Sabeer Bhatia

No one symbolizes Indian success and enterprise in the Information Age better than Sabeer Bhatia. At an age when most were in college or busy watching movies, Bhatia accomplished two things that can be called truly world-class. He started Hotmail, a service that now caters to over 100 million people in more than 30 countries across the world. And not just that- he made $400 million by selling it to Microsoft! From a country of Maharajas and snake charmers, it has become a country from where one can draw upon the intellectual resources of a large number of high-technology people. Sabeer Bhatia's Hotmail is, for instance, touching every sphere of American's life.

Hotmail is one of the popular free 'webmail' e-mail services, which are accessible from anywhere on the planet via a standard web browser. It was founded by Jack Smith of Apple Computers and Indian entrepreneur, Sabeer Bhatia in 1995, and was commercially launched on July 4th , 1996, lndependence Day of the USA, symbolically representing freedom from ISPs.

“They wrote down all variations of mail - Speedmail, Hypermail, Supermail and finally settled for Hotmail as it included the letters "HTML" - the markup language used to write web pages. It was initially referred to as HoTMaiL with selective upper casing." A brand name was born. Every single day Homail adds 100,000 new users. It has 12 million unique logins per month. A study says over 220 mlllion people profit by it world over.

The Times of Indin recently named him as 'One of the Indians of the Century', a pantheon which he shares with the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Sunil Gavaskar. Sabeer Bhatia's creed is "Work hard, play hard." Bhatia's visionary contribution to the Internet revolution has earned him widespread acclaim. His many awards and accolades include:

Entrepreneur of the Year, 1997. Awarded by the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Urvetson.

Named to the 'Elite 100,' Upside magazine's list of top trendsetters in the New Economy.

Recipient of the 'TR100' Award, presented by MIT to 100 Young innovators who are expected to have the greatest impact on technology in the next few years.

Selected by the San Jose Mercury News and POV magazine as one of the ten most successful entrepreneurs of 1998.

Bhatia's powers of persuasion and negotiating grit have become the stuff of Silicon Valley legend. Bhatia was born in Chandigarh in 1966 and raised in Bangalore. His father, who held a high post at the Ministry of Defence, and mother Daman, a senior official at a state bank, placed great value on education. Their only son did not disappoint hem. For parent-teacher days they would recall "Sir. We tell Sabeer to solve the questions on the blackboard for us," says Bhatia's senior.

When a college opened nearby, he decided to open a sandwich shop and drew up his first business plan. Then his mom said, "Stop thinking about these things and go and study." But that's the culture in India. In 1988, Bhatia won a full scholarship to the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena. When his plane touched down that tarmac Bhatia had $250 in his wallet and butterflies in his stomach. “I felt I had made a big mistake,” he says. “I knew nobody, people looked different, and it was hard for them to understand my accent and me to understand theirs. I felt pretty lonely.”

People say when Bhatia enters a room he owns it. "I call him the Hindu Robot," says Naveen Singha, Bhatia's friend, mentor. "He is persistent, focused and disciplined. He's a superior human being." It was his primary education that he considers as the most valuable asset from India. He attributes his immense success to his hard work, perseverance and a vision for the future to make e-mail, the No. 1 lnternet application, and thereby change the way people communicate. He calls himself: "I am an Indian-American. I was born and brought up in India but have now adopted America as my new home. Personally, I hope my success serves as a beacon of hope to young, bright Indians. I hope to be a role model for entrepreneurs in India and in Silicon Valley". His new company was Arzoo.com. He closed shop in 2001.

Doug Carlisle, a friend of his has commissioned a bust-a bronze statue of Sabeer by an artist in Los Angles. And Bhatia says: "It is an honour. My hope is that, when entrepreneurs come into this most prestigious address on Sand Hill Road, it will give them an inspiration".