*OT*ICGE taps Indian 'Kola' for $635 million-Vani Kola sells 50% of RightWorks
Entrepreneur sets sights on $10 billion company
BY MIKE CASSIDY
Mercury News Staff Writer
There was Vani Kola last fall sitting in her downtown San Jose office mostly talking about her kids, but also mentioning her goal of building RightWorks software into a company worth $1 billion.
OK. Sure, I thought. Why not a billion? Nice round number.
Then, on Wednesday, she actually did it. Sold about half her private company for $657 million in a deal that put the company's value at $1.25 billion.....
sjmercury.com
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She plotted her success story in a public library
Sonia Chopra
Where do determined entrepreneurs go to get information about setting up a software company? In Vani Kola's case the answer was surprisingly simple and logical -- the public library in Sunnyvale.
Obviously, the future CEO of RightWorks in San Jose, California picked the right reading material because three years after her visit to the library in 1995, she has accumulated $ 25 million in capital and sells her product -- corporate purchasing systems -- at $ 250,000 and up.
"All I had was gut instinct and a dream," said Kola. "It is going well. The company is doing great."
For Kola, who is in her mid 30s, the journey from Hyderabad, India to the US had few glitches. A happy, secure childhood gave her confidence to go after her dreams. A straight A student, she graduated with honors in electrical engineering in the top ten at Osmania University.......
rediff.com
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