Arash Ferdowsi is an Iranian-American entrepreneur

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...

 known as the co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO) of Dropbox.

Career

Ferdowsi launched Dropbox in June of 2007 with his business partner at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

. In September of 2007 Ferdowsi moved his company to San Francisco and raised venture capital

Venture capital

Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...

 from Sequoia Capital

Sequoia Capital

Sequoia Capital is a Californian venture capital firm located on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California. The Wall Street Journal has called Sequoia Capital "one of the highest-caliber venture firms", and noted that it is "one of Silicon Valley's most influential venture-capital firms"...

, Accel Partners

Accel Partners

Accel Partners is a global venture and growth equity firm funding companies from inception through the growth stage.The firm is based in Palo Alto, California with major offices in Bangalore, Beijing, London, and Shanghai....

, Y Combinator

Y Combinator

Y Combinator is an American seed-stage startup funding firm, started in March 2005. Y Combinator provides seed money, advice, and connections at two 3-month programs per year...

, and a handful of individual investors.

Awards and Highlights

• Inc. Magazine
  Inc. (magazine)
  Inc. magazine, founded in 1979 and based in New York City, is a monthly publication focused on growing companies. The magazine publishes an annual list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., the "Inc...
  
   named Ferdowsi to its 2011 "30 Under 30" top entrepreneurs list.

Education

Ferdowsi attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

where he dropped out his last semester to focus on his business.