opportunity to hang out together?
14. What is your height and weight?
15. When you handled that man did you also sell out for the cash?
16. In those days did you have to worry about doing something for a living? Did you make a lot of money handling men? How were you paid? By the hour? Did you have to work long hours handling men or was it okay if you left early?
17. Did your mind also go berserk when you were on your own and those three men came? When you handled men did you stay on the front foot because his fist would swing in late? Did you have a gameplan for handling men?
18. In those days also you had to balance accounts?
19. When you had to handle that man and succeeded is it fixed so that you would win?
20. Is it okay for you to keep a balance when you handled men?
21. Is it easier for you to handle men after the first round?
22. Do you consider your ability to handle men a gift from God? Was it important for you to take control of your life or did your other tough women friends do it for you?
23. How much could you lift?
24. When you hosted a party did you have to invite single girls?
25. When you went for a party did you know in advance who would be there? Did you have to endure the sight of people stuffing free food into their mouths?
26. Did you dance with the other woman at the party? What music did you dance to?
27. In San Francisco were the bathhouses shut down in 1985? Were you disappointed?
28. In 1981 were you upset that ABBA had split?
29. Did the summer begin weeks earlier than it was supposed to in those days also?
30. Were the bus fares high in those days i.e. 1981, 1985, and 1989?
31. What kind of music did you listen to then and now
32. Did you have to clean your hair with soap or did it automatically clean itself? Did you have to wash your own clothes or was there a washing machine?
33. Did you have to worry about paying the bills in those days also? How much money did you need to pay the rent, phone and electricity in 1981, 1985,1989? Did you need the money or did the fact that you'll tough women were hanging out together take care of that?
34. Are you going to die some day or does the fact that you can handle men mean that you are going to live forever?
35. How did you come into this world? Out of your mothers womb? Or did you just come as an adult? Were you ever a child once? For how long have you been handling men?
Excuse me for a moment." Sabeer goes into the bathroom and we hear a noise. A few minutes later he comes out rubbing his hands and smiling. He sits gulps down a glass of water and continues
"I think my becoming a Hot Male was the result of working five to six hours a week for two years. Four hundred million dollars in my bank account is what Microsoft put at the end of it. Jack and I both simpletons started a company out of nothing. We had enormous amount of fun putting it together and in the end, it was an adventure for us like Indiana Jones. We had no idea it would turn out. If Hotmail was successful well then I give credit to the power of the idea.
The idea was so powerful that when Jack, who was driving home to Livermore, called me on his car phone to brainstorm the thought like it was a pregnant mother I said, "Oh my! Hang up that cellular and call me back on a secure line when you get to your house! We don't want anyone to overhear!" Our minds coagulated, as we talked, completely in sync, leaping from one ramification to the next as simultaneously as the steps of two soldiers marching merrily to their death in Vietnam like clowns side by side. I need therapy.
That night I could not sleep. The thought of early retirement and not worrying about paying the bills made my head explode a bonfire of the mind. This thought was so inspirational because it seemed like an idea anyone could have.
To make it here in Silicon Valley, you just have to come up with the right idea. You don't have to know the right people. You don't have to demonstrate proven experience. You do not need to take the initiative regarding your life. Things like making money and friends just happen. Just have an idea and you will be provid