Kamran Elahian, a Utah Educated venture capitalist returned to campus today to make a presentation. A few members of the business community, including yours truly, were invited.
His talk was interesting, in part, because he was born in Iran. He left to avoid the Shah's regime (which he compared to the Patriot Act).
After coming to Utah, Kamran finished two bachelor's degrees within two years.
He sold his first business, CAE systems for $75 million in 1984 to Tektronix (NYSE: TEK), a large competitor to Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ). He took his second company, Cirrus Logic, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRUS) public in 1989 at a valuation of $150. The market cap reached $1 billion within ten years.
In 1989 he launched his third venture, Momenta Corporation, which failed within three years, setting a record at the time for the most venture capital flushed in a deal: $40 million.
This failure gave him an opportunity to reassess his personal world vision. He now views the world wide web as a global village, eliminating national and other barriers among nations and people.
Kamran's key objectives are:
- Create new technologies that bring people together
- Create new global companies with activities in many different countries
- Create global foundations to improve education, reduce poverty and increase tolerance.
He now works to accomplish these objectives primarily through his venture fund, Global Catalyst Partners.
In 1996 he launched Schools Online, a non-profit public charity organization with the goal to bring the Internet to every school in the world. So far the foundation has provided Internet access and computers to 6,400 schools in 35 countries. This allows students to connect with students in other countries.
He also founded the Global Catalyst Foundation.
His bio, as provided by the University of Utah, follows:
Kamran Elahian is a veteran entrepreneur with over 28 years of experience in the high-tech industry. He is currently Chairman of Global Catalyst Partners, a global venture capital fund for investments in communication product companies, which he co-founded in 1999. He also serves as Chairman of seven other organizations.
Kamran co-founded ten companies: CAE Systems ('81) a design automation software company; acquired by Tektronix for $75M, Cirrus Logic ('84) a fabless semiconductor company; IPO at $150M valuation, Momenta ('89) a pen-based computer company; failed within 3 years, NeoMagic ('93) a mobile multimedia IC company; IPO at $300M valuation, PlanetWeb ('96) a software company for Internet appliances, Centillium Communications ('97) a telecommunication IC company; IPO at $700M valuation, Actelis Networks ('99) a broadband telecommunications systems company, Informative ('99) a customer feedback solutions software company, Entopia ('99) a knowledge management software company, and Greenfield Networks ('01) a communication IC company.
Kamran also founded Schools Online ('96) a non-profit public charity organization with the goal to bring the Internet to every school in the world, and co-founded Global Catalyst Foundation.
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