August - 2000 - issue > Cover

Vijay Vashee was one of the earliest Indians to work at Microsoft. Born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, he received his schooling in that country until he passed the highly competitive joint entrance exams to study at the premier Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai. There he received a B. Tech in electrical engineering. He also received a masters degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of Chicago and came to work for Microsoft in 1982 when it was still a fledgling startup.

Over the years, many Indians have left Microsoft to start other ventures, but Vashee has remained a Microsoft loyalist and all he started was the Seattle chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs.


In an interview with siliconindia, Vashee provided insights on how Indian entrepreneurship is thriving in yet another high-tech outpost. Excerpts:


Q: How have Indian technology professionals and entrepreneurs impacted on the Seattle region?

A: In 1988, there were 8 Indians at Microsoft. Today, there are well over 3,500. The impact that you see elsewhere in the country is also felt in Seattle in a big way. Boeing has many Indians in its IT groups and elsewhere too. You go to Real Networks, InfoSpace and Amazon, their technical folks are increasingly folks from the Indus region. Historically, they have been programmer types. Few reach development manager positions, but more are now entering the ranks of general managers to CEOs.


Q: What has been your experience with establishing the TiE chapter in Seattle?

A: The timing has been right. The folks here are receptive and hungry. They also need a lot of handholding and maturing. Response has been very positive. Some of the (TiE-Seattle) volunteers have the material to be very strong members of the Indian American society and entrepreneurs.


Q: Why have you chosen to remain at Microsoft while at the same time promote entrepreneurship in its very backyard?

A: When you work for someone with passion for close to 18 years, it is very, very hard to just walk away. Microsoft has been good to me and I feel I still have a lot to give back (to the company). You will have a lot of people who are corporate folks, who don't have the mental make-up to start their own company or work for a high-risk venture. TiE helps those folks as well. I would classify the majority of my accomplishments at Microsoft as those of an entrepreneur in terms of thought, action and results. TiE will ensure that those Indus Americans who choose to stay in larger companies will get fitter and succeed more than they would have otherwise. Keep in mind: those that have decided to leave will do so anyway, why not help them as well?


Q: Having also worked in Silicon Valley for Microsoft, how would you compare Seattle with the Bay Area?

A: The major difference, perhaps, is that the Valley is very short-term focused, driven financially and from a loyalty perspective limited to 'what is in it for me' attitude. Typically, the education backgrounds are the same, the friendships (between the Valley and Seattle) are tighter than you would think; the energy, passion, drive are all very similar.

Opportunity in the Valley scales up a lot more, change is easier in terms of moving to another company. Silicon Valley is the venture capital of the world and as such very important.