Gunjan Sinha

Gunjan Sinha
Born (1967-05-24) May 24, 1967
Ranchi, India
Occupation Entrepreneur
Business Executive
Known for Co-Founder WhoWhere?,[1] eGain Corporation,[2]

Gunjan Sinha is an Indian-American entrepreneur and business executive. He is best known as the founder of WhoWhere?,[3] an internet search engine he sold to Lycos in 1998.[4][5] He is also the co-founder of customer engagement software provider eGain Corporation. He has served on the board of numerous Silicon Valley startups including Regalix.

Early life and education

Sinha attended the Indian Institutes of Technology where he earned a B.S. in Computer Science.[6] He went on to attend the University of California, Santa Cruz where he obtained a M.S. in computer science.[7] He added an M.S. in Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management from Stanford University prior go launching his entrepreneurial career.[7]

Career

Prior to founding numerous companies, Sinha spent time as a hardware developer at Olivetti Advanced Technology Center as well as an industry advisor for inDplay, Inc. One of his first business ventures was Parsec Technology Pvt. Ltd., a company he co-founded in 1994.[8] He launched one of the first internet search engines in 1995.[5] Known as WhoWhere?, he served as the company's president until he sold the company to Lycos in 1998 for $133 million in stock.[9] At the time of the sale, Lycos was the 4th most popular website behind American Online, Yahoo, and MSN.[9]

After WhoWhere?, Sinha went on to co-found eGain Corporation, a provider of customer engagement software. He took the company public on the NASDAQ in 1998 and served as the company's president until 2003 when he joined MetricStream where he still serves as the Executive Chairman. Sinha is on the board of LearnStreet, an online education website for computer programmers.[10] Launched in 2012, the company is backed by Khosla Ventures.[10]

Sinha has served on numerous boards, including for various non profits. He serves as Chairman of SiliconIndia Inc., Regalix, and previously for arcadiaOne, Inc. He was appointed to the board of the Indo-US Science & Technology Forum and previously served as a trustee for the University of California Santa Cruz Foundation.[11] He is also a frequent speaker at Horasis, an independent think tank organization based in Zurich, Switzerland.[12]

Awards and recognition

In 2007, Sinha was one of 13 Indian-Americans to be named to the list of Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business.[13] He was also featured as one of the 50 Most Successful Immigrant Entrepreneurs by Silicon India.[14]

Additional reading

References

  1. ↑ Lee, Chong-Moon (2000). The Silicon Valley Edge: A Habitat for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804740630.
  2. ↑ Roberts-Witt, Sarah L. (27 June 2000). "It's the customer, stupid!". PC Mag. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "Lycos' chief thrives on doing things his way". New Straits Times. 15 February 1999. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  4. ↑ Levy, Doug (1 March 1999). "Money not the issue with Net elites". New Straits Times. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  5. 1 2 Salkowitz, Rob (2010). Young World Rising: How Youth Technology and Entrepreneurship are Changing the World from the Bottom Up. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780470644324.
  6. ↑ Mitra, Sramana (9 February 2012). "Managing Risk: MetricStream Chairman Gunjan Sinha". One Million by One Million. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  7. 1 2 Radhakrishnan-Swami, Meenakshi (7 December 2013). "Paying It Forward". Outlook Business. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  8. ↑ Sengupta, Paramita (28 July 2004). "IITians are taking over the tech biz in the US". The Economic Times. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  9. 1 2 Junnarkar, Sandeep (11 August 1998). "Lycos buys WhoWhere". cNet. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  10. 1 2 Empson, Rip (7 November 2012). "LearnStreet Launches With $1M From Vinod Khosla To Help You Learn How To Build, Test and Push Code". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  11. ↑ Mickelson, Gwen (6 July 2010). "Meet the new trustees: Gunjan Sinha". University of California Santa Cruz. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  12. ↑ Sinha, Gunjan. "How Indian Companies Can Build Global Brands". Thrive On Risk. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  13. ↑ "13 Indians among top Asian businessmen in US". Indian Abroad via Asianam.org. 19 July 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  14. ↑ "Outstanding 50 Award". Asian American Business Development Center. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
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