Anatomy of Innovation: Exodus Founder B.V. Jagadeesh (Part 1)

B.V. Jagadeesh is a successful entrepreneur and a proven leader. He was also the co-founder of Exodus Communications, a leader in the web co-location market that enjoyed a highly successful IPO. Prior to joining 3Leaf Systems as CEO, he served as group vice president and general manager of Citrix Systems’ Application Networking Group and as president and CEO of NetScaler.

SM: Jagdeesh, take us back to where your journey begins. Where were you born, where did you grow up, and where did you study?

BVJ: I was born in a small village on the outskirts of Bangalore, which is the so-called Silicon Valley of India. This is 20–25 miles outside of Bangalore. In India 25 miles is a real hard journey, it is not something you commute every day. I had my basic education, through middle school, in the village. Starting with high school, I had to move to the city to get an education.

SM: Did you move there by yourself?

BVJ: My older brother and I moved, and later on my younger brother joined us. We stayed together in a small apartment. We cooked our own food and took care of ourselves. Looking back, a lot of the challenges I faced helped prepare me for what I face today. At a young age I had to learn finances, negotiation, and other skills, just on a smaller scale. We learned to be responsible.

In one way it was hard when we were going through that phase, but it was probably harder for my mother. Letting a young child let go is very hard for parents. We would not see her for an entire week. We finished school on Saturday, went to the village until Sunday night, and returned to Bangalore and started classes again on Monday.

I went to college in Bangalore as well. I studied engineering, and then for my masters I studied computer science and engineering from the University of Bombay. I moved from Bangalore to Bombay to get my masters degree. I then worked in Bombay for two years for a company called Micronic Devices. They used to sell Intel products. Intel was obviously evolving at the time.

It during was the very early stages of the microprocessors. I was fortunate to work for a company that sold Intel products because I became the resident expert of Intel products in India. I worked there for about two years, and then I got an offer from a Silicon Valley-based company called Alexi.

SM: How did they find you?

BVJ: They just advertised in the newspapers. I applied and was one of the five people who got selected, so I ended up in the Valley.

SM: It almost seems like a toss of the coin!

BVJ: It was. I was somewhat skeptical because I was having a good time in Bombay. I was making decent money, doing a lot of traveling, and had a good name with the work I was doing. Taking the shift in terms of my career as well as the difficulties associated with moving from one country to another made me think pretty hard before going through with it.

SM: What year are we talking about here?

BVJ: It was 1982, so everything was still pretty early. It is nice to reflect on how things were then and how they are today.

This segment is part 1 in the series : Anatomy of Innovation: Exodus Founder B.V. Jagadeesh
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8