Subrah Iyar
Encyclopedia
Subrah S. Iyar is a leading technocrat, entrepreneur
and Web conferencing
pioneer
of Indian origin. He is the founder and CEO of WebEx
which has recently merged with Cisco
Systems.
immigrants who had migrated to Mumbai. He did his schooling in Mumbai and graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology. On completion of his graduation he moved to the US in 1982. He worked with Intel, Apple Inc., Quarterdeck, and Teleos Research prior to the establishment of WebEx.
in partnership with Min Zhu
.
The founding of the company by Subrah Iyar was fuelled by a new-found interest in web conferencing
. Min Zhu, a Stanford-trained System Engineer had been struggling to develop a web-conferencing tool. Coincidentally, during this time, he befriended Subrah Iyar who was running Quarterdeck's research lab and the two formed a partnership.
technology, it began to emerge as a potent competitor with clients such as Hoover's Online, Oracle and Tibco Software. WebEx went on to receive its first funding of $25 million in December 1999.
As a result of the new ideas propounded by Subrah Iyer, 2000 became a honeymoon year for WebEx. The revenues crossed the million mark and Subrah Iyar's own net worth rocketed from a paltry $450,000 in January 2000 to $129 million in November 2000. When enquired about it in an interview at a later stage, Subrah Iyar remarked, "It didn't get too scary, because I knew we had done everything based on fundamentals. You always have a feeling of uncertainty. But it was never a feeling of terror."
In 2003, when Microsoft
purchased conferencing company Placeware it was thought to be the end of the road for Subrah Iyar and WebEx. However, WebEx survived and completed a $45 million acquisition of Intranets.com in 2005. In fact, as per the company website, more than 3.5 million people use Cisco’s WebEx products every month to communicate and collaborate online.
On March 15, 2007, Cisco Systems
purchased WebEx for $3.2 billion.
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...
and Web conferencing
Web conferencing
Web conferencing refers to a service that allows conferencing events to be shared with remote locations. Most vendors also provide either a recorded copy of an event, or a means for a subscriber to record an event. The service allows information to be shared simultaneously, across geographically...
pioneer
Innovator
An innovator in a general sense, is a person or an organization who is one of the first to introduce into reality something better than before. That often opens up a new area for others and achieves an innovation.-History:...
of Indian origin. He is the founder and CEO of WebEx
WebEx
WebEx Communications Inc. is a Cisco company that provides on-demand collaboration, online meeting, web conferencing and videoconferencing applications...
which has recently merged with Cisco
Cisco
Cisco may refer to:Companies:*Cisco Systems, a computer networking company* Certis CISCO, corporatised entity of the former Commercial and Industrial Security Corporation in Singapore...
Systems.
Early life
Subrah S. Iyar was born and brought up in Mumbai. He had descended from TamilTamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
immigrants who had migrated to Mumbai. He did his schooling in Mumbai and graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology. On completion of his graduation he moved to the US in 1982. He worked with Intel, Apple Inc., Quarterdeck, and Teleos Research prior to the establishment of WebEx.
Founding of WebEx
Iyar chose to take the path of an entrepreneur in 1996, when he founded WebExWebEx
WebEx Communications Inc. is a Cisco company that provides on-demand collaboration, online meeting, web conferencing and videoconferencing applications...
in partnership with Min Zhu
Min Zhu
Min Zhu is an American computer scientist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Zhu is the co-founder and former president and chief technical officer of WebEx.-Biography:...
.
The founding of the company by Subrah Iyar was fuelled by a new-found interest in web conferencing
Web conferencing
Web conferencing refers to a service that allows conferencing events to be shared with remote locations. Most vendors also provide either a recorded copy of an event, or a means for a subscriber to record an event. The service allows information to be shared simultaneously, across geographically...
. Min Zhu, a Stanford-trained System Engineer had been struggling to develop a web-conferencing tool. Coincidentally, during this time, he befriended Subrah Iyar who was running Quarterdeck's research lab and the two formed a partnership.
Growth of WebEx
WebEx struggled to make a profit in its early days, largely because of low bandwidth. However, with the advancement of technology and the shift to broadbandBroadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
technology, it began to emerge as a potent competitor with clients such as Hoover's Online, Oracle and Tibco Software. WebEx went on to receive its first funding of $25 million in December 1999.
As a result of the new ideas propounded by Subrah Iyer, 2000 became a honeymoon year for WebEx. The revenues crossed the million mark and Subrah Iyar's own net worth rocketed from a paltry $450,000 in January 2000 to $129 million in November 2000. When enquired about it in an interview at a later stage, Subrah Iyar remarked, "It didn't get too scary, because I knew we had done everything based on fundamentals. You always have a feeling of uncertainty. But it was never a feeling of terror."
In 2003, when Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
purchased conferencing company Placeware it was thought to be the end of the road for Subrah Iyar and WebEx. However, WebEx survived and completed a $45 million acquisition of Intranets.com in 2005. In fact, as per the company website, more than 3.5 million people use Cisco’s WebEx products every month to communicate and collaborate online.
On March 15, 2007, Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...
purchased WebEx for $3.2 billion.