To: Mohan Marette who wrote (4468 ) 6/11/1999 10:29:00 PM From: Mohan Marette Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 12475
Meet Jagdeep Singh, the 500 million dollar man. All this at the ripe old age of 31,now that is some smart kid-Way to go Sardarji. =====================Let there be Light For pioneering optical networking equipment maker Ciena, 'commoditization' was creeping all over its innovative technology. Its call for help: trading a substantial percentage of its market capitalization for two startups, including Silicon Valley-based Lightera Networks. The hope: Light, blazing through thousands of miles of pipes, will now 'know' where it's going. In Hindi, jag means world, and deep means light. When Jagdeep Singh's parent's named him, they must have been thinking, “Let there be light!” Whether he's actually lighting up the world or not, he is certainly giving it the old college try. His 10-month old company, Lightera Networks, was created to facilitate the transfer of data in thin fiber optic cables across long distances. As CEO, Singh, an outwardly unpretentious, yet highly driven entrepreneur, sealed the deal on the highest valued sale of a pre-product, pre-revenue private company. Ciena Corporation, a somewhat troubled producer of Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) systems, acquired Lightera for approximately $552 million in stock. ......Company, Man and Product Singh came to the US at the age of 15. After completing his masters in computer science from Stanford and his MBA from UC Berkeley, he gained valuable experience by working at both Hewlett Packard and Sun Microsystems. After a number of years, he ignited his career with his first entrepreneurial venture: a remote access software company, quickly acquired for $64 million. Shortly thereafter, he banded together with three of his friends to launch Lightera. It was funded by four major venture capital firms: Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Interwest, Venrock and Brentwood Capital Associates. After only ten months, Ciena bought Lightera.According to Singh, Lightera had not anticipated such an early exit. “Our goal was not a quick hit,” he says. siliconindia.com